Christ Episcopal Church

TEA, HISTORY, music and art will be served at a Historical Tea sponsored by Women of Christ Episcopal Church on Saturday.Scones, tea sandwiches and desserts will be offered at the traditional English tea.Members of Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra will provide music.After each of three tea seatings -- 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. -- art historian Viviana Holmes will guide visitors and relate the history of the church, known as "Old Brick."The church and its parishioners played an important role in the development of what was then Anne Arundel County.

The Columbia Orchestra knows how to fill the stage with musicians, but it also knows that a much smaller ensemble also can be music to the ears. That's why its season provides a mix of concerts deploying the full orchestra and other concerts that adopt a chamber music format. Where the latter format is concerned, you'll only count three musicians when the Columbia Orchestra Piano Trio performs a free concert on Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, in Columbia.

The Sundays at Three Chamber Music Series will present the Fessenden Ensemble Trio on Sunday. Clarinetist Suzanne Gekker, violist Nancy Weller and pianist Amy Klosterman will perform pieces by Martinu, Bloch, Williams and Bruch. Founded in 2000, the Fessenden Ensemble consists of 13 members, representing strings, woodwinds, brass and piano. The members were drawn from groups such as the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, "President's Own" Marine Band, White House Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

In the spirit of forgiveness, several local Episcopal churches have offered to host a funeral for Douglas Franklin Jones, the man Howard County police say fatally shot a rector and a church administrator at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Ellicott City before killing himself in nearby woods. "A couple of churches thought it would be nice to offer their space," said Sharon Tillman, a spokeswoman for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. "It's up to [his] family whether they will take it or not. " Jones is accused of entering the church May 3 and shooting the Rev. Mary-Marguerite Kohn, whose funeral was held Tuesday at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore, and ecclesiastical administrator Brenda Brewington, whose funeral is scheduled for Thursday at St. John's Episcopal Church in Ellicott City.

Beyond heavy wrought-iron gates, a wavy brick path leads to the side steps of a gray stone, Gothic Revival parish house, once belonging to Christ Episcopal Church. Building and gardens are snuggly tucked behind the grand townhouses of Mount Vernon's Chase Street. David Egan opens the building's double doors with an invitation to cross the threshold. The scent of old wood and beeswax wafts through the entrance area, conjuring memories of services, celebrations and quiet reflection. The fragrance lingers in the recessed, arched, diamond-leaded glass windows and in the intricately carved woodwork soaring to 15-foot ceilings.

Though poised in the suburban netherworld between Baltimore and Washington, Howard County has not been content to sit back, relax and ride the cultural coattails of its neighbors. Rep Stage, the Howard County Ballet, Columbia Orchestra, Pro Cantare Chorus and Candlelight Concert Society prove that point with authority. So does Sundays at Three, a remarkable concert series poised to offer its eighth season of innovative, high-quality musical programming at Christ Episcopal Church in Columbia.

Fall may mean back to school and football games for county residents, but it also heralds kickoff time for the many groups that constitute Columbia's vibrant cultural life. One of the finest of these organizations, Sundays at Three, celebrates the opening of its 2007- 2008 performance season with a 3 p.m. recital Sunday by acclaimed pianist Brian Ganz. Since 1996, Sundays at Three has offered some of the area's best chamber music in Christ Episcopal Church's superb acoustics. High-caliber performances of both familiar masterpieces as well as new works are always followed by the opportunity to meet the artists.

Musicians are not in agreement about the world's first musical instrument: Was it voice (the sound of a mother singing to her child), or was it percussion (banging on something to make sound or send a message)? Some people believe that the voice is not really a musical instrument; but if music is an art and all art is human expression, then there is probably nothing more artful than a group of voices raised together in song. The sound of a chorus is at once natural, familiar, easy on the ears, thrilling and emotionally pointed.

On July 26, 2009, Services will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Bel Air, MD on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 10 A.M. Interment will be in Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery, Forest Hill, MD. Friends may call at the family owned McComas Funeral Home, P.A., Bel Air, MD on Thursday, July 30, 2009 from 6 to 9 P.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery Fund, 2100 Rock Spring Road, Forest Hill, MD 21050. Memory tributes may be sent to the family at mccomasfuneralhome.

