Eastertide

Eastertide is the season in which the Church recognizes and celebrates Jesus’ commissioning of all of us. It begins just after Jesus’ resurrection (celebrated Easter Day on April 9) and concludes with the church receiving power and encouragement of the Spirit at Pentecost (May 28).Our scripture during Eastertide moves us through the resurrection appearances of Jesus. Additionally, we read about the establishment of the Way by the followers of Christ across the Roman Empire, recorded in the Book of Acts.

We will celebrate Eastertide with Earth Day blessings, the Oak Park Race, Confirmation and Reception, and Pentecost.

To mark Earth Day, on Sunday, April 23, our 9:30 worship service will gather in our beautiful church gardens for a blessing and to pray about how we may better care for the Earth God entrusted to our care.

On Sunday, April 30, members of St. Christophers will participate and volunteer for Oak Park’s Good Life Race. This is a way to support St. C’s outreach ministry Beyond Hunger, even if your family cannot volunteer at the food pantry on Saturdays. St. C’s participants will gather at 9:30AM for eucharist, be commissioned, then walk over to the race at 10:00 AM. The Junior Dash (6 & under) kicks off at 10:30AM, so we’ll head over immediately after the brief Eucharist and blessing. Older kids can cheer on the younger ones or get up early for the Youth Mile (12 & under) at 8:45. There will be goodie bags for the kids, family entertainment, and a chance to hang out with your friends from church.

On Saturday, May 20th, 11:00AM, we will gather with our bishop at St. James Cathedral to celebrate confirmation, reception, and reaffirmation. Both our adults and youth have been using Jenifer Gamber’s books to prepare for their proclamation of faith. In Your Faith Your Life, we read, “An impossible job description begins to be written on our hearts with our baptismal promises to ‘believe in God the Father . . . in Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . in God the Holy Spirit [and] to continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers . . . to persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord . . . to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ . . . to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself . . . to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being’ (BCP, 92–94). ‘I will, with God’s help,’ we say.

Eastertide concludes on Sunday, May 26th, where, after Sunday worship, we gather at 12noon for a picnic marking the beginning of regular time or “the season after Pentecost.