Map & Driving Directions
 |
10233 W Peoria Ave (623) 972-1109 From Loop 101, take the
Peoria Ave exit. Go West 1.2 miles. Our church is on the
Southeast corner of Peoria Ave and 103rd Ave. You will see this statue on
the Peoria Ave Side. |
| St
Christopher's Profile Who are we? |
To access the sections, click on the blue number in front of the listing. You can get back to the homepage by clicking on the home button in the navigation bar on the left.
| Welcome | |
| 1 Our Community | 5 Outreach & Inreach |
| 2 Worship | 6 Christian Formation |
| 3 Music | 7 Administration - Staff & Clergy |
| 4 Fellowship |
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 103rd Avenue with a large parking lot curving around in back.
As parishioners and visitors enter at 8:00 &10:30 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.
A Spanish mass is celebrated at noon every Sunday
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 St Christopher's Cares 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 is at the left rear of the covered courtyard, while the office is on the right.
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.
Although St. Christopher’s was built in Sun City, a retirement community, it is surrounded by family oriented communities that 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.
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.
Youth members serve in a wide variety of worship ministries during the 10:30 AM Family Eucharist.
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.
Throughout the year, the faithful can attend a Healing Service with Eucharist on Wednesday in the Chapel.
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 10:30 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
bell carillon rings out well-known hymns after the Sunday 10:30 service and at
noon on weekdays.
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From September through May, on every Wednesday night, parishioners share a meal together, then enjoy a brief Compline service accompanied by contemporary music. We end the evening with classes and youth group.
On Shrove Tuesday, the aroma of hot pancakes and syrup fills Harte Hall. 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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Outreach is one of the strengths of St. Christopher’s. Programs are basically self-supporting and even provide some support for the operating budget.
St Christopher's Cares
the annual Rummage Sale,
and
the Boot Fund
(our second-hand store),
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.
For
our preschoolers, 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 Godly play, we tell stories in such a way that children are encouraged to enter into the stories and relate them to their personal experience. After a Bible Story is told to the students, the storyteller and children use "wondering questions" to reflect on the story together. Then each child has the opportunity to respond to story with a variety of art materials. The most important thing we teach in Godly Play Center is how Christian people live and work together in community.
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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; while volunteers take on the roles of Youth Ministry Coordinator, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, Vestry Clerk, and Treasurer.
Four retired priests and our rector comprise our current clergy.
