Month: March 2009

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About Holy Cross

Holy Cross: Part of the Larger Church

Holy Cross is part of the Episcopal Church, which is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Like Roman Catholics, we have sacraments, bishops and priests, the Eucharist on Sunday, and many other traditional elements. On the other hand, we have no centralized authority like the Pope, women share equally in all roles in the church (including bishop and priest), clergy may marry (our vicar has a wife and two grown children), and there is in general great leeway for individual beliefs and interpretations.

We have further information that you may find helpful in exploring what you will find at Holy Cross if you come from either a Protestant or Roman Catholic tradition.

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Outreach

Holy Cross Supports Weare Food Pantry

These are hard times for many folks, and we’re making a special effort at Holy Cross to support the Weare Food Pantry. The Pantry currently serves almost 100 families each month. It is located in the Weare Middle School and is open Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Holy Cross collects nonperishable items every Sunday, bringing them to the Altar as a special offering on the fourth Sunday of each month. Perishable items (margarine, cheese) can now also be brought on Sundays and placed in the small refrigerator under the sink off the Gathering Space. They will be delivered to the Pantry.

Pantry volunteers pose before a recent Wednesday session.
Pantry volunteers pose before a recent Wednesday session.

 

The Pantry now has a toy cupboard as well.
The Pantry now has a toy cupboard as well.
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About Holy Cross

Baptism at Holy Cross

Bishop Arthur Walmsley prepares to chrismate a newly baptized infant.
Bishop Arthur Walmsley prepares to chrismate a newly baptized infant.

Often parents of new babies or young children in the area inquire about baptism. The Episcopal Church baptizes infants and children as well, of course, as adults. Holy Baptism is a sacrament of commitment to the life of Christ. It constitutes membership in the Church, the Household of God, and entitles one to receive Holy Communion and the other sacraments. In the case of children who are too young to make the baptismal commitment on their own, this is done for them by their parents and godparents.

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Christian Formation

Education Opportunities for All Ages

In the Episcopal Church, it’s become customary to talk of “formation” rather than “education.” Christians are made, not born. We are formed in the ways of Christ, a process that involves hearts and hands as well as heads. Formation is lifelong. At Holy Cross, we take formation seriously, trying to offer thoughtful, enjoyable programs for all ages.

Sunday morning formation opportunities at Holy Cross include something for ages 3 through adults. During our formation year (generally early September through Pentecost in May or June), breakfast is served for the whole family beginning at 9:00 a.m. At 9:15, children and youth are invited to their formation programs. Adults lingering over breakfast begin their formation time.

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About Holy Cross

Marriage at Holy Cross

Marriage is a sacrament and a life, not just a wedding.
Marriage is a sacrament and a life, not just a wedding.

So you’re planning to get married! That’s wonderful. In the Episcopal Church, Holy Matrimony is a sacrament involving a solemn, lifelong commitment. Part of this commitment is the expectation that the couple–or at least one of them–will be an active member of the faith community, at Holy Cross or elsewhere. Marriage in the Episcopal Church also entails a course of preparation. At Holy Cross that means meeting with the Vicar to explore and discuss important areas of the marital relationship–working out differences, handling finances, raising children, sex, roles, expectations. It also involves planning the ceremony and talking about the meaning of its various parts. We want to work out a wedding that speaks to the couple’s values and dreams, while being consistent with the theology of Christian Marriage in the Episcopal Church.

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Outreach

Millennium Development Goals

Holy Cross commits 0.7% of its income to organizations that work abroad to realize the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations and endorsed by the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Arthur Walmsley, a member of Holy Cross, recently spoke about the connection between the Gospel and the MDG’s.

Excerpts from an address at Trinity Church, Concord, MA, on February 22, 2009.
 

The vision of the Millennium Development Goals is not new. For people who draw their faith from the Bible, it is as old as scripture. There is a Biblical mandate to serve God’s mission … and scripture offers us an understanding of the global crisis which has the potential to move us beyond the paralysis of the present to an affirmation and a way of being grounded in hope.

The doorway to this understanding starts with Jesus.

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People

Meet Amanda Clow

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As a seven year old moves in with a new family, the thing you’d least expect to hear from her is, “So when do we go to church?” But that would be me.

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People

Meet John Harrington

img_0414Our family started to come to Holy Cross for weekday Mass on major holy days back when Wayne Haney was taking services here part time.  There wasn’t any other Episcopal parish in driving distance, or anywhere in the state as far as I know, that had services on most of the days of obligation during the week.  I think that’s still the case.  Most of our children were at home back then, and we would often make up the bulk of the congregation.

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People

Meet Laura Starr-Houghton

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I came to Holy Cross following a suggestion from a friend when I moved to Weare about 17 years ago.  Finding that it was important to join and really become a member of the community, but at the same time being a child of the Me generation, nonconformist and forever suspicious of authority, I wondered, why would I do that, and why would I want to support a church with my money and time? 

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People

Meet Mike Goulet

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We found our way to Holy Cross at the end of what I would call a long road of small events and coincidences. Kerri and I came from very different religious and spiritual backgrounds, but along the way we’ve shared common beliefs and values. We had both come to realize that we needed something more than just our own personal, private belief in God.

 

After driving by the sign on Rt 114 so many times, we finally worked up the nerve and went to church. Right from the beginning, everyone was warm and welcoming, and we realized that there was a community there that we could be a part of. From that first Sunday on, we’ve grown to love Holy Cross for so many different reasons.

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