This Week at St Timothy's
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Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
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Today is the Feast of St Lucy
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Today we celebrate the
feast of St Lucy, who died during the Diocletian persecution in the early 4th century.
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Loving God, who for the salvation of all didst give Jesus Christ as light to a world in darkness: Illumine us, with thy daughter Lucy, with the light of Christ, that by the merits of his passion we may be led to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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All Children and Youth Choirs are rehearsing for "Light of the World" Christmas Musical and Christmas Eve this Wednesday. **Parent helpers needed!**
Wednesday, December 13:
5-5:30pm - Pizza in the choir room. (No parish-wide dinner or formation.)
5:30-7pm - Christmas Musical and Christmas Eve rehearsals - starting in the choir room, ending in the church
7-9pm Adult Choir Rehearsal
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Wednesday, December 13
Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Intention: for courage to stand firm in our faith
Thursday, December 14
John of the Cross
Intention: for Anglican religious orders
Friday, December 15
Commemoration of John Horden & Robert McDonald
Intention: for missionaries
Saturday, December 16
Feria
Intention: for church architects and the capital campaign
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Words defined:
Intention: In the Holy Eucharist we receive remission of our sins and "all other benefits of his passion." In the celebration of the Eucharist, we apply those benefits to a particular intention. You can see examples of masses for particular intentions on pages 199-210 in the Prayer Book. 17th century Anglican divine Jeremy Taylor wrote, " "It follows then that the celebration of this sacrifice be, in its proportion, an instrument of applying the proper sacrifice to all the purposes for which it was first designed. It is ministerially, and by application, an instrument propitiatory; it is eucharistical; it is an hommage and an act of adoration, and it is impetratory, and obtains for us and for the whole church, all the benefits of the sacrifice, which is now celebrated and applied; that is, as this rite is the remembrance and ministerial celebration of Christ's sacrifice, so it is destined to do honour to God... to beg pardon, blessings, and supply of all our needs" (Discourse XlX, 4).
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Thank you! We are getting close...
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Thank you for your fidelity and generosity! We hope to have between 180-200 pledges. We had 182 last year. If you haven't had the opportunity to pledge, you can do so by clicking the button below.
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Click
here
to read Amy McFerrin's article on More Than Enough.
Click
here
to read Becky Johnston's article.
Click
here
to read Andy Blair's article.
Click
here
to read Megan Farrell's article.
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End of Year Giving | Stocks & Non-Traditional Gifts
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As the Stewardship Campaign comes to a close and we begin to consider the future needs of the church, did you know that St. Timothy's can receive non-traditional gifts from your brokerage and retirement accounts? Often, making these types of gifts offers tax advantages and allows you to accomplish your charitable goals with minimal effort.
With the stock market at an all-time high, you might consider supporting St. Timothy's with a gift of appreciated securities, which allows you to avoid capital gains taxes on the appreciated portion of the stock's value while at the same time deducting the full fair market value.
If you are 70 1/2 or older with an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), you can support St. Timothy's with a qualified charitable distribution directly from your plan administrator to the church without having to count the distribution as income.
If you are interested in supporting St. Timothy's with a non-traditional gift, please consult with your financial advisor first (we aren't qualified to give tax advice) and then communicate with Chris Ervin (336-765-0294 or
chris@sttimothys.ws). If you would like to contribute this year by way of transfer of securities,
initiate the transfer by the 12th of December.
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The Third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete (gow-day-tay) Sunday. The name comes from the opening lines of the Introit "(Gaudete) Rejoice alway, and again I say, rejoice."
While not quite like Lent, Advent is a season marked with themes of penitence. We are to prepare our hearts for the coming of Our Lord in glory and preparing means, in part, to repent. To accompany our personal repentance, the Church also fasts. We fast, for instance, from the Gloria and flowers. But on the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete, we have a day of refreshment. The color for the day is rose, which we'll have for the 7:30 and 9:00 masses. This is also the reason why the third candle in the Advent Wreath is rose.
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From the Choir Loft | Christin Barnhardt
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John the Baptist's announcement "Prepare the way of the Lord" in Matthew 3:3 is a quote from Isaiah 40:3, which we heard last Sunday on the Second Sunday of Advent. This Third Sunday of Advent we read of John the Baptist in John 1 "when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?'" John replies “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said." Here, John is also referring to Isaish 40:3. Our 9am communion anthem,
"This is the Record of John" by Orlando Gibbons quotes John 1:19-23 directly.
Sunday's processional hymn "On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry" also quotes Isaiah 40:3 & Matthew 3:3 and applies that message to us today:
Then cleansed be every breast from sin;
make straight the way for God within,
and let each heart prepare a home
where such a mighty guest may come.
Stanza 3 is a confession of our need for salvation, stanza 4 is a prayer for healing and love, and stanza stanza 5 is a doxology.
