The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness,
on them light has shined.
Isaiah 9.2
The people of Isaiah’s day had only these words of promise and hope to guide them through exile, through military occupation of their lands, through enslavement and through the murder of too many of their kinsfolk. The light for generations was God’s promise of salvation through whom they believed would be another conquering hero, this time on their side.
Tomorrow we will be of the successive generations who will celebrate the dawning of that light in the birth of a babe in a stable, laid in a manger. God will once again reach out and enter our hearts with the love and compassion of the ancestors and we will know salvation. We will know God-with-us on the journey, Emmanuel.
For those whose hearts need a little more time to dispel the pain and darkness of death, the promise still shines, open the door as far as you are able and catch a glimpse.
For those whose lives are topsy-turvy due to the storms of 2020, the promise still shines, hear the words of our ancestors and, like them, dance to the music of the Christmas carols filled with hope.
For those who have anticipated this day with the wonder of a child’s eyes each year of your life, see again the star rising and the teenaged mother nourish her firstborn with the strength of the angels and spread the Good News that indeed you are a sister/brother who will walk the Way of love until all the world is reconciled and lives God’s dream of creation. We are in this together.
Shalom, Donna+
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9.6
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Christmas message from Bishop Daniel Gutierrez
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
Advent is that long twilight where darkness fills our days, and reminds us to prepare for the new light that will change the world. The past ten months have lengthened our journey through the long night. Yet despite the apparent gloom, we hold fast to the hope found in Jesus Christ. The truth found in the manger allows our vision to focus on the faintest glimmer of light slowly rising over this distant horizon. The hope of Christmas found in the reality of the coming Christ child enables us to envision what William Wordsworth described as a world "apparell'd in celestial light" with "the glory and freshness of a dream."
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Stewardship: All that we do with all that we have, all of the time.
Please consider thoughtfully how you will support the work that God calls us to through Trinity Memorial. Mail you cards or drop them through the mail slot in the Trinity PlayGroup door on Spruce St. If you did not receive one and would like one emailed to you, please contact Chris at TMCPhiladelphia@gmail.com
The church staff will be on break for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. The Rector, Admin and Finance Manager will take a break from regular duties. Please do call the office for urgent contact numbers.
Reminder: for info about shelter meal delivery please email Terry Hirshorn: tnewirth@haverford.edu or 215-732-0364.
Call the office for urgent needs contacts. Please stay in touch.
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Christmas Eve
at Trinity Memorial, live
Do not neglect to invite a neighbor or a family member or a friend who is feeling lost in this strange holiday season, invite them to Zoom in with you on Sunday or on Christmas Eve.
3 pm Christmas pageant by the children of the 9:00 congregation
Come and sing along if you know the words; enjoy hearing the story through the hearts of children. Wear a costume or halo or dress in your finest!
6 pm Christmas Carol Karaoke
Diana has put together a playlist that follows the carol book in your Advent prep bag.
Sing along or listen to your favorites and more.
Wear your finest or your ‘ugliest’ Christmas sweater! Don your halo (prep bag) or come just as you are.
7 pm Christmas prayers and hymns with sermon and choir.
So we can’t be together in person; let us not neglect to see one another, support and care for one another, show up and do the work of Christmas: Love one another as Christ loves us.
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Other times and congregations,
all sisters and brothers in Christ
TONIGHT: Join Church of the Holy Trinity on Wednesday December 23rd at 5:30 p.m. on Facebook for a special Longest Night Compline Service. A 30-minute service of Compline streamed from the Church. Take a break to end the day in quiet and prayer. Click Here to find the Worship services.
Christmas Eve
Lessons and Carols
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was first celebrated at King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve, 1918. It was an adaptation of a similar service that had been written for the cathedral at Truro in 1880. The lessons were reordered in 1919, and what follows are the lessons that have been used since that time. At King's College, the Festival is a Christmas Eve service, and the lessons, and music, move deliberately from the season of Advent into Christmastide. Many other parishes have adopted the tradition, occasionally modifying it as needed.
Join Church of the Holy Trinity HERE to find the Worship service.
