News from St. James' Episcopal Church
Sunday, December 27, 2020
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The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. | John 1:5
I have the video on my phone, and I can’t stop watching it. It’s not the latest cold open from Saturday Night Live, or the Satan commercial from Match.com, or even a viral video of puppies. What I can’t stop watching is a grainy clip of three semi-trucks. They are ordinary trucks – the first is a UPS truck, the second from Boyle, and the third from FedEx. The 18-wheelers slowly pull out of a Michigan loading dock on a cold December morning. It’s an ordinary scene played out at ordinary depots every ordinary day. But then, as each driver makes a careful left out of the fenced-in bay, a small crowd cheers. Some of them hold up signs, and a few wipe away tears. They know. They all know. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Each driver is making history. Each driver, an ordinary person doing their ordinary job, is delivering the light to end to our darkness of the last 10 months. Each driver is carrying our first Coronavirus vaccines.
And as that moment sinks in, I think about another time when the world was filled with darkness, and God chose the ordinary to shine and defeat it. It was a time when sin and selfishness reigned, where evil dominated good, and grace was not welcome. To save us, God sent a baby born in a lowly manger with parents so ordinary and unimportant that they couldn’t find a room for the night. The small crowd who welcomed the baby included cows and shepherds and three wise men. And through this baby we learned that God’s love is so magnificent that the last become first, the poor become rich, and the wretched become blessed. The ordinary become extraordinary.
That message is as meaningful on this Christmas Day as it was when Christ was born. The irony of God’s power, of his love and his grace, is that it comes in unlikely packages. It comes as a baby, as a truck driver, as you and me. Ordinary. Through Christ we become extraordinary. Through Christ we keep that light shining in the darkness.
May you have a blessed Christmas season this year. Keep shining!
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Celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas! |
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The season is not over! Here are great ways to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas with St. James':
- Hang an ornament on the Christmas Tree outside the red doors on Cornwall Street.
- Place an ornament in the box under the Porch on Wirt Street so that we can add them to the Advent Tree near the altar for Sunday worship.
- Decorate an ornament with a prayer on the red ornaments in the box under the Porch using the gold glitter pens to add to our Advent Tree.
- Donate a poinsettia in thanksgiving and joy of someone you love by contacting Kay Gregg, our Parish Administrator at kay@stjamesleesburg.org or 703-777-1124
- Make a pledge to St. James’ Church
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Make a special Christmas offering to St. James'
- Join us for Compline on Sunday evenings at 5:00 led by families of St. James. These short, comforting and meaningful services can be re-viewed at the end of each day as part of your Christmas devotions. Join us on Facebook Live at facebook.com/stjamesleesburg.
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Join us Dec. 27 for the Diocesan-wide
Christmas Festival of Lessons and Music
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Join us for the Diocese of Virginia's Christmas Festival of Lessons and Music as our December 27 Sunday service! We will share in the joy of Christmas with all members of the Diocese. Bishop Goff will preside and the service will feature Scripture readings and music from congregations across the Diocese.
Join us on the St. James' Facebook page: facebook.com/stjamesleesburg to watch at 10 a.m. with us and our brothers and sisters throughout Virginia.
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St. James' featured in online Lessons & Carols |
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Time for virtual Sunday School! |
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Join us before church on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
For Grades K-5
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December Monthly Mission Partner:
St. James' Episcopal Church
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This Advent, we wait in stillness for the time we can gather once again…we prepare for what God has in store for St. James’ future…and we prayerfully hope to play a part in bringing peace, health, and the good news of Christ to our community and to our world.
To help focus our giving and our prayers on the continued vitality of the ministries and missions that we carry out in Christ’s name, we are designating St. James’ as the December Monthly Mission Partner.
As part of our Advent commitment, each week of December we will gather – at a distance, but still together -- to give thanks to God for the gift of our parish life.
We invite you, if you are able, to make a special gift to St. James’ this month through the Monthly Mission Partner program. Join us in prayer and in gratitude as we prepare for the light of Christ to illuminate our way forward.
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In need of prayer? In need of care? |
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"In case of illness, the minister of the congregation is to be notified."
The Book of Common Prayer, p. 453
Please let us know when you are in need of prayer and care.
Whom should you call?
The Rev. Earl Mullins
Emergency Number:
410-409-9386
The Church Office
703-777-1124
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When should you call?
- When you become seriously ill, are dealing with a newly diagnosed disease or condition, or are hospitalized for treatment, surgery, or rehabilitation.
- When you are experiencing a spiritual, physical, emotional or financial crisis.
- When you become concerned for the person who usually shares the pew with you because he or she has not been in church for a while.
- When you experience one of life's many transitions: a birth, a death, a job loss/change, a move, an empty nest, retirement, etc.
- When you need prayer and care, but don't want to "bother" anyone with your troubles -- please contact us anyway; you will not be "bothering" us!
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Those requesting our prayers this week: Dennis Brogan, Jeff Brannock, Brianne Bailey and Family, the Lamberty Family, Alice Lynn, Mary Paul, Inez Peebles, Caroline Ennis, the Lynch Family, the Page family, John Marsh, and the Riley family, Mary Bracken, Jennifer Griffith, Tim MacNamara, for other persons: Bryce Eckman, the Yusi, Hyman, and Moseley families, the Kevin and Margaret Sullivan Family, Heidi, Peter Schweitzer, Ann Stribling, Orma Call, Chris DeWaard, Jay Watkins, Mark and Meghan Roomsfa, Lori Turner, Charlotte, Christian Cutillo, Ruth Guerra, Miline Hughes, Erin Stanton, Barbara Rose, Nancy Hylton, Bridget Steel, