LENTEN RETREAT

A first-ever Lenten retreat at the Denver Art Museum marked another new offering for Christ Church Denver. Bolstered by the research and teaching of Debbie Barents, the gathering proved to be not just a spiritual formation for ourselves but––as we hoped––an evangelistic outreach to those beyond the walls of our church. Dozens of Christ Church attendees were joined by numerous bystanders who listened in to our prayerful engagements with various art pieces, occasioning conversations about faith in the public square.

MARCH FOR OUR LIVES

Likewise, Christ Church led the way in an ecumenical Christian presence at the student-organized ‘March for Our Lives’––following mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, TX, and a grocery store in Buffalo, NY. Gathering at Saint John’s Cathedral in downtown Denver, Christ Church parishioners joined other Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and other Christians in a service of prayer and lament, before joining a march and demonstration in Civic Center Park. While we may not have agreed with all of the political ideologies espoused by speakers that day, our prayerful presence was welcomed by many––including those who claimed to have no faith, but remarked on how meaningful it was to see so many Christians there.

PARISH PILGRIMAGE

Our parish pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey, traveling in the footsteps of Saint Paul, was the trip of a lifetime for those able to attend. Deferred two years due to covid restrictions on travel, two dozen parishioners from Christ Church (including our California-based digital members, Jo and Gregg Churchill!) joined other pilgrims from the wider Episcopal Church and Anglican Church in North America to go where the Apostle Paul ventured on his arduous missionary journeys to spread the gospel.

Guided by The Rev. Dr. Peter Walker (priest and Patristics scholar in the Church of England), visits to Thessaloniki, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus, Patmos, Athens, and more deepened our understanding of and appreciation for the Holy Spirit’s work through Paul and his missionary companions, providing historical context and, as one attendee put it, “bringing Scripture to life.”