St Christopher's Search

St Christopher's Profile
Who are we?

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Welcome
1 Our Community	5 Outreach & Inreach
2 Worship	6 Christian Education
3 Music	7 Administration - Staff & Clergy
4 Fellowship	8 Search Process

As we begin our search for a new rector, we thank you, God, for all you have given us. We ask your Holy Spirit to come among us and guide us with wisdom and patience in discerning and doing your will for this parish, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Welcome

St. Christopher’s sits on a corner lot at a quiet intersection amid residential housing. The buildings are situated at the crossroads of Peoria and 103^rd Avenue with a large parking lot curving around in back.

As parishioners and visitors enter at 10:00 am through the main red doors, underneath the carillon bell tower, they are greeted in the narthex by ushers, altar servers, choir members, and clergy assembling for the procession. To their right, the voices of children and babies drift down the stairway from the Godly Play room and the nursery.

The voices of greeting hush as worshippers enter the nave and are welcomed by a lighted stained glass window behind the free-standing altar. Near the altar on the right sits the organ, recently installed in 2005, with a grand piano in front for special musical occasions. The choir is situated on the left, facing the organ.

After services, many will find their way across the covered breezeway to Middleton and Harte Hall for coffee and a chance to visit with friends and newcomers, while children under 12 years of age make good use of the covered playground outside.


Next to the playground is the large storage room that houses the Goodies Galore rummage store.

On the other side of the playground is the Chapel of the Resurrection, built in 1995, which also houses a columbarium. The choir room, at the left of the breezeway, is separated from the office on the right by a covered entry leading to Peoria Avenue.

The church, chapel, social halls, and storage buildings, most of which contain much of the original equipment, are all set in a desert landscape using plantings indigenous to the area.

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1 Our Community

Although St. Christopher’s was built in Sun City, a retirement community, it is surrounded by family oriented communities who have experienced tremendous growth.

Peoria, Glendale, and Surprise, for example, are host to professional baseball training camps in the spring.


Professional hockey, football, and basketball teams draw spectators from the Metropolitan Phoenix area and beyond.

For those interested in the Arts, four live theaters, outdoor theaters, and several art museums are all within a five mile radius of St. Christopher’s.

The Loop 101 makes driving to Phoenix relatively quick and easy, where one can enjoy the music at Phoenix Symphony Hall, the stage productions of five downtown theaters, and four major art museums.

Those with a need for speed look forward to NASCAR in the spring and fall, but those who prefer a slower pace will find it in any number of upscale shopping centers or good ol’ Target and Wal-Mart.


Boswell Hospital and a variety of medical centers are minutes away from St. Christopher’s. Del Webb Hospital in neighboring Sun City West, another retirement community, even has a maternity center. Mayo Clinic is situated in the East Valley, the Banner Hospitals dot the four corners of the Valley; and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Phoenix Baptist are in downtown Phoenix.

While St. Christopher’s may have ministered almost exclusively to those over 55 when the cornerstone was laid in 1964,

Today we have a wide range of potential communicants with a variety of interests, a wide range of income, education, and work skills.

We see our church providing a ministry for the very young to the very old.

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2 Worship

At St. Christopher’s, parishioners and visitors are called to worship throughout the week. Early risers can attend an 8:00 service every Sunday from September through May with Rite I or at 10:00 with Rite II and a Verger and Assistant Verger in attendance. An important part of both services during the first Sunday of the month is the Healing Service.

During June, July, and August, Holy Eucharist is celebrated at just 9:00 am with a Healing Service as well on the first Sunday of those months.

    Throughout the year, the faithful can
     attend a Healing Service with Eucharist
     on Wednesday in the Chapel.

A contemporary service using Rite II is
held at 4:00 on the third Sunday of the month.

The Altar Guild prepares the Lord’s Table for all services, memorials, weddings, and baptisms; and a volunteer schedules lay members as crucifer, acolyte, subdeacon, chalice bearers, and lectors.

    During the school year, the youth
    serve in most of those duties
    at the 10:00 AM service on the first
    Sunday of the month.

Following each Sunday service, the Lay Eucharistic Ministers take communion to the homebound and ill.

Because many are so willing to serve, St. Christopher’s doors are open regularly.

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3 Music

The music at St. Christopher’s is a delightful mix of traditional and contemporary hymns chosen from the 1982 Church Hymnal, and the Wonder, Love, and Praise Songbook, a supplement to the 1982 Hymnal. Preludes, interludes, and postludes on the organ at both services on Sundays are mostly Baroque.

The senior adult choir, under the direction of a paid choir director, sings at the 10:00 am service and on special occasions. Although the choir takes a break in the summer, members are encouraged to sing or play solos for the offertory during the summer service. A young adult and youth choir is being trained by a volunteer for the contemporary service on the third Sunday of the month and will eventually join the senior choir for special services as well.

