|
A WORD FROM THE RECTOR
Greetings in the
Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Beginning the penitential season of Advent with a Sunday dedicated to youth
is unusual (although it does recall the practice of the
early twentieth century, in which the men and boys of the congregation would
gather for the sharing of eucharist on the first
Sunday of Advent). The timing this year
is dictated by the departure of Alexandra Fowler, who is graduating and moving
to Washington, D.C., and the beginning of the ministry of Kelsey Marx (see
EYC Highlights). The timing is actually providential
in message, for on a day in which the Gospel lesson (Luke 21.25-36) speaks of
the end of the world, we are also reminded that God is faithful in His
promises, and that His purposes will be accomplished in new life. Speaking by the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord says “... I will cause a righteous
Branch to spring up for David” (Jeremiah 33.15).
A righteous branch has come
forth. God’s promises are
fulfilled. We see this in new life in
our own families, but we see this especially in the rebirth of humanity. At
Christmas we celebrate that God assumed our humanity in order that He might
impart to us His divinity, His holiness.
In this “holiday season” the world is celebrating already, but in many
cases celebrating for the wrong reasons.
The season of Advent is a foreign concept to the world, which fails to
grasp that in order to experience real joy we must turn to God. In this “turning” (penitence or repentance,
which in the Greek of the Gospels is rendered as metanoia
or “turning”) we acknowledge that God is faithful, that He fulfills His
promises, even though we fall far short of the holiness for which we were
created and to which we are called. We
fall short, and yet God makes up the difference, sending His Son to
“tabernacle” with us. This is
worth celebrating!
The world wants to celebrate
the “holiday season” right now, because the world does not want to turn,
but to continue to run after its own ends.
That’s why the “holiday” greeting is “Happy Holidays!” The world does not understand the distinction
between happiness and joy; that the former is a present state only, but that
joy (while it may be experienced in the present) is from everlasting, from participation in
the fact that the kingdom of heaven breaks into this world.
How can we participate in the
kingdom? We do this in worship, in
receiving the sacraments, and in doing God’s work. In other words, we do this by observing the
Great Commandment that we are to love the Lord
our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all
our mind; loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22.37-39). This requires us to “turn” first, to turn
from focusing on getting to giving, from what is mine to what is shared, from
the celebration of self to the celebration that God has deemed me worthy of the
life of His only Son.
Following the Advent focus on repentance we do
enter the season of Christmas, and this is a season of joy. In the Collect for Christmas Day, we pray
“Grant that as we joyfully receive [Jesus] for our Redeemer, so we may with
sure confidence behold him, when he shall come to be our judge ...” This prayer takes
us right back to where we started Advent, with a lesson (Luke 21.25-36) in
which Jesus describes the coming judgment; the coming judgment as one involving
birth pangs, of birth into new life. That’s
the real gift of the season, new life.
We celebrate that God became one of us so that we might be no longer strangers
from Him; that He call us to turn and
return to Him, even though we have busied ourselves in other directions, to
other ends. We celebrate the joy of
giving, not just that we might give of ourselves, but that God gives of
Himself; that He gives that which is most precious and dear to us because He so
loves us (John 3.16).
Advent is a time of preparation, of
expectancy. In preparing for our Lord’s
coming we pray that we might “... cast away the works of darkness, and put upon
us the armor of light ...”
(Collect for Advent I) To stand before God, we must be equipped,
putting on the “armor of light” not only for our own salvation, but that we may
witness to all to the Way to God and the Truth and Life found in Jesus Christ. This witness is joyful and heralds the joy of
the Christmas celebration, when we may then echo the angels singing, “Glory
to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.”
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Episcopal Youth Community: As we bid farewell to Alexandra Fowler,
who is graduating from State and moving to the
Next semester, EYC will continue to go
through the Gospel of Matthew during the Sunday morning meetings. A Spring trip to
Sewanee is planned. The EYC will is
exploring service projects including helping at an animal shelter and
Habitat for Humanity. Finally, we are
exploring attending PYE (Provincial Youth Event) 2010 next Summer. PYE will gather at the Valley View Lodge in
Parents of younger children: Don’t forget about Camp Bratton-Green next Summer!
Christian Education: Catechesis of the True Vine: Our class has just completed its Unit on the
Old Testament Judges. Starting with Joshua, we studied the wise leaders and
Judges, Deborah, Gideon and Samuel as well as Ruth, David, Solomon, and Josiah.
We learned about the Ark of the Covenant and what it was supposed to hold. We had a great deal of fun when we acted out
a celebratory parade (with tambourines, bells, drums, etc) with the Ark of the
Covenant, much like the way King David triumphantly returned the Ark of the
Covenant to his people. We also started building King Solomon’s temple which
housed the Ark of the Covenant. We are ready to begin the Unit on the Family of
Jesus, which starts next Sunday and runs through Advent and Epiphany. The Children are looking forward to a
Christmas presentation of some sort, whether it be
caroling at the nursing homes, delivering baked goods to the elderly, or
putting on a pageant for the family service on Christmas Eve. Thank you for your support of our children in
Sunday School. Please let Michelle Easterling or
Carolyn Jane Hay know if you are interested in helping with the children’s
ministry in any manner.
Adult Bible Study:
The group meets Sunday morning at 9:15.
The lessons for Sunday are reviewed in detail, using the summary format
found in the Bible Study section of the parish website. Join us for coffee and discussion!
