The Weekly News for December 13, 2017
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Greetings!
In this issue of
The Weekly News:
- An Invitation From the Interim Rector
- The Fourth Sunday of Advent
- The Schedule of Services After Christmas Day
- Indiana Children and Nature Brown Bag Luncheon
- Preparing the Church for Christmas
- Angel Tree Christmas Outreach Project
- Children's Christmas Liturgy Rehearsal
- Seasonal Altar Flowers
- An Update from the Search Committee
- Important Dates for Your Calendar
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An Invitation From Father Stephen
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To the Members and Friends of St. Christopher's,
There are few times when we sense God’s profound love as fully as we do at Christmas. Even the usual seasonal distractions cannot rob the holiday of its joyful message—of a God who loved the world so much that he gave his only son to be born for us. We are blessed by God’s love, and we are called by God’s love, a call summed up in this brief phrase from an early Christian letter: “We love because he first loved us.” (I John 4:19)
As Christians, love is never just feeling. It is always imitative of the kind of love God revealed to all humankind in Jesus—a love that offers itself, gives itself, spends itself, pours itself out in service to others. God’s love changes everything. It can soften hard hearts and heal broken ones. It can give courage to fearful ones, and open those that have closed because of disappointments and hurts. All this can happen because of the birth of a child.
We will celebrate the birth of Love Incarnate at St. Christopher’s at services on December 24 and 25. Please come and bring your families, neighbors, and friends to one of the following services:
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Sunday, December 24
Christmas Eve
4:00 p.m. | Christmas Pageant and Holy Eucharist
8:00 p.m. | Candlelight, Festival Eucharist with Choir and Brass
11:00 p.m. | Candlelight, Sung Eucharist with Soloist and Harp
Monday, December 25
Christmas Day
10:00 a.m. | Holy Eucharist, Rite One with Carols
Many years ago, the Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, sang a concert at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo where I was serving on staff. It was nearly Christmas, so they sang familiar carols from their extensive repertoire. The Choir ended their concert by inviting the congregation to sing, “O little town of Bethlehem” with them. Written by Phillips Brooks, it’s one of the few American carols in our hymnal.
The last stanza of the hymn is a prayer, inviting Jesus to be born in each one of us. I believe Jesus is born in us every time we choose to follow him by loving God, and by loving our neighbors as ourselves. I invite you to pray for the birth of the Holy Child in you this Christmas:
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!
Christmas blessings,
Father Stephen
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Schedule for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
The fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve coincide this year. We will have four services on December 24.
Advent Four, Sunday, 9:00 a.m. | Holy Eucharist, Rite II, with congregational hymns
(See Father Stephen's letter above for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Services.)
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Schedule of other services in the days following Christmas
Wednesday, December 27 | There will be no service (the church will be closed)
The First Sunday after Christmas, December 31
7:45 a.m. | Holy Eucharist, Rite I
10:00 a.m. | Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Wednesday, January 3
10:00 a.m. | Holy Eucharist, Rite I, in the Chapel
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Indiana Children and Nature Brown Bag Luncheon
Thursday, December 14, 12 Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Join us to learn about St. Christopher's natural playground. We will eat lunch in the parish hall and hear about how our natural play area came together before exploring outside! RSVPs to
info@indianachildrenandnature.org appreciated but not required.
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Decorating the Church for Christmas
We will decorate the church in two phases.
Phase I, Friday, December 15, at 5:30 p.m. This will include building three trees in the Nave including lights, building the large tree in the Narthex including decorations, stringing the garland upstairs including wreaths, hanging wreaths over the balcony looking into the sanctuary and hanging wreaths outside the front and side doors.
We are planning to have soups to share with anyone helping that evening so there will be no need to eat before you come. Dinner will be served either in the conference room or the youth lounge upstairs because the AA group will be meeting in the parish hall.
Please don’t enter through the parish hall doors, as we do not want to disrupt their meeting. I will make sure the door leading to the offices is unlocked until everyone arrives.
Phase II, Saturday, December 23, at 9:30 a.m. This phase will include placing poinsettias around the altar, placing live cedar roping in the window sills, placing candle holders in windows and decorating the aisle candles.
If you are interested in helping with Phase I or II, please contact Margo Suttner at
digsdirt2@indy.rr.com or 317-797-6647.
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The Angel Tree Christmas Outreach Project
Bring your donations by December17
During the holiday season we collect gift cards for distribution to Prevail, Good Samaritan, and Third Phase. Take an envelope and fill it with one or more gift cards. Gift cards may be purchased from Target, Kohls, Walmart, or Kroger in small denominations of up to $50 each. Cards can be brought to St. Christopher's any time between now and Sunday, December 17. If you have any questions about this Service to Others project, please contact one of the following: Carol Bolles, Gloria St. John, or Marlyn Young.
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Children's Christmas Liturgy
Rehearsal, December 17, after 10:00 a.m. Service
All children are welcome to participate in the Children's Liturgy as angels or shepherds at 4:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. A brief rehearsal will take place on Sunday, December 17 immediately following the 10:00 a.m.service. Please have interested children arrive at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 24. Costumes will be provided. The preparation is outside the Godly Discoveries classroom on the second floor in the Administration and Education Building.
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Seasonal Altar Flowers
If you wish to give flowers for the Christmas season, you will find envelopes on the round table in the Narthex. Make checks payable to the Altar Guild of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church.
The deadline for ordering seasonal altar flowers is Sunday, December 17.
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An update from the Search Committee
Thank you for the trust and faith you have placed in the Search Committee. The committee members include Drew Bender, Bill Driehorst, Gina Frey, Barb Lyter, Steve Lawson, Annette Moser, Tom Poyser, Tricia Seitz, Kirk Stelsel, Judy Warnock and Rob Weissert. We also are thankful for the help of Teresa Walters who is acting as recorder for our meetings.
The good news is that we have started the process to search for and find our rector. We have a search coach who led us though a two-day retreat, so we have a full understanding of the search process and our responsibilities. We have begun holding regularly-scheduled meetings and preparing our church profile and other materials.
A lot of the process will sound familiar to those of you who have hired before: advertising, receiving resumes, screening candidates, interviewing, narrowing the field of candidates, visiting and observing, and then making a recommendation to the vestry. While similar, the search process for a rector is different from finding an employee for a company. We are seeking the spiritual leader of our church. As Father Stephen likes to say, we are "finding the rector that God has already chosen for us."
For that reason, the search for a rector is a deeply spiritual and contemplative process. This is a prayer and discernment process. Please pray for us.
We will provide updates as we reach milestones and a page on St. Christopher’s webpage (to be announced later this month) will also have updates. We are meeting weekly and welcoming your prayers daily.
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Altar Flower Donations for 2018
We grace the altar with floral arrangements throughout the year, with the exception of Lent when we leave the altar bare. You may give a floral arrangement in memory of someone or in honor of a special occasion such as an anniversary or birthday. The suggested donation is $50. The flower donation chart is located on the bulletin board outside the nursery in the hallway that leads from the narthex to the parish hall. Please sign your name by the date on which you wish to donate flowers. Be sure to provide your telephone number. A member of the Flower Guild will coordinate with you near the relevant date for any special requests and the purpose of your donation.
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Important Dates for Your Calendar
The
Save the Date page
of St. Christopher's website is updated weekly. Check this resource for new information. You also may want to review the insert in the Sunday bulletin, as it provides the schedule for the coming week.
Sunday April 22, 2018 (Earth Day), 11:15 a.m.| Playground blessing and grand opening!
Church office hours
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.
Please Note:
The church office will be closed December 24 - January 1.
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Continue the conversation
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