Christ Church - Episcopal

10/23/2026

From Lesser Feasts & Fasts, 2022:
In the Gospel according to Matthew and in the Epistle to the Galatians, the James whom we commemorate today is called the Lord’s brother. Other writers, following Mark’s tradition, believe him to have been a cousin of Jesus. Certain apocryphal writings speak of him as a son of Joseph’s first wife. Whatever his relationship to Jesus—brother, half-brother, or cousin—James was converted after the resurrection. Eventually, he became Bishop of Jerusalem.
In the first letter to the Corinthians (15:7), Paul says that James was favored with a special appearance of the Lord before the ascension. Later, James dealt cordially with Paul at Jerusalem, when the latter came there to meet Peter and the other apostles. During the Council of Jerusalem, when there was disagreement about whether Gentile converts should be circumcised, James summed up the momentous decision with these words: “My judgment is that we should impose no irksome restrictions on those Gentiles who are turning to God” (Acts 15:19).
Eusebius, quoting from an earlier church history by Hegesippus, declares that James was surnamed “the Just.” He was holy, abstemious, did not cut his hair nor oil his body, and was continually on his knees in prayer, interceding for his people. “As many as came to believe did so through James,” says Hegesippus.
James’ success in converting many to Christ greatly perturbed some factions in Jerusalem. According to Hegesippus, they begged him to “restrain the people, for they have gone astray to Jesus, thinking him to be the Messiah . . . We bear you witness that you are just . . . Persuade the people that they do not go astray . . . we put our trust in you.” They then set James on the pinnacle of the temple, bidding him to preach to the multitude and turn them from Jesus. James, however, testified for the Lord. Thereupon, they hurled him from the roof to the pavement, and cudgeled him to death.

10/23/2026

See what's happening this week at Christ Church: https://conta.cc/4k6qQGo

Email from Christ Church (Episcopal) The Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost Tabitha (also called Dorcas, both names meaning “gazelle” in Aramaic and Greek, respectively) was a widow from Joppa, a po

10/22/2026

An excerpt from the Rev. Cynthia Knapp's sermon for the the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost on the the grace and joy which are God's gift, even in time of doubt and trouble.

10/22/2026

10/21/2026

Weekly announcements from the parish office at Christ Church.

10/19/2026

The Rev. Cynthia Knapp's sermon for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost.

10/19/2026

From Lesser Feasts & Fasts, 2022:
According to tradition, Luke was a physician, and one of Paul’s fellow missionaries in the early spread of Christianity throughout the Roman world. He has been identified as the writer of both the Gospel that bears his name, and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke seems to have either been a Gentile or a Hellenistic Jew and, like the other New Testament writers, he wrote in Greek, so that Gentiles might learn about the Lord whose life and deeds so impressed him. In the first chapter of his Gospel, he makes clear that he is offering authentic information about Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, as it had been handed down to him from those who had firsthand knowledge.
Only Luke provides the very familiar stories of the annunciation to Mary, of her visit to Elizabeth, of the child in the manger, the angelic host appearing to shepherds, and the meeting with the aged Simeon. Luke also includes in his work six miracles and eighteen parables not recorded in the other Gospels. In Acts he tells about the coming of the Holy Spirit, the struggles of the apostles and their triumphs over persecution, of their preaching of the Good News, and of the conversion and baptism of other disciples, who would extend the church in future years.
Luke was with Paul apparently until the latter’s martyrdom in Rome. What happened to Luke after Paul’s death is unknown, but early tradition has it that he wrote his Gospel in Greece, and that he died at the age of eighty-four in Boeotia. Gregory of Nazianzus says that Luke was martyred, but this testimony is not corroborated by other sources. In the fourth century, the Emperor Constantius ordered the relics of Luke to be removed from Boeotia to Constantinople, where they could be venerated by pilgrims.
According to Orthodox Christian tradition, Luke was also the first iconographer. He is traditionally regarded as the patron saint of artists and physicians.