The committee presently consists of eleven members: Shirley Andrews (Sr. Warden, Chair), Denzel Andrews, Dave Bono, Eric Dunham, Anne Eaton (clerk), Leon Millis, George Mont, Lynn Mortoro, Glenn Mortoro, John Wilks, and Pam Young. Any hearty parishioners who feel skilled both physically and mentally are welcomed to join this robust committee. Please contact Shirley Andrews or other committee members for further information.

Christ Church Acolytes
Our modern word "acolyte" comes from the Greek "acolytos" meaning "attendant" or "helper". Tradition places the roots of this ministry in the Old Testament, where Samuel served Eli the priest (1 Samuel) and Elijah the prophet was served by Elisha (1 Kings). Acolytes can therefore claim to be continuing one of the oldest traditions of the Church.

At Christ Church, acolytes range in age from 8 to adults and act as processional torchbearers, crucifers and altar servers, and assist the clergy at all Eucharistic services as well as weddings and funerals. It is one of the few ministries available to our young people for active service in our worship life.

Christ Church Choir
The Christ Church Choir, which has been under the direction of organist and choir master George Kent for over 53 years, exists to serve the glory of God through worship in music. The volunteer choir consists of adults and children over the age of eight who sing in the regular weekly choral Eucharists throughout the year. To prepare for these services adult members rehearse weekly on Thursday evenings from 7pm to 8:15pm and for one hour before each service sung. The children in the choir rehearse twice weekly, Mondays and Fridays, boys from 3:45 – 4:45 and girls from 4:45 to 5:45, and again on Sunday mornings with the adults before each service.

Along with the regular weekly services, the choir sings two services of Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas where in each service 9 lessons are read and the choir sings corresponding carols. Our Lessons and Carols services are inspired by those of King's College Cambridge and feature traditional favorites and new music as well. The choir also sings Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, Ash Wednesday and all of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and three services on Easter Sunday. Along with these services, the choir often sings choral evensongs throughout the year as well as weddings and funerals.

Every August for the last 45 years, Mr. Kent, along with the adults of the choir, staff a week-long choir camp in New Hampshire for the children of the Christ Church Choir, along with the children in the Chorus of Westerly of which George Kent is also the founding music director, where the children learn the music for the coming year and enjoy many exciting, invigorating, and exhilarating camp activities. The week-long camp is held at Camp Ogontz in Lyman, New Hampshire on beautiful Lake Ogontz overlooking the White Mountains.

Christ Church offers a rare opportunity for children ages 8-18 to sing in the choir and learn to sing beautiful music every Sunday. The children sing with the adults each week with a "bird's eye view" from the gallery. Mr. Kent is always seeking new child singers to join this dedicated group of joyful volunteers.

Please consider joining the Choir for a musical and spiritual experience unlike any other.

Crafters Group
Christ Church Crafters hard at work on projects for next year's bazaar. This is a group of people who enjoy making items to sell at the annual bazaar. Anyone is invited to come and be part of the group.We meet weekly in the fall winter and spring.

Environmental Stewardship Committee
The Environmental Stewardship Committee has a role in the stewardship of God's environmental creations including the natural world that surrounds us. Our activities and discussion focus on our footprint in our world and care for its future. Education of our parishioners, especially including the children, is a regular focus including projects to save energy and learn about our place preserving nature. Favorite activities in recent years include a guided tour of the flora and fauna of Wilcox Park by the Sunday School classes, in conjunction with Earth Day in the spring as well as projects such as the placement of "lights out" reminders by our parish light switches, to save energy and the parish budget. We also participate on the diocesan level with environmental committees and the Interfaith Environmental Council, which offers workshops such as "Calculate your Carbon Footprint". Meetings are announced on the website and in the bulletin.

The Friendship Ministry
The Friendship Ministry, under the auspices of the Pastoral Care Commission, is an outreach ministry that extends the care of Christ Church to members of the parish who are homebound; coping with loneliness, grief, or long-term illness; or otherwise in need of pastoral care. Friendship Ministers offer a "ministry of presence" to their ministry "friends" through good listening skills and the ability to offer them compassionate and empathetic support.

Upon completing a brief training program and being commissioned into The Friendship Ministry, each Friendship Minister is paired with one or more "friends" by the Rector after consultation with the Coordinator of Friendship Ministers. Friendship Ministers meet from time to time to share experiences, learn from each other, offer each other support and engage in additional training.

If you know of anyone in the parish who could use a friend or if you have an interest in becoming a Friendship Minister, please contact Grant Hutchins (401-347-6776) or the parish office (401-596-0197).

Gardens and Grounds Group
The Landscape Group, sometimes known as Gardens and Grounds, is an informal collection of people who care about the appearance of the church's property and have some combination of time, energy, expertise, and occasionally muscle to do something about it.

