Welcome to Christ Church Parish, Redding, CT
we are redding's episcopal parisH
We are a welcoming community of loving Christians exploring our faith, serving others, and growing in God's love. We are active in our community, and take great joy in fulfilling Jesus’ command to love God and our neighbor, in prayer, word, and action. All are welcomed, included, and affirmed at Christ Church Parish. To find out more, click below!
We meet at 9am on Sundays for a service of either Morning Prayer or Holy Eucharist.
We gather in our Parish Hall after the service for Coffee Hour.
CLICK HERE for more information!
Located at 184 Cross Highway, Redding, CT (on the corner of Cross Highway and Route 58)
(In case of inclement weather, our service will be streamed ONLINE on Facebook Live. Check your eTidings, our Facebook page, or this website before leaving for church on Sunday morning if the weather looks iffy!)
A Reflection from Pastor Emilie
Dear People of God,
Since this is the year we read the story of the walk to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke, I thought it would be a good time to tell you another children's story. This is The Story of the Walk to the Village of Emmaus:
Did you know that it is still Easter? Easter lasts for fifty days. That’s almost two whole months!
The first Easter was a confusing time. Jesus died. His disciples saw the soldiers take his body away and put it in a tomb, and they rolled a great stone into the opening of the tomb to close it, like a door. But the next morning, when some of them went to the tomb, the stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty! And some of the women told them that Jesus had been raised from the dead and that they would see him again. They didn’t know what to think!
They were so confused that two of the disciples decided to just go home.
Their home was in the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. They had to walk the whole way there. It took a long time, so as they walked, they talked together about all the crazy things that had been happening. And as they were walking and talking, a stranger came up and started to walk with them.
The stranger said, “What are you talking about as you walk?”
One of the disciples, his name was Cleopas, answered, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know about the things that have happened there?”
The stranger said, “What things?”
They said, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth! He was a great prophet, and we thought he was the one who would free us from the Romans. But our leaders handed him over to the Romans instead, and they killed him. And then just this morning, some of the women in our group went to the tomb where they laid him, but they didn’t find his body there. They said they had seen him, and that he had been raised.”
The stranger said, “Don’t you see, though? The one who would free you had to suffer and die first.” And for the rest of the walk, the stranger explained all the words of the prophets to them.
When they got to the village of Emmaus, it was almost dark, so the disciples invited the stranger to come have dinner with them. When they all sat down around the table, the stranger took the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. It was Jesus! But as soon as they recognized him, Jesus vanished.
The two disciples stared at each other. Then they jumped up and ran all the way back to Jerusalem. When they found the other disciples, they burst in the door, crying, “The Lord is risen! He appeared to us on the road!” And they described how they had recognized him when he broke the bread. Christians still break bread to remember Jesus today.
I wonder where you might see Jesus?
I wonder how you would know it was him?