Personally, 2021 and 2022 were some of the most challenging times for JoEllen and me. She was diagnosed with Lymphoma in late 2021 and was under chemotherapy for four months and several months of recovery. I was given the grace to work remotely during that time as I cared for JoEllen.

For Christ Church Denver, 2022 was a year of doing what Dennis Rodman did best: rebounding.

After all of the struggles and setbacks of the coronavirus pandemic, both in our personal lives and as a parish, 2022 marked the beginning of recovering our core mission and purpose as a faith community––as we transition to endemic and that perhaps cliché but still-true phrase, “the new normal.”

We have continued to integrate the new vision of Christ Church through parish practices. After Easter, small groups met and discussed spiritual practices to draw us closer to Jesus. During the summer our preaching series featured a “lecture and laboratory” style of learning by combining spiritual disciplines and journaling prompts with a series on who Jesus was and who we are as his people.

Learn more about our new Vestry candidates for 2023.

Perhaps top-of-list in joyous returns was just our ability to regather as a community, in the joy of Christian fellowship, without restriction. Here are some of the year's highlights.

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.

Tammie Sawicki continued to flourish as our Director of Children’s Ministries, expanding her role to also include newcomer welcome and integration––which she’d always done, effectively if informally. Our annual Vacation Bible School is always a highlight of the summer, one of our main evangelistic efforts at Christ Church.

Treasureland Preschool has provided a nurturing early childhood environment since 1956. Throughout its long history, the school has valued providing a high-quality early education that encourages a love of learning, supports social and emotional competence, encourages friendships among families, fosters critical thinking skills, and values relationships.

Psalm 100 perfectly summarizes the joy and purpose of our Worship at Christ Church. Our hearts overflow with love for the Lord, and we want to bring Him praise and glory.

To better integrate newcomers to our Christ Church community a formal Welcome Ministry was implemented in Fall 2022. Greeters, Hosts, and Sponsors work with newcomers to help them know more about Christ Church and to help if they want to call Christ Church their church home.

Christ Church is blessed with an abundance of talent and energy to offer musical excellence to the Glory of God. Our program is comprised of volunteer and staff musicians who work together seamlessly to produce a unique blend of ancient and modern musical styles.

Communication plays an essential role in everything we do at Christ Church. The best programs in the world will fall flat without presenting the right message at the right time. We are tasked with keeping you up-to-date on the latest happenings around church, offering quick and efficient online registrations, managing video production and livestream events and presenting our outward appearance to newcomers through our website to just name a few.

Construction on the digital sign located on the west side of the building along University Blvd. was completed in the first quarter of the year and its display not only complements the overall aesthetics of the church, but it also effectively communicates our mission and purpose to the watching world.

We began 2022 with a set of goals as follows:

1) Developing a collaboration with the new chaplain at Clermont Park to better serve those residents who are Episcopalian

2) Operationalization of our Eucharistic Visitors and recruiting additional members

3) Reviewing and revitalizing additional caring ministries

The mission of Outreach at Christ Church is, "To Restore Hope to a Suffering World and Be Transformed Into the Likeness of Christ."

We align our work with the vision of the Christ Church and are committed to forming whole-disciples of Jesus for the world. Our aim is to engage parishioners in activities where they learn how to Be With, Become Like, and Live Like Jesus.