Two years ago some of us, with a lot of advice, developed a landscape plan for the property, and this has served as a guide for our efforts since then. We meet about once a week on Tuesdays, schedules permitting. We have removed overgrown bushes from around the base of the church, arranged to have several large trees trimmed, created and rejuvenated gardens and planters with roses, herbs, and other happy bloomers, and have done a massive amount of clipping and general tidying-up.

If winter ever ends, spring will find us enlarging the front garden, doing general winter cleanup, and welcoming anyone who would like to join us.

Hospitality Committee
The Hospitality Committee provides coffee, tea and "goodies" every Sunday morning from; 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall. We provide the lemonade and cookies under the "lemonade tree", on the lawn during the summer months. We host the receptions after the two Lessons & Carols services during Advent and Christmas. We are also the "go to people" for questions etc., concerning the kitchen. We welcome anyone interested in helping us out.

Co-Chairs: Judy Kelmelis and Marion Leddy

Investment Committee
The Investment Committee oversees the parish's several portfolios meeting periodically with our investment advisor. Several accounts, other than those managed by our advisor, generally invested in short-term instruments, also come under the Committee's purview.

Knitting Group
This group knits and crochets hats, sweaters, scarves, afghans, mittens and baby sets. Most of these items are created for the church bazaar, but some are donated to local charities.

Lay Eucharistic Visitors
This is a group who has been licensed by the Diocese to bring Communion to the sick and shut-ins on a regular basis. We work with our clergy in determining who needs a visit, and most of us have one particular Sunday each month for visiting. The training for this ministry is provided by the Diocese. We are also required to attend Safe Church Training, also provided by the Diocese. Anyone interested in this really special and fulfilling ministry is asked to please speak to Fr. Jim.

Lectors/Lay Eucharistic Ministers
Lectors are members of the congregation who read the first lesson and the psalm at the Eucharist on Sunday mornings. Lay Eucharistic Ministers are the men and women who read the second lesson, the prayers of the people, and most importantly administer the chalice during Communion. There is some training needed for this ministry and is provided within the parish. New members are always welcome. Speak to either Fr. Jim or Debby Musto if you are interested in this ministry.

Memorial Garden
The Memorial Garden of Christ Church is a place for the interment of ashes of loved ones as well as a place for quiet contemplation or meditation. The garden is maintained by a committee of dedicated parishioners who plan, plant and care for the plants and structures of the garden. Memorial pavers, which comprise a pathway through the garden, are available for purchase and help fund the costs for upkeep of the garden. We welcome new members to the committee who have an interest and desire to help maintain this lovely garden. Please contact the church office if you have any questions regarding the garden committee.

Peace and Justice Group
The Peace & Justice Group at Christ Church was formed in 2005, to address how we might find alternatives to accepting war, violence and social injustice in our world as a given condition. We wanted to look at our responsibilities around these issues in the light of our Christian Faith, but also study the insights of other Faith traditions. In our Forums called "Living Peace-- Is It Possible" we sponsored a number of guest speakers, among them a Buddhist monk, a Quaker activist, a Franciscan priest, a (female) Muslim teacher, representatives from the R.I. Institute for the Study of Nonviolence and from the Voluntown Peace Trust. Realizing that peace, justice and environmental issues are all connected, we branched out to look at the politics of food, water, energy and climate change. Of late, we have concentrated on showing movies on these and other subjects. Our programs are usually on Sunday afternoons, include refreshments, and engender lively discussions. We're always open to new ideas and new members.

Personnel Committee
The Personnel Committee is the primary resource for developing, maintaining and overseeing standard personnel practices for the Corporation. It performs such duties as is assigned to it by the Vestry, including but not limited to: (1) develop, maintain and oversee personnel policies and procedures; (2) prepare and maintain job descriptions for paid lay staff positions; (3) implement legal and safe practices for the Corporation as required by the rules and canons of the Diocese and The Episcopal Church USA and by applicable laws and (4) serve as a general resource for such other personnel matters as may arise from time to time. The membership of the Personnel Committee includes a chairperson and other members as appointed by the chairperson.

The Stewardship Committee also plans, along with the rector, the annual campaign (usually held in the fall) and the acknowledgement of personal commitments of time, talent and treasure.

Usher/Greeter
As the first representative of Christ Church the worshipper is likely to meet when entering the church, the usher's/greeter's role is a very important one. They are the parish "hosts" in welcoming friends and newcomers to assure that everyone feels "at home."

Ushers are assigned, for the most part, on a monthly basis for the Sunday services. Greeters are assigned to the 5 pm Saturday service.

If you are interested in participating in this meaningful ministry, please speak to Paula Niedmann, scheduler for the ushers.