News and events for the

week of November 27th

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

MASS SETTING

Missa Brevis No. 4 (Corde natus ex parentis)

Healey Willan (1880-1968)

ANTHEM

O pray for the peace of Jerusalem

Herbert Howells (1892-1983)

ORGAN VOLUNTARIES

Rorate Caeli – Choral orné

Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968)

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme

Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)

Dear Friends,

If you've made it this far down the e-news, then you've seen the illustrations from Enid Chadwick's classic children's book "The Church's Year." Our approach to Advent is markedly different from the way our spiritual forebears observed it 500 or so years ago. Every great Christian Feast is preceded by a period of fasting, which the Orthodox still maintain. Christmas was no different, and Advent was a time in which, for example, in Lutheran Germany, instrumental music in churches was prohibited (analogous to Lenten observances).

Advent was a time of austerity before a rollicking Twelve Days of Christmas frivolity. It was the extreme merry-making at Christmas, culminating in Twelfth Night, that caused the English Puritans to disdain the celebration of Christmas so much that they banned it when in power.

Today, the secular world is mostly unaware of Advent. Christmas ads and holiday sales have already begun. I saw in the news something about a Christmas parade somewhere where someone was injured, but couldn't help but think "They had a Christmas parade even before Thanksgiving?" Save us, Lord. "Even, so, Lord Jesus, quickly come!"

I don't think it's a mistake to treat Advent differently from Lent, for it is not the same sort of penitential focus. But I do hope, as followers of Jesus, we can use the next four weeks to truly prepare for Christ's birth -- to "make our house fair as we are able, trim the hearth, and set the table," -- for Love, the Guest, is on the way. We need to make sure our hearts can truly prepare him room before we can sing "Joy to the world."

Our spiritual forebears did this by pondering the Four Last Things over the four Sundays of Advent: Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven. I'm not so sure these themes so easily find a place alongside the Lectionary readings we have today, but we do miss the fullness of Christmas if we overlook the need for Christ's coming among us in the first place. We were trapped and burdened under the weight of sin and death, and into that darkness a great light shone. That light first appeared to shepherds in a field, then to wise men from afar, and that same light has been drawing men and women to its brightness ever since.

As Christians, we do indeed have Death to suffer, Judgment perhaps, to undergo, Hell to avoid, and Heaven to gain. It is that promise of Heaven, opened up to us by the birth of that child so long ago, that causes the joy and hope-filled refrains of "Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel," to spring up within us. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come.

Yours in the love of our coming Savior,

Fr. Benjamin+

Join the Rector and others in the Library during Coffee Hour as we discuss historic practices of Advent, the significance of “Gaudete Sunday” and its associated liturgical colors, as well as the prominence of the prophets Isaiah and John the Baptist in the Advent Season.

The Christmas Pageant returns! Spread the word and invite other families with children you think might be interested in participating. The 5:30 pm Family Mass on Christmas Eve will feature children and youth helping us to recall with joy the story of our Savior’s birth.

The main rehearsals in which this will all be put together are:

• Sunday, December 18th – 11:30 – 2:00 pm, with pizza lunch provided.  

• Saturday, December 24th – 3:00 pm, a run through just before the performance itself. The kids come as they are and then head to the library to get dressed while the congregation comes for 5:30.

Smaller unit rehearsals may take place during Sunday School or just after Mass. We extend a huge thank you to Julia Steiny and Kate Lester for spearheading the effort to bring back this beloved tradition.

As you may know, S. Stephen's hosts the Epiphany Meal Site (soup kitchen) on Saturday afternoons. After being on hiatus through much of the COVID pandemic, the Soup Kitchen has been back in service in person since earlier this fall. S. Stephen's parishioners staff the soup kitchen every month or 2 and our Saturday is coming up this weekend. If you are able to assist between 2:00 and 5:30 on Saturday (partial shifts okay!), please reach out to Tom Bledsoe by email (thomas_bledsoe@brown.edu) or phone (401-480-8701). If you are unable to help with this weekend but would like to be notified about future opportunities, please let him know.

If you are considering being baptized or would like to know about being confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church, please be in touch with Fr. Benjamin. “Inquirer’s Classes” will be offered in February and March for those wanting to know more about the Anglican tradition.

Our Annual Service of Lessons and Carols will be held on Sunday, December 18th, at 4:00 pm. Please invite family and friends to join us as we recount in Scripture and song the Prophets’ foretelling of a Messiah, and of our Savior’s long-awaited birth. A festive reception will follow.

The Nominations Committee is now accepting nominations for open Vestry and Convention delegate positions, to be elected at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, January 29. If you have any nominations or suggestions, please reach out to George Ryan, Cory MacLean, Leana Hooks, Greg DePardo, Ernie Drew, or Bobby Rose, Committee Chair.

This Sunday 27 November

First Sunday of Advent

Morning Prayer & Low Mass 8 am

Sunday School 9:55 am

Solemn Mass 10 am

Coffee Hour 11:30 am

Monday 28 November

Kamehameha and Emma,

King and Queen of Hawaii, 1864, 1885

Evening Prayer 5:30 pm

Low Mass 6:00 pm

Tuesday 29 November

Feria

Noonday Prayer & Low Mass 12:00

Wednesday 30 November

Saint Andrew the Apostle

Evening Prayer 5:30 pm

Low Mass 6:00 pm

Thursday 1 December

Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, 1637

Noonday Prayer & Low Mass 12:00

Budget Committee 7:00 pm

Friday 2 December

Channing Moore Wlliams, 

Missionary Bishop in China & Japan, 1910

Noonday Prayer & Low Mass 12:00

Saturday 3 December

Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, 1552

Morning Prayer 9:30 am

Low Mass 10:00 am

Epiphany Soup Kitchen 2:30 – 4:00 pm

Next Sunday 4 December

The Second Sunday of Advent

Morning Prayer & Low Mass 8 am

Sunday School 9:55 am

Solemn Mass 10 am

Coffee Hour 11:30 am

Prayers have been requested for: Charles Calverley, Fr. Norman Catir, Mary Coulter, Trudy Egan, Brian Ehlers, Davidson Garrett, Fr. Harrington Gordon, Daniel Oliver, Bryan Ripley, Angela Rose, Louis Verdelotti, Fr. Allan Warren, and Christopher Whittingham.

Birthdays this week: Sharon Lennihan (11/30), Sandra Bartlett (12/02).

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we are asked to pray for The Nippon Sei Ko Kai (11/27), The Diocese of Nsukka – The Church of Nigeria (11/28), The Diocese of Nyahururu – The Anglican Church of Kenya (11/29), The Diocese of Nyamlel – The Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (11/30), Diocese of Nyang – The Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (12/1) The Diocese of Southern Nyanza – The Anglican Church of Kenya (12/2), The Diocese of Nzara – The Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (12/3). In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for St. Andrew’s, Little Compton, and St. Andrew’s School, Barrington.