Sunday Worship 8, 9:30, & 11am · Details

  545 S. East Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois 60304  ·   708-386-5613  ·     Give

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From the Interim Rector

Alleluia, Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

I pray you were able to experience the holy at St. Christopher’s during Lent and Easter. We marched with Jesus into Jerusalem, gathered in the upper room, prayed in the garden, heard God’s holy story, then proclaimed resurrection on Easter dawn. Just like back then, these holy mysteries, which are the foundations of our faith, and of our relationship with God and God’s people, cannot happen without the enactment of many people. Resurrection is not a singular act done by God alone. We must participate and proclaim “Alleluia” for resurrection to become a reality in our lives.

Preparing the sanctuary for worship across a variety of services is an intentional, prayerful task. Thank you to our Altar Guild, under the leadership of Peter Walters, for making us ready for Holy Week. Additionally, Richard Sobak and the choir prepare sacred music, chant, and anthems to help us celebrate the spirit of the season. They are at all services, and their singing invited us to connect deeper with God.

Without the staff administering additional formation activities, our experience of Jesus’ final days on Earth would not be as meaningful. Thank you to Jen Enriquez and Christa Creps for working with our children and families. And we wouldn’t know what to do if Uziel Martinez-Hernandez had not created all the Holy Week bulletins, preventing crucifixion one tree at a time, then getting them all printed.

At Maundy Thursday’s agape meal, Paul Clark took the lead and organized our liturgical soup supper. Thank you to all who made soup - Curt Amolsh, Sue and Howie Anderson, Paul Clark, Eileen Murphy, Deb Maue, and Priscilla Nied. We broke bread in remembrance of Jesus thanks to Gabriela Denton, Becky Dunlavey, Kathy Egan, and Patti Ferguson. The O.P.P. - Other People’s Pinot - (but Orleans Parish Prison to me) was provided by Emily Culbertson and Hal Rees.

As she does every year, Wendy Norris lovingly created our beautiful Altar of Repose, an indoor garden for meditation, reflection, and prayer, on Thursday evening and for Friday services. The wonderfully colorful Good Friday Stations were created by our families with children and many of us journeyed with Christ from the trial, then tears, to Calvary. Bob Wyatt provided our Good Friday meditation which invited us to balance the good, the bad, and the tragic during our journey of faith.

As Easter Day dawned, our Easter Egg Hunt was organized by Leah and Susan Curtin, with our youth leaders helping hide them in appropriate places for people of all ages. Our Easter Day reception was organized by Paul Clark, resurrecting leftover bread from the agape meal, transformed into five festive strata casseroles created by our talented chefs. Additionally, countless lectors read the scriptures, passion narratives, and prayers to sanctify our spirits.

Additionally, thank you to Mary Kay Tobin for offering Morning Prayer on Wednesdays during Lent and to Trish Joy, who organized and trained over 60 volunteers through our Ministry Scheduler Pro system. Not an easy task.

The danger of thanking people by name is leaving people out. That is my biggest fear. If I’ve done this, I apologize. Thank you to all of the people of St. Christopher’s who journeyed together from dust to resurrection this Lent and Easter.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday. I had my calendar messed up in my head. My cousin’s retirement from the Air Force is the following weekend, so I will be away the weekend of the 21st. I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday.

Faithfully,
Kevin



Tags: News & Events

Full Calendar

Upcoming Events

Office Hours
Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 9:00 AM
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Choir Rehearsal
Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 7:30 PM
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Office Hours
Thursday, Jun 01, 2023, 9:00 AM
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Al-Anon Meeting
Thursday, Jun 01, 2023, 7:30 PM
Details »

Office Hours
Friday, Jun 02, 2023, 9:00 AM
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Voice Lessons
Saturday, Jun 03, 2023, 9:00 AM
Details »

Worship - Rite I Contemplative Eucharist
Sunday, Jun 04, 2023, 8:00 AM
Details »

St. Christopher's Cafe
Sunday, Jun 04, 2023, 9:00 AM
Details »

Worship - Rite III Wiggle Worship Contemporary Eucharist
Sunday, Jun 04, 2023, 9:30 AM
Details »

Worship - Rite II Choral Eucharist
Sunday, Jun 04, 2023, 11:00 AM
Details »

Sunday Worship

  • 8:00 AM Contemplative Eucharist, Rite I
  • 9:30 AM Contemporary Wiggles Eucharist, Rite III
  • 11:00 AM Choral Eucharist, Rite II

Location

545 S. East Avenue · Oak Park, Illinois 60304
708-386-5613


Connections

Diocese of Chicago

The Episcopal Church

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Service Times

Sunday Worship

  • 8:00 AM Contemplative Eucharist, Rite I
  • 9:30 AM Contemporary Wiggles Eucharist, Rite III
  • 11:00 AM Choral Eucharist, Rite II

Location

St. Christopher's Oak Park
545 S. East Avenue
Oak Park, Illinois 60304

Contact Us
708-386-5613

Newsletter Signup

Welcome Life Events Children & Youth Leadership The Episcopal Church

We look forward to welcoming you to St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, an open and affirming congregation in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

We pray that you will find here the love that is Christ’s law – love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things – knowing that God’s love is bigger than anything we can ask or imagine.

Learn More Visitor Card

In the Episcopal Church, we call holy life events sacraments. We acknowledge that God is present in every occasion of our lives. Some of these we mark together with special celebrations of worship to highlight the ways in which God is always at work throughout our life’s eventss. As Episcopalians, we believe that these observations reveal God's grace to us in new ways and call them sacramental.

Baptism Confirmation/Reception Marriage Burial

We have created a Sunday morning for Children and Families beginning with worship at 9:30AM. Then, immediately following snack, the young people participate in the Whole People of God lectionary-based Sunday School curriculum, so that everyone in the church is reflecting on the same scripture. Children engage the themes and stories of the day in our 9:30 worship. Art, activities like acting out the story, and music reinforce what happens in worship.

Learn More

In the Episcopal Church the people of God, ordained through baptism, are to be ministers of Jesus wherever they live, work, and play. The Priest is the pastor to the people who proclaims the gospel; administers the sacraments; and blesses and declares pardon in the name of God.

Supporting the Ministers of God are the Staff and Vestry. The Rector is elected by a vestry with the bishop‘s approval.

Meet Our Leadership

We as Episcopalians believe in a loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. St. Paul's is part of the Episcopal Church, a church that is both rich with ancient tradition and relevant to life in the 21st century. We believe that God loves you - no exceptions.

We believe in following the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection saved the whole world.

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Give Now Pledge

Everything on our beautiful church campus is paid for by the people of St. Christopher’s. Our worship, our music, our Sunday School, our outreach, our staff, our buildings and every candle is made possible by the generosity of our church members, friends, and supporters. Please give now so that we can continue to build the Kingdom of God together.

Give Now

The people of St. Christopher’s are our service ministers and, working with the staff and vestry, are full stewards of the mission and ministry of our congregation. Steward is an ancient concept. A steward is a person who is responsible for someone else's property, finances, or affairs.

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