November 2, 2011
Greetings from San Diego ! We hope you have had a wonderful summer and
are making plans to soon visit Puerto Vallarta and Christ Church by the Sea.
We plan on having our first service at 10:00 a.m., Sunday, December 4, the
Second day of Advent. I think of all of you often, as Shirley and I pray for
each of you every morning, and I have a picture of the congregation in the
sanctuary on my Desktop. We have many wonderful memories of our
worship and social times with all of you.
We ask for your special prayers at this time for two of
our parishioners: Cele Hahn's recovery and for the
successful surgery of Kaye Mattson. As Dale will
be with Kaye for her recuperation, he won't be with
us until later in the season this year.
We have many opportunities at Christ Church for you
to be involved: Lay Readers, Chalice bearers, Altar
Guild, Social Committee and helping with Outreach. Please see me for
information on how you can help.
Our English teaching group has expanded beyond the nearby Kindergarten to
include the grade school next door. We are always looking for more people, the
instruction is easy and our teachers are having so much fun with the children.
We can always use more school supplies: paper, #2 pencils, crayons, and
pens, whatever you can fit into your luggage. We continue to donate food and
clothing, as well as baby blankets and knit caps to the immediate area. We
especially need baby & kids‚ clothing.
If anyone has musical talent to help with the organ/piano keyboard, or other
instruments, please let us know. Music is such an important part of our
worship experience.
In these difficult economic times, we realize that everyone is feeling the
slowdown. This is also true of our church. Last year new regulations were
imposed, taking down billboard advertising, including our large sign that
brought in 36000 pesos per year. We have to replace that lost income. Your
pledges help us to establish a budget to work from, our largest expense being
$2,062.50 for the monthly rent of the building. We are an all-volunteer
church, the only paid help is the gardener and maid, or people who have to be
hired for repairs. So far this year we have a shortfall of approximately
$2,700.00 and hope to be able to recoup this by the end of the year. If you
can prayerfully consider making a pledge for the coming year, it would be
greatly appreciated. We have come so far with all of your help, ideas and
energy, and we hope to be able to continue to be a presence and witness of
Christ in Puerto Vallarta. A convenient giving agreement can be downloaded
This year's Diocesan Convention will be February 3 and 4, Fri. and Sat., in the
Guadalajara area, and the meetings are in Spanish and in English. We take
the luxury bus from Puerto Vallarta which is a nice ride. If you would like to
be a delegate or just attend to meet others in your Diocese, let me know.
The convention is well attended by the English speaking parishes of
Guadalajara, Lake Chapala and the new preaching station in Ajijic, west of
Lake Chapala. This is also a good way to support Bishop Leno and learn what
is happening in other parishes in the Diocese.
You can keep informed of our activities by visiting our web site:
Christchurchbythesea.org and you can e-mail us at: fatherjack@iglesia-cristo-
del-mar.org.
I wish you continued blessings in the coming months, and look forward to
seeing you at Christ Church by the Sea as we work together to spread the
love of Jesus Christ throughout the area. Fr. Jack+