Sunday's Offertory Anthem,
Rejoice in the Lord alway, references Isaish 61:10 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord" and 1 Thessalonians 5:16 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances."
Hymns:
On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry, No. 76
Rejoice! rejoice, believers, No. 68
Prepare the way, O Zion, No. 65
Hark! the glad sound!, No. 72
Voluntary:
Prelude on "Richmond"
Healey Willan
See you Sunday,
Christin
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Let Us Not into Temptation | Father DJ
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Pope Francis has made waves once again with his suggestion of re-wording – or rather re-translating – the Lord’s Prayer. The Pope has suggested that the phrase “lead us not into temptation” might be giving us the wrong idea. His concern is that people might think that God tempts us to sin. He has suggested that the petition be re-translated, “Do not let us fall into temptation.”
In one sense, Pope Francis is correct. As St. James writes, “No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it” (James 1:13-14). God does not do the tempting. He does not want to see us fall; he wants us to have victory over sin and the devil.
But, for one thing, if you look at the original Greek of Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4, “lead us not into temptation” is actually a literal translation. For another thing, think of how, after he was baptized, Jesus “was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). God does sometimes put us into (or at least allow us to end up in) situations where we find ourselves tempted to sin. God does this not because he wants us to fail, but because he wants us to succeed. He wants us to learn to resist temptation – to rely on the strength of his grace and power to build better habits in ourselves and become the people he wants us to be.
With all due respect to His Holiness, there’s no problem with the Lord’s Prayer, as we have it in English, once we understand what we’re saying. Perhaps the only real danger is that the prayer has become so familiar to us that we don’t even think about it at all. To that end, it’s a blessing for us that we now have the chance to pray the Lord’s Prayer more carefully and attentively than perhaps we did before.
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Looking for a place to serve?
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Children's Formation is looking for a few more volunteers for Sunday mornings during the 9am mass and during the formation "hour". Please let Katie Bryant know if you are willing to help in a Godly Play or Catchesis of the Good Shepherd group (no training necessary--we will tell you all you need to know to assist.) katie@sttimothys.ws
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Join us this Sunday, December 17 at 5 PM for WinterFest at Seven Springs (118 Alder Lane, Mocksville, NC 27028). Light of the World, a musical by Mark Patterson, will be presented by St Timothy's children and youth followed by a potluck dinner and perhaps some caroling by the fire. Please bring a heavy hors d'oeuvre or dessert to share. Drinks will be provided.
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I wanted to take the opportunity to provide an update on our annual mission trip to Costa Rica. As you can imagine with Bishop Monterroso’s move to the United States the Diocese of Costa Rica, and its leadership, have been working to carry on with his vision and God’s plan for their Diocese. Allie Norman was hired on as the new Companion Officer this summer and has been working with church leaders to decide on and prioritize projects for the upcoming year.
We have tentative plans to make our annual pilgrimage to San Jose from Feb 25th- Mar 3rd. I hope to have plans and details for our mission trip finalized within the next two weeks so that we can organize our missioners and make travel plans. If you are interested in going to Costa Rica in 2018 please call me at 336.682.9966 or email me at sacristan@sttimothys.ws. Peace, Dwayne McFerrin
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As you make your own Christmas shopping lists, consider including wishes from our Angel Tree to make the holidays merry for others too. The Angel Tree is in the downstairs hallway of the church by the chalkboard wall. There are tags on the tree to support of our St.Tim's Overflow Shelter and provide a meal for a family through New Communion Mobile Food Pantry (we are still collecting pasta too!). There are wonderful handmade mittens on the tree that you can gift to others for Christmas as you make a donation to City with Dwellings in their honor. Checks can be made to City with Dwellings for mitten donations.
More tags will show up after Las Posadas (Dec.18) with the wishes from the kids of Anthony's Plot. All gifts can be returned under the tree with tags on them--the shelter gifts do not need to be wrapped, but please wrap the children's gifts. The children's gifts need to be returned by January 4th to be delivered by the magi at the Feast of the Epiphany. Thank you for sharing with these important ministries this Advent!
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Los Posadas is December 18
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Join us on Monday, December 18 at 5pm for Las Posadas at Anthony's Plot (2323 Sunnyside Ave.). We will gather to parade around the Sunnyside neighborhood singing and searching for shelter for the Holy Family. This is a wonderful Latin American tradition that we celebrate with our friends at Anthony's Plot each Advent. After shelter is found, there is a feast and celebration at Trinity Moravian Church's fellowship hall. Children are visited by the magi who receive their Christmas wishes and return at Epiphany with gifts. All ages are welcome for the caroling or the whole evening! Wear clothes appropriate for the weather as we will be caroling outdoors. Flashlights are also helpful. Anyone who would like to help with singing--please let katie@sttimothys.ws know and I'll send you the music ahead of time.