On May 1, 2006, ANNIE PARRANWAGNER, beloved wife of Warren H. Wagner, dear mother of Elizabeth W. Kirkley and Robert P. Wagner; devoted sister of Thomas Parran, Jr., and Mary Sledge. Also survived by five grandchildren. Friends may call at the family owned Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, Inc., 6500 York Road (at Overbrook), on Friday 4 to 7 P.M. A Graveside service will be held Monday 1 P.M. at Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery, Port Republic, MD. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Christ Episcopal Church, 3100 Broomes Island Road, Port Republic, MD 20676-2101.

The centuries-old church affectionately known as "Old Brick" is far from imposing. It more closely resembles a one-room schoolhouse than it does the newer, larger building that has housed its congregation since the 1990s. Yet Old Brick's historic role as a witness to the development of Howard County and Columbia looms large in the hearts of many, and has inspired its congregation at Christ Episcopal Church to restore the red-brick building on what is now Oakland Mills Road to a close facsimile of its original.

CATHARINE BAKER "KITTY" ADAMS Passed away peacefully on December 22, 2009 at age 81 in Rochester, NY. Predeceased by her beloved husband, O. Ross Adams; parents, David and Catharine Baker and brothers, David B. Baker, Jr. and William G. Baker, III. She is survived by her children, Kitty (Pat) Murphy, Ross (Missy) Adams and Caroline (Moby) Burton; five grandsons, Nick and Tyler Kurlas, Philip and Whitman Adams and Colby Murphy; One great-granddaughter, Annabelle Hart Burton; as well as nephew, David B. Baker, III; niece, Nina Baker Neal; sister-in-law, Eleanor Baker Cadwalader; many dear friends; and wonderful caregivers.

The Columbia Pro Cantare Chamber Singers perform "A Christmas Noel" at 3 p.m. today at Christ Episcopal Church, 6800 Oakland Mills Road. Call 301-854-0107 or 410-799-9321 for tickets and more information.

On August 4, 2009, Elvira Vivianni Telles LE The funeral service will be held at 1:00 P.M. at Christ Episcopal Church in Forest Hill where her oldest daughter is the rector. Interment of ashes will take place in Columbia, South Carolina at a later date.

On July 26, 2009, Services will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Bel Air, MD on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 10 A.M. Interment will be in Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery, Forest Hill, MD. Friends may call at the family owned McComas Funeral Home, P.A., Bel Air, MD on Thursday, July 30, 2009 from 6 to 9 P.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery Fund, 2100 Rock Spring Road, Forest Hill, MD 21050. Memory tributes may be sent to the family at mccomasfuneralhome.

PHYLLIS MARGARET STRADER, born July 3, 1933 in Parkstone, England, died January 18, 2009 from complications of pneumonia. Phyllis was a gifted dancer who left home at 16 to study in London with the world acclaimed ballet mistress Dame Marie Rambert. Following her formal studies, she travelled Europe extensively where she met her husband. She came to this country in 1954 and became a US citizen in 1959. Phyllis was an active member of the Sacred Dance Guild and of Christ Episcopal Church where she helped establish two dance ensembles; the Lumen Christi and 5 Dancing.

JAMES R. CHAFFINCH of Denton, MD died March 18, 2007. Beloved husband of the late Irma Hibbs Chaffinch; dear father of Melinda Merwin, Janie Coyne, Susan Chaffinch and Candance Minner. Also survived by five grandchildren. Memorial service will be 3 P.M. at Christ Episcopal Church, 105 Gay Street, Denton, MD. Interment will be private in Denton Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Christ Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 428, Denton, MD 21629 or the Caroline Hospice Foundation, P.O. Box 362, Denton, MD 21629.

Concert Strike up the band The U.S. Army Field Band ensembles and soloists will perform as part of the Spring Chamber Music Series at 7 tonight at Christ Episcopal Church, 6800 Oakland Mills Road, Columbia. Call 301-677- 6586 or visit armyfield band.com.

On February 5, 2008, THOMAS JURGENSON; beloved husband of Judith L. Jurgenson; dear step-father of Heidi, Jeffrey and Sean Pringle; loving brother of Renata Barron. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, at 2 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church. Donations in his memory may be made to the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center.

Ellen G. Lally, a former reporter who later became an Eastern Shore caterer, died of cancer Sunday at The Pines, an Easton hospice. She was 73. She was born Ellen Gordon Needles in Baltimore and spent her early years in Buckingham Manor, a Charles Street apartment house. During World War II, she moved with her family to Albany, Ga., where her father was serving in the Army. After returning to Baltimore in 1947, she attended Garrison Forest School, and graduated in 1951 from the Emma Willard School, a Troy, N.Y., boarding school.