Vestry Highlights: (financial
information current as of 16 November 2009)
1.
Operating account: $16,484.23 2. Capital account: $15,133.91
3.
Debt balance: $11,490.61 4. Pledges: 90.4% of a projected 87.7%
5.
Rector’s Discretionary Fund: In
the past month 13 people have received help for necessary food, medical costs,
and utilities relief (to the cost of $653.32).
Attendance to date in 2009 has averaged 71 on a
Sunday, an increase of 11% over 2008.
The 2010 pledge total has increased by 7.9% over 2009, with 3 new
pledging units.
Parish
Website: Kudos and thanks are due to Melissa King for
the state of our website. At the 2009
Clergy Conference this parish’s website was recognized as the most informative
and user-friendly in the Diocese. The
content of the website is spreading God’s Word!
The average “hit rate” for the site is 3,000/month, with most hits coming
from outside this area (including a significant number from overseas). Locally, we have actually received inquiries
from non-members when new (weekly) content has been delayed, asking where it
is, so we have evidence that the website is functioning as an outreach
tool. (All who have called have been
invited to worship with us. We’ll
continue to plant seeds of truth.)
A
Special Note about Music: We have begun to sing/chant the psalm to a simplified
Anglican Chant setting (S 410).
This is the reintroduction of a long-standing practice that had lapsed
in the parish. We will evaluate this
practice early in the new year. In Advent, three out of the four Sundays do
not have a psalm, but substitute a canticle.
These will be sung to service music settings from The Hymnal
1982, being The Song of Zechariah (S 248) on Advent II, The
First Song of Isaiah (S 213) on Advent III, and Magnificat
(S 185) on Advent IV. In
addition, in Advent we will use the Rite I service music setting from
Healey Willan’s Missa
de Sancta Maria Magdalena. This is
the most common Rite I setting, and many of you will
recognize it, having grown up with it.
Grace Notes
Holy Days:
In Advent the emphasis is on the season rather than on feast days. Nonetheless, the calendar remains filled with
notable observances. Theologians of note
include St. John of Damascus (ca. 760, feast on 4 Dec.), St. Clement of
Two apostles are remembered in
December: Thomas (21st) and
John (27th). Martyrs include
St. Lucy (13 Dec.), St. Stephen (the first martyr or “protomartyr,”
26 Dec.), and the Holy Innocents (28 Dec.)
The Feast of the Holy Innocents recalls the massacre of all male
children under the age of two years, killed in King Herod’s attempt to rid
himself of the Christ child (Matt. 2.16-18).
6 December is the date for the
feast of St. Nicholas, but this year the feast is trumped by falling on a
Sunday (Advent II). All Sundays are
“principal” feasts, taking precedence over other observances. Nicholas of Myra (d. A.D. 346) is the
patron of young children, sailors, and pawn brokers. The three balls over a pawn shop door
(including here in
The Prayer Book and lectionary
provide for three different Masses for Christmas, and we will celebrate all
three: Christmas I as a vigil service on
24 December, at 4:30 p.m. This service
will be especially suitable for young children.
Christmas II will be a vigil service on 24 December, at 11:00 p.m., and
will include the choir and organ music.
Christmas III will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Christmas day.
Music: After
the 4:30 service on 24 December we will gather to sing favorite Christmas
carols. Christmas music proper
cannot be used before the vigil on 24 December, and it is difficult to work in
everybody’s favorite carols in the two Sundays of the Christmas season. So consider staying for an extra half hour of
congregational signing.
Advent begins with a new hymn
to an older tune, Signs of endings all around us, to the tune “Ton-y-Botel”. This hymn is
from Wonder, Love & Praise, a recent supplement to the hymnal. Another WLP hymn (724) will be used as
an offertory anthem, being People look East. In the hymn Lo! He comes with clouds descending (no. 58)
the Second Coming is described and welcomed.
Following the First Advent emphasis on the Second Coming, the balance of
the season is concerned more with the story of how the Lord is announced and
how He is expected. Thus at Second
Advent the lessons and hymns shift away from the imagery of apocalypse to the
message of John the Baptizer that the Lord is nigh, including no. 76, On
Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry and no. 59, Hark! a thrilling voice is
sounding (the latter also sung as an anthem, to a different melody).
The music of Sweden is
featured in no. 65, Prepare the way, O Zion, and in 497, How bright
appears the Morning Star we are reminded of the theme we hear in The
Song of Zechariah (Luke 1.68-79, particularly v. 78), that the Sun of
Righteousness shall arise for us. The
music for hymn 497 is from sixteenth century
At Christmas we can of course
bring out old favorites. Included are
83, O come, all ye faithful, 115, What
child is this, who, laid to rest, and 100, Joy to the world! the Lord is come.
The latter is one of Isaac Watts’ most famous hymns, helped in a major
way by the tune from G. F. Händel. No. 115 is sung to the famous tune “Greensleeves” generally attributed to that “bad boy” King
Henry VIII. Finally, at the late vigil
on 24 December is hymn 82, Of the Father’s love begotten. This is thought by many to be the oldest hymn
in the Church, having been written in the fourth century by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, a native of
Let
the heights of heaven adore him; angel hosts his praises sing;
powers, dominions, bow before him, and extol our God and
King;
let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert
ring,
evermore and evermore!
In this season of joy, let us raise our voices to welcome and praise our Lord!