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Our Overflow Shelter has been welcoming in guests for 2 weeks--out of the cold, out of harms way, and into the warmth and hospitality offered by our volunteers and staff. We opened on Dec.1st with 6 guests, and now with the colder weather our numbers are up to 19 guests. 28 individual women have stayed with us, and our City with Dwellings Overflow Shelters have sheltered over 110 individuals (men & women). Thanks to all from St.Timothy's who continue to make this work possible--through your service, your donations financial & supplies, and your prayers. We need more volunteers at St.Tim's for Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Go to
www.citywithdwellings.org to sign up.
A great need downtown (at our City with Dwellings shelter registration site) is hot chocolate (bulk powdered or packets). The next time you're at the grocery, think of our guests and pick up a pack or two of hot cocoa. Having a warm drink after a long day out in the cold makes a huge difference to our guests' morale and helps us offer the best hospitality possible. Looking for other ways to help--please email
shelter@sttimothys.ws.
Thanks & Peace,
Katie
katie@sttimothys.ws
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Write to Graham Green in Iraq
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Our own Graham Green is a Lt Col in the Army National Guard and is currently deployed in Iraq. We are proud of Graham, his wife, Shannon, and children Garrison and Julia. We will continue to surround them with prayer. He is able to receive letters at the address below. Please use the address exactly as it is printed.
LTC Graham Green
HHC 449th CAB
Camp Taji
APO, AE
09378
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Vestry Reflection | Ashley Robbins
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At the beginning of the school year, my oldest daughter, Jenna, was given a homework assignment, and the writing prompt was “This I Believe”. There were some “taboo” topics that the students were to stay away from because the teacher wanted them to really think long and hard about their core values and beliefs. As you can imagine, this assignment caused a tremendous amount of anxiety for her, as she had never really been challenged in this way. Here is her paper:
One of critical elements for dealing with homelessness is for people to respond to through human connections: This I Believe. When asked, most homeless people will say that they worst part of their situation is the overwhelming feeling of loneliness that they experience each day. Homeless people go days without a hug, a handshake or even a friendly smile. The names people call them are derogatory and it is almost as if they could die on the street and nobody would care.
Most of us believe that we are compassionate. But are we really? Compassion is defined in many ways, but I like to define it as “loving our neighbor”, and we should consider everyone in our community as our neighbors. The neighbors we often forget about are our homeless neighbors.
My church operates an overflow homeless shelter, and it is open every night from December 1st to March 31st. One of the cornerstones for the volunteers that serve in the shelter is to make human connections. Our shelter calls each person that stays there a “guest” and they are all known personally by their name. The guests are served a hot meal each night and the volunteers eat dinner with the guests, thus making the guests more like family. They find out their “stories”, offer a hand to hold, and a shoulder to cry on. Since I am not old enough to have person-to-person contact with the guests, I needed to find another way to connect. I decided to invite several of my friends to my house and we hand made Christmas cards for each guest. The cards were beautiful, and each had a very personal message of encouragement and love. Several weeks later, I heard that the cards meant so much to the guests and that some of the guests even cried when they opened them. The cards took fifteen minutes to make, but the joy they brought lasted significantly longer.
I know that human connects do not solve the vast problem of homelessness but I believe that the problem will never go away without it. People need to feel valued, loved and most importantly, human! When I turn eighteen, I will make a more meaningful impact on my homeless neighbors through my love: This I Believe.
The Overflow Shelter season is upon us once again. This transformative ministry is not about us, even though it has been transformative to us. The Christian love that is woven deep into the fibers of this ministry is strong. I did not share Jenna’s paper to brag on her. To the contrary, I shared it because I believe that it echoes the very essence of our Shelter, and reminds us that the younger generation of this Parish is watching, learning, listening and growing. I encourage each of you to find ways to participate in this ministry over the next 4 months. I promise you won’t regret it.
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We have a limited number of St Timothy's stickers (perfect for car windows). If you would like one, they will be in the office and in the narthex on Sunday. We will reorder to meet the demand.
If you put the sticker on your car, send us a picture!
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Mass & Mammon
December 10, 2017
Morning Prayer: 4
7:30 Low Mass: 28
9:00 Low Mass: 160
11:00 Sung Mass: 73
Mass Total: 261
Lessons and Carols: 200
Average Attendance to date: 316
Offering: $14,130.68
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Altar Flowers
The
altar arrangements are given to the Glory of Almighty God.
Shrine Lamps during December
The
Our Lady of Walsingham Lamp is given to the glory of God and for the work of this parish
by Jonathan Williams.
The
Sanctuary Lamp is given to the Glory of God and with special prayers for the visitors to our parish.
The
St. Timothy Shrine Lamp is given to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving for Abigail, Walker, and Luke Rice by their parents.
The
St. Michael the Archangel Lamp is given to the Glory of God and with prayers for the protection of LTC Graham Green and all those in our armed forces by the women of St. Timothy’s.
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