On December 25th, Christmas, join the Bishop broadcasting from The Church of the Holy Trinity Sanctuary. This special Christmas service (carols, readings and sermon) with the full Eucharist will be broadcast on CW-Philly at 6 a.m. then again on the DioPA One Love Channel. at 9 a.m. Music and readers provided by CHT.
Christmas Lessons and Carols with Bethlehem. If you missed this live event, you can still watch on the Diocesan One Love Channel. This service will also rebroadcast on Facebook on Christmas Day at noon. This is an annual event, in its 14th year. This was the first year it was hosted by The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.
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Deacon's corner
This year Christmas is going to be different for many of us. Without our large family gatherings and fabulous Christmas feasts, we might ask ourselves: why decorate our home when “no one will be there to see it but me?” I read a column that told a story about a priest visiting in Guatemala who climbed a bell tower where there were “intricate designs that only the pigeons could see.” The point was that this year we can be like those artists in Guatemala and decorate for the coming of the Christ Child just for us. “Paint for the pigeons.” The babe will be with us in the midst of all this chaos.
Thomas Merton reminds us that “Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others for whom there is no room.” We know who they are, those for whom there is no room. Our faith calls us to see them, make room for them and care for them. A Masai prayer from Tanzania, in Desmond Tutu’s “An African Prayer Book” tells us to do more that observe the light of God, but instead, be the light of God at Christmas and always.
Light A Holy Fire
Receive this holy fire.
Make your lives like this fire.
A holy life that is seen.
A life of God that is seen.
A life that has no end.
A life that darkness does not overcome.
May this light of God in you grow.
Light a fire that is worthy of your heads.
Light a fire that is worthy of your children.
Light a fire that is worthy of your fathers.
Light a fire that is worthy of your mothers.
Light a fire that is worthy of God.
Now go in peace.
May the Almighty protect you
Today and all days.
A blessed Christmas to all,
Deacon Lynn
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Worship leaders 12.24.20
7 pm
Readers: Sallie, Charles, Diana
Prayers: John K
Officiant and Preacher: Rev. Donna Maree
Tech: David
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Birthdays
December
29 Abbie Kinzler
January
11 Sarah Clark Stuart
14 Sharon Dooley
16 Tippy
21 Peter Krill
25 Jack
Molly
26 Mia
28 Jennifer Kohlhas
30 Phyllis Schnell
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Worship:
Sundays: all on Zoom
9:00 will resume 1.10.21 Epiphany of Jesus.
10:30 everyone welcome; hymns led by the TMC choir, prayers, sermon
coffee hour after both
Wednesdays 9:00 Morning Coffee & Prayer will resume 1.6.21
Thursdays 5:30 Evening Prayer will resume 1.7.21
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Prayer is the most powerful tool we have when we can't be there personally for friend or stranger ...
Healing and support especially for: Mark, Sarah W, Sasha, Shirley, Bill, Travis, Luca, Sallie & Jim W., Jack, Lynn, Andrea, Susan W, Richard, Chris and family, Ulpiano, Carmen O., Peter D. (Sharon's brother-in-law), Charlotte, Abbie, Trinity PlayGroup children and teachers
Special prayers of gratitude, especially for the Food Box ministers
Grace for those who have died and all who mourn
Stamina and creativity for all essential workers, especially teachers, clerks, IT professionals, trash collectors, medical personnel, delivery, bankers, restaurant employees ...
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As you prayerfully consider your financial support for the work and presence that Trinity provides, please use this link
Designate your gift for:
Pledge
Special Fund
Rector's Discretionary Fund
General Fund for expenses
Other
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Our building is closed but the church is still open!
We continue to pray together and worship by moving our services online. We are also keeping our staff employed, repairing and readying for building rentals and and all activity to resume.
While our physical gathering is limited please do not neglect to provide for the work of the church with your financial contributions. You may send a check in the mail, make a direct payment through your ne banking platform or click on the DONATE button to go directly to our secure online service.
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Trinity Memorial www.trinityphiladelphia.org
Rentals: events@trinityphiladelphia.org
Rev. Donna: RectorTMC@gmail.com
Donna 330.766.5904
Deacon Lynn: revlynn22@gmail.com
Lynn 908.217.6365
Office: Admin@trinityphiladelphia.org
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