A bell carillon rings out well-known hymns after the Sunday 10:00 service and at noon on weekdays.

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4 Fellowship

Throughout the year, St. Christopher’s offers food, fellowship, and fun. From September through May, on the second Sunday of the month, parishioners from the 8:00 and 10:00 services enjoy each other’s company at the breakfast held between services.

On Shrove Tuesday, the aroma of hot pancakes and syrup fills Harte Hall. During Lent, weekly evening potlucks on Wednesday with prayer and programs nourish the body and soul. Following the Great Vigil on Holy Saturday, a catered Feast of the Lamb celebrates the beginning of the Easter season.

A Spaghetti Brunch in March, hosted by the youth, funds scholarships for children to attend summer camp at Chapel Rock, while the Fashion Show and Luncheon brings parishioners and friends to the annual Rummage Sale.

Just for fun, a Talent Show
draws a crowd in the spring.

During the long, hot summer, everyone enjoys an Ice Cream Social in July.

As the days cool, the Blessing of the Animals on St. Francis Day offers treats for pets and their humans;

and in December, the Christmas Boutique is accompanied by a Silver Tea and Desserts. The St. Christopher’s Family loves to break bread together.

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5 Outreach & Inreach

Outreach is one of the strengths of St. Christopher’s. Programs are basically self-supporting and even provide some support for the operating budget.

Goodies Galore (our second-hand store),

the annual Rummage Sale,

and the Boot Fund

provide a ministry of low-cost items to parishioners and the community in need.

Partnering with community-based organizations has enabled our church through fund-raising efforts to provide financial resources or donated items to the following: St. Andrew’s Clinic in Nogales, Sun City Posse, Sunshine Services, Olive Branch Senior Center, Habitat for Humanity, Phoenix Rescue Mission, Westside Food Bank, Sojourners Center for Abused Women and Children, Phoenix Crisis Nursery, and Valley Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

At Christmas, the youth purchase and distribute gifts for the children of prison inmates.

Our St. Christopher’s Singers is an outreach that provides a musical ministry to our nursing homes by conducting a sing-a-long with the residents.

The needs of our congregation are also met through the CARES Committee, whose members stay in touch with our homebound parishioners. Communication with these individuals is important to maintain our family atmosphere with phone calls, visits, transportation needs, and Holy Communion.

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6 Christian Education

For preschoolers through sixth grade, Godly Play is held in a specially designed room above the Narthex and combines stories from the Old Testament, sacred stories from the New Testament, and the parables of Jesus, in a program paralleling the worship service taking place downstairs in the Nave on three Sundays of the month during the school year.

Plans for a Bible Study for adults and youth are currently taking shape and will soon be in place.

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7 Administration - Staff & Clergy

A Vestry, consisting of a senior and junior warden and nine lay persons, is responsible for the temporal affairs of the parish. Each year, three new members are elected, thereby bringing in new perspectives while maintaining continuity.

Paid staff members are a full-time Rector, Secretary, and Sexton, and part-time Music Director and one choir member; while volunteers take on the roles of Youth Ministry Coordinator, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, Vestry Clerk, and Treasurer.

Four retired priests, a retired deacon, and our interim rector comprise our current clergy.

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8 Search Process

Our search process is being carried out under the authority of the Bishop of Arizona, The Rt. Reverend Kirk S. Smith, and with the assistance of the Diocesan Deployment Office.

All interested candidates are requested to submit application to the attention of The Reverend Canon Timothy Dombek, Canon to the Ordinary at the Diocese of Arizona, 114 West Roosevelt, Phoenix, AZ 85003. Canon Dombek’s email is Timothy@AzDiocese.org.

The Bishop will present the Search Committee with a short list of interested candidates. The Search Committee will send three to five questions to each candidate for written response. Candidates will be requested to send a recorded sermon. Phone interviews will follow to those candidates who continue to be of interest to the Search Committee. References will be contacted.

The final few candidates will be invited to meet with the Search Committee and the Vestry. The Bishop’s office will make a Bishop-to-Bishop call, a Deployment-to-Deployment call, and start background checks.

The Search Committee may ask to visit some candidates in their current location.

The Search Committee will present its final recommendation to the Vestry for final selection and issuance of a “Call.”

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Although St. Christopher’s was built in Sun City, a retirement community, it is surrounded by family oriented communities who have experienced tremendous growth. Peoria, Glendale, and Surprise, for example, are host to professional baseball training camps in the spring.
	Professional hockey, football, and basketball teams draw spectators from the Metropolitan Phoenix area and beyond. For those interested in the Arts, four live theaters, outdoor theaters, and several art museums are all within a five mile radius of St. Christopher’s.