There is still time to pledge before the end of the year. Simply go to our website, www.gracechurchsalem.org and click “Stewardship” on the top menu bar, or click here now. You will find a pledge card there to fill in and submit. If you haven’t pledged yet, please take 5 minutes at the end of the service to fill out and submit your card online.
Thought for the Week
Dear Friends,
In Robert Burns poem, "To a Mouse," he poses that the best laid plans of mice and men go often askew and leave us with nothing but grief and pain" (translated a bit).
During Advent, we are called to prepare, not plan. We are to prepare a place for the sacred and then allow the Holy Spirit to do her thing.
When we plan, we set up expectations that may not be met. When we plan, we believe that we have ultimate control. When we prepare, however, we are ready for whatever may come our way. When we prepare, we believe that God is in control.
Rather than planning what will happen when God comes again, Advent calls us to prepare space for the holy, to make our hearts ready for the love coming our way.
Get ready for the arrival of our blessed Jesus. Let go of your expectations and plans of how things should turn out.
In the Way of Love,
Debbie
This Sunday
This Sunday, John the Baptizer bursts onto the scene, and we are reminded of the words attributed to the prophet Isaiah.
At 10:00 am, we will offer Morning Prayer on Zoom and Facebook Live. We will all light the first two candles on our home Advent wreaths. The opening and closing slideshow will feature ways we prepare for Christmas with decorations and creches. Tom Gaither and Cynthia Duda will be assisting with the service.
At 4:00 pm, Debbie Phillips will be sharing a reflection during Celtic Evensong. Ryan Patten, Eric Wagner and Debbie Phillips will be playing music from the Celtic and Episcopal traditions. This service will be livestreamed on Facebook Live.
If you would like to offer a 2-3 minute reflection for upcoming services, either on for the stewardship epistle or the Celtic Evensong, please email gcis1@verizon.net.
Please join us wherever you are
in your search for meaning.
Everyone is welcome at any and all services at Grace Episcopal Church
Upcoming Service Leaders
Dec 13 Brian Fizer, Katie LaBonte 10:00 am
Paige Nalipinski, Celtic Reflection
Dec 20 Andrew Bishop, Luke Tanguay
Emily Motherwell, Celtic Reflection
A new copy of the worship schedule is found on the website
Prepare the Way of Love:
An Anti-racism Advent Calendar
We are already at day 4 of our Advent Calendar! Click here to join us as we journey the Way of Love.
Advent Pictures
As part of our slide show during the voluntaries, we are asking you all to send in pictures of how you get ready for Christmas. We would especially like pictures of creches, Advent wreaths, trees and greens. Please send your pictures to jason.stonehouse@gmail. com.
Christmas Memorials and Thanksgivings
As in year’s past, we will list all remembrances and thanksgiving in the Christmas leaflets and have special prayers for them during service. Please email your list of memorials and thanksgivings to gcis1@verizon.net and then either send a check to the office, or make a donation on our paypal button on our website. Make sure you let us know the payment is for Christmas.
Blue Christmas/The Longest Night
Blue Christmas (also called the Longest Night) is a day in the Advent season marking the longest night of the year. On this day, we hold a church service that honors people that have lost love ones and are experiencing grief. This worship service is traditionally held on or around the longest night of the year, which falls on or about December 21, the Winter Solstice. There is an interesting convergence for this day as it is also the traditional feast day for Saint Thomas the Apostle. This linkage invites making some connections between Saint Thomas's struggle to believe in Jesus' resurrection, the long nights just before Christmas, and the struggle with darkness and grief faced by those living with loss.
The service includes opportunities for expression of grief and pain as well as an opportunity to focus on the promise of hope. The images of the winter solstice which include the longest night losing to the increasing longer day after midnight is a significant part of the imagery used in the elements of this particular worship event.
Christmastide is a joyous time for many, but not for all. During the 4:00 pm Celtic Service on December 20th we will hear words of comfort and music of peace as we enter into the longest night of the year. This is a service you may want to invite someone to watch who is grieving or in need of the prayers and support of others.
Christmas Pageant at 4:00 pm on Christmas Eve
This year’s pageant takes place outside, as that is where the Christmas story originally took place: at a well, in a cave and shepherds on a field. We will hear again the story of the annunciation when Mary is visited by the Angel Gabriel, of her visit with her cousin Elizabeth shortly afterward. Then we will travel to Bethlehem, where the child is born, and angels call shepherds to the manger.
The service will be streamed on our Facebook page and on the website. Please join us, and especially invited children you may know, to sit and quietly watch and listen to this beautiful retelling.
A Service of Lessons and Carols
7:00 pm Christmas Eve
Join us at 7:00 on either our Facebook page or on the website for nine lessons and carols of Grace Church. There will be a chance to sing along with the carols and to listen to a few anthems from services past at Grace Church and some new recordings of our current choir. This beautiful service of nine lessons and carols will be available on our website through all 12 days of Christmastide.
At 9:00 am on Christmas Day, a Celtic Christmas will be available on the website and Facebook Live.
A Celtic Christmas Day Service
at 10:00 am
Join us either on our Facebook page or on our website for a service of reflections, prayers and music from the Celtic tradition. This service will be available all through the twelve days of Christmas.
