I guess I would have to be called a cradle Roman Catholic. I came from a family where it was “you better be to church 15 minutes early,” “you better have all the prayers memorized,” and “you better not sneeze or cough while the priest is talking.” As I grew older, church kind of phased out of my life because I already knew all the readings and sermons but it just didn’t seem like it related to me.
I want to say something about the importance of Holy Cross, not just what it is, but what it stands for. I don’t think a person can really live a moral life without hoping that God loves us enough to die for us and wants us to love each other the same way. The only way we can show that we want to live up to that idea together is by attending the Holy Communion and symbolizing that we want to be united in Jesus’s sacrifice. Everybody in the world should be doing that together. I think that’s what Holy Cross stands for.
In the four years we have lived in Weare, Holy Cross has become “home†to us. Things we relish about Holy Cross include:
· The way people have opened their hearts and homes to us.
· The fact that worship is taken seriously; it is never just “matter of course.†We particularly relish the wonderful music in our worship services
· The importance given to the authority of the Bible, striving to understand and interpret its whole message, in contrast to narrow line-by-line or “literal†interpretation.
· Father John’s stress on Christian Life as a “pathway to God.â€
· Emphasis upon the one-ness of love-for-God and love-for-neighbors (that is, all of humanity). We appreciate Father John’s phraseology that “Love for God and love for our neighbors are inextricably intertwined.
· The fact that, by choice, Holy Cross is a vital part of the Weare community.
· The acceptance of diversity of liturgical practices, such as sitting, standing, kneeling for prayers, diversity of opinions, such as around the issue of sexuality.
We are happy that Holy Cross is “home†to us!
My wife Kathleen and I became acquainted with Holy Cross some 15 years ago when we supported the effort of St. Paul’s, Concord, that had an extended and helpful ministry at Holy Cross. We were impressed by the worship and work of the clergy and people at that time.
Numerous events changed the direction of the Weare congregation and we lessened our attendance. However, we heard that a new priest and his wife with interesting backgrounds had been called and accepted the challenge of raising up a faltering missionary congregation.
I have been coming to Holy Cross since I was a little girl. I was one of the very first female acolytes, in the old church which is now the atriums. I’m a single mom with two little boys, Ryan and Wyatt. I have lived in Weare most of my life, aside from a few years in North Carolina in my early 20’s.Â
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I actually found my way back to Holy Cross during my pregnancy with Ryan. I will say it is so exciting to be in our new building. To be able to provide a community space for so many groups in town is wonderful. I think back to how many changes we have had over the years, but the closeness you feel here never changes.
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I love the atrium and nursery program we have. It is so different than what I experienced. I think my children will remember more with the program we have here now. I love it here, and I’m proud to be a part of all we try to do for the community and beyond.
I came to Holy Cross, a little more than eight years ago. When I called to find about service times, I got the answering machine. The message, offered by Fr. John, spoke of a small congregation with lots of young families with children. Right down my alley—I had a 5-year-old and an 18-mo.-old. I was shopping for a church home after having moved to New Boston recently. I was starting with Episcopal churches—I had grown up in one.
Well, my shopping trip didn’t last long—I came to Holy Cross that Sunday and never left.
Our family started to come to Holy Cross for weekday Mass on major holy days back when Wayne Haney was taking services here part time. There wasn’t any other Episcopal parish in driving distance, or anywhere in the state as far as I know, that had services on most of the days of obligation during the week. I think that’s still the case. Most of our children were at home back then, and we would often make up the bulk of the congregation.
I came to Holy Cross following a suggestion from a friend when I moved to Weare about 17 years ago. Finding that it was important to join and really become a member of the community, but at the same time being a child of the Me generation, nonconformist and forever suspicious of authority, I wondered, why would I do that, and why would I want to support a church with my money and time?Â
 
We found our way to Holy Cross at the end of what I would call a long road of small events and coincidences. Kerri and I came from very different religious and spiritual backgrounds, but along the way we’ve shared common beliefs and values. We had both come to realize that we needed something more than just our own personal, private belief in God.
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After driving by the sign on Rt 114 so many times, we finally worked up the nerve and went to church. Right from the beginning, everyone was warm and welcoming, and we realized that there was a community there that we could be a part of. From that first Sunday on, we’ve grown to love Holy Cross for so many different reasons.
 
I am a cradle Episcopalian, baptized when I was six weeks old. It was in the church where I grew up that I knew, without a doubt, that I was loved, loved by God and by the members of the church. My Christian formation took root there. I belonged. While I probably couldn’t articulate my understanding of stewardship then, I understood it in an unconscious way. We had partitioned envelopes where we placed our offering each week, one half for the local parish and one half for mission outreach.  But, it was more than money, it was time and talent, that I gave, too.