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News and Notes
from
THE PARISH of
ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
in Mountain Home, Arkansas
Editor - Kathy Johnson
870-219-4199
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CONTENTS
Anniversaries
Birthdays
Book Discussion Group
Calendar
Contact Us
Daughters of the King
Hymn Notes
"LIke Us" on Facebook
Links to Other Useful \Websites
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DECEMBER CALENDAR
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| 10 |
Wood Carvers |
9 AM |
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Book Discussion Group |
Noon |
| 11 |
Stitchers |
9 AM |
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Pub Theology |
5:30 PM |
| 12 |
Choir Practice |
5 PM |
| 13 |
WALK THE LABYRINTH |
10:30 AM |
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Prayer Group |
1 PM |
| 14 |
Men's Holiday Breakfast |
8:30 AM |
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DoK Advent Quiet Day |
10 AM |
| 15 |
SUNDAY Advent 3
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Vestry Meeting |
Noon |
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EfM |
1:30 PM |
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17
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Wood Carvers |
9 AM |
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18
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Stitchers |
9 AM |
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Area Art Club |
9 AM |
| 19 |
Choir Practice |
5 PM |
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20
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Prayer Group |
1 PM |
| 22 |
SUNDAY Advent 4
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Discretionary Fund Coll. |
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| 24 |
Christmas Eve Service |
11 PM |
| 25 |
Christmas Day Worship |
11 AM |
| 26 |
Choir Practice
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5 PM |
| 29 |
SUNDAY
Food Ingathering
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If we have added, altered, or omitted your event, please let the church office know. |
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ANNIVERSARIES AND BIRTHDAYS
ANNIVERSARIES 2019
December
19 Bill and Kathy McClellan
January 2020
22 Jeffree and James Loveless
24 Steve and Bonnie Smith
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BIRTHDAYS 2019
December
6 Vickie Harris
20 Keri Raycraft
21 Doris DeSousa
27 Frances E. (Frannie) Landry
Sarah Jackson-Lockyer
31 Brenda Hasselwander
January 2020
3 Winnie Healey
8 Rox Friend
15 Margaret Weeks
17 Sue Geery
21 Bob Daniels
23 Steve Smith
24 Gerrie Greenway
Did we miss (or mess up) your special day?
If so, please, call the church office at
(870) 425-3560 to update our records.
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Contemplative Prayer Group
"Contemplative Prayer Group meets each Friday. We observe a twenty minute period of silence following check in. To learn more about the practice of Contemplative Prayer call Nell Engeler at 405-7160. We gather at 1:00 pm and close at 2:15."
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The Daughters of the King will observe an Advent Quiet Day Saturday, December 13, at 10 AM. You are invited to participate in all or part of the service as your time allows.
Life is short, and we have too little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. Be swift to love; make haste to be kind. ~~Henri-Frédéric Amiel
April J. Baily 870-421-5395
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BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
2nd Tuesday of the Month
Noon, Keller Hall
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Giving Tree
In December we are supporting The Salvation Army Angel Tree Program. To make a child's Christmas morning special, please take an angel from the tree. Details are on the front and back of each card. Note: The deadline to take your donation to the Salvation Army is December 11.
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Ministry Links |
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A Note from Father Kevin
A blessed Advent to everyone! Now begins our season of preparation. In our biblical narrative we are preparing for the birth of the Messiah. We are taken back to a time after the Prophet Isaiah was gone, and God's people were waiting for a sign, a word, a prophet to walk among them again. I think it's fair to say that while they waited in expectant hope of the Messiah, it still came as a surprise when he was born. But the world was still preparing, still moving towards that moment. We today are called to do the same. Not just to celebrate and remember the birth of our God's incarnation, but to continually be preparing for Christ's return.
While it doesn't necessarily come to mind as we are decorating for the holidays and shopping for Christmas, Advent is a time full of imagery that echoes both the preparations of Jesus' birth and the end of all things. There is a very apocalyptic nature to the readings and the themes because this idea of preparing for Christ is also a part of the Christian life. We live out God's great commission to us, and we prepare ourselves.
Episcopal priest, author, and theologian Fleming Rutledge writes that, "Advent begins in the dark." She sees this as the time for us to be facing the darkness in ourselves and in the world around us, while turning our faces to the brightness of Christ's glory to come. She writes, "The uniqueness of Advent is that it really forces us more than any other season, even more than Lent, to look deeply into what is wrong in the world, and why the best-laid plans don't work out the way we meant them to, and why our greatest hopes are so often confounded, and why things happen the way they do, and why sometimes it is so difficult to see where God is acting."
Though we think of this as a time for nostalgia, for sweaters, untangling twinkling lights, for dusting off the cute little baby Jesus for the crèche, remember that, "Advent is not for the faint of heart. As the midnight of the Christian year, the season of Advent is rife with dark, gritty realities." This is the time for us to make straight the way of the Lord in our hearts and in the world, to kindle the lights in the darkest moments and celebrate Christ's incarnation as we come to Christmas. May your Advent be a blessed time of renewal and preparation. May your light be kindled and shine into the darkness of the world.
The Rev'd Kevin Gore, AF
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On Advent's first Sunday, the singers will (in my absence) have quoted you a few sentences, likely from Henry Vaughan: "...we entertain him always like a stranger...and, as at first, still lodge him...in the manger." Sounds rather grim, but seeing the waiting of Advent against the energy and light of Christmas...seems so important.
Adam Boesak, from his 2004 collection WALKING ON THORNS, says, in a piece called"Advent Credo"...and toward its end:
"It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity,of peace ...are not meant for this earth and for this history--
This IS true: the hour comes, and it is NOW, that true worshippers shall worship God in spirit...and in truth...
So...let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage...Jesus Christ:the LIFE of the world!
Rev. Michael Hudson, in his meditation on the gospel for Advent's first Sunday (Cycle A) offers this new hymn text:
"The Son of Man has come...and comes again, UNfailing advent of UNfailing grace;
we tell the stories so that we may see the character...of Incarnation's face.
As Noah watched the skies and built an ark to rise and ride above a flooded plain,
we also hope for eyes to see the storm...but never hearts that pray for flooding rain.
A proverb paints two people side by side: one will be taken...the other left;
neither will live in unencumbered joy: each by the other's absence...is bereft.
The Son of Man has come...and comes again...to seek the deluged and the left-
behind. WE watch and wait and hope to recognize...the face of Jesus in the PRESENT
time.
As we wait, make the most of the links between your life, and those souls around you. Savor your connections with humankind and their myriad of stories!
BILL WEEKS
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An Invitation to Walk the Labyrinth
The labyrinth in Keller Hall will be open from 10:30 AM until noon on Friday, December 13. This is a lovely way to take a break from the chaos of our daily lives. Especially as we celebrate the holiday season, sometimes it becomes difficult to remember to give our souls a break. Come walk the labyrinth, and allow yourself to take a deep, spiritual breath.
Life is short, and we have too little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. Be swift to love; make haste to be kind. ~~Henri-Frédéric Amiel
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Merry Christmas From the Little Free Library
The library is stocked with all sorts of Christmas and wintery tales for our younger readers. Grandparents, if you have family visiting for the holidays, please remember to stop by and see if there might be something your "grands" would enjoy borrowing while they are in town!
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