A letter from Father Bob:

Christ Church is an active Christian Community in fellowship with the Episcopal Church in the USA and the worldwide Anglican Communion. The parish has been in Stratford since 1707 and in 2007 Christ Church celebrates 300 years of witness and mission in Stratford and beyond.

We value that we are both Catholic and Protestant, and uniquely ourselves. We follow a course charted for us by Anglican Divines in the 16th Century which we call “The middle way”: a way we can keep to the traditions of the Catholic Church, its liturgy and organization, and affirm some of the key understandings and breakthroughs of the Protestant reformation, including the ability of all persons to have a relationship with Christ.

Foremost, we are, and are ever attempting to be, a spiritual community, in which music both traditional and new deepens and enlivens our worship. We adhere to the scripture and we also believe that as Christ says, “The law was made for people not people for the law”. Indeed, the only true meaning for our existence is the love of God for us in Jesus the Christ. Jesus is our model and guide for the way of life that we seek to live. 

We value the presence of Christ in all people and creatures. We intentionally and heart fully embrace all races, capacities, sexualities, nationalities and welcome a wide diversity of opinion on almost every matter in the church and society. We find that living in Christian Community helps us and our children grow into a deeper appreciation for differing perspectives and opportunities to include those with whom we might not regularly be in communication.

While we entertain a wide variety of experience and thought about the human condition and the human’s relationship with the holy, we also teach and practice a life of daily prayer that includes daily personal and family prayer, and the practice of the presence of God. We encourage a disciplined life lived with integrity before each other and before God, because we believe in a community in the Spirit that can hold us accountable for how we treat each other and the world.

From our earliest roots we have had a special regard for children. As Christ said to us “Let the little children come to me.” And so from our earliest clergy the education and appreciation of the insights and perspective of the young have been welcomed. We have an active church school of 40 children and over a dozen teachers and aides. The aides are comprised of older teens that have been confirmed. A Bell choir for the children has 15 members with a waiting list and there is also a children’s Choir.

We come together every week on Sundays and other days of the week, to be a community of care and concern, among old and new friends and acquaintances, and to be in the presence of God as the body of Christ in the world.

Thank you for taking the time to review our Web site, and I look forward to meeting you at one of our services.

Sincerely,

Robert K. Stuhlmann, Pastor