Abara Border Encounter - Christ Church of Austin

Today’s CliffNotes is written by Worship Pastor Wes Crawford. Keep reading below for Holy Week service times, including childcare registration.

Dear Christ Church,

Earlier this year you heard us announce the Spring 2023 Border Encounter trip, hosted by Abara Borderland Connections in El Paso. From Abara’s website:

Abara Border Encounters (a.k.a. “listening trips”) are 3 day educational immersion experiences designed for students, faith leaders, and groups of all stripes to re-humanize relationships outside the news cycle. These encounters are an invitation to listen, learn, and reflect on what the border can teach us, who we are meant to become, and how we can engage closer to home. This is not border tourism. Through a border encounter, we want to hear differently as we connect across divides. We desire to sit with our neighbors, stand with one voice, and walk with those who sojourn over many miles in search of refuge, safety, and wholeness.

Eight Christ Church parishioners went on this last trip, February 27th–March 1st. You’ll hear a more in-depth report of the trip later, but I wanted to give you some brief impressions from their experience.

“This trip is heartbreaking and heart-lifting at the same time.”

“I came on this trip because I was tired of being angry about immigration and wanted to see it for myself, and I’m coming back with a lot of peace.”

“Christians on the ground at the border are doing great work—often the most under-resourced Christians, and often at great cost to themselves.”

“All the large-scale economic and political solutions tend to conflict with each other and to become intractable.”

“We’re accustomed to thinking about immigration in terms of laws, policies, economic problems, etc. But get face to face with a person, share an orange with them, look at the smiles on their faces, let them show you videos on their phone of fireworks displays in their home towns—then you’ll see a beautiful creation of unspeakable worth.”

Though these impressions are typical for Border Encounter participants, I found them to be striking. They speak of direct personal experience, of the humanization of the other, and of relationship.

Watch for news of another Border Encounter trip in the Fall.

Holy Week is coming up! Here’s our service schedule:

Palm Sunday (April 2) will be our normal service times of 9am and 11am, but we will begin the service in the backyard on the basketball court with the Liturgy of the Palms and then process around the building, through the courtyard, and into the sanctuary for the rest of the service.
On Wednesday of Holy Week (April 5) we will have our Midday Eucharist service at 12:30pm, with the sanctuary opened at 12:00 for quiet contemplation.
Maundy Thursday (April 6) will be a joint service with Church of the Cross at our building (112 Medina). Nursery childcare is available with registration.
On Good Friday (April 7) we will have two services. At 12:00pm we will have a traditional Anglican prayer book Good Friday service consisting of scripture readings, songs, a sermon, and prayers; at 7:00pm we will do our Seven Last Words service consisting of parishioners sharing their stories interspersed with silence and song. Nursery childcare is available at both with registration: 12pm, 7pm
On Easter Sunday we will have three services: 7:30am, 9am, and 11am. Nursery childcare will be available at the 9am and 11am services.

Peace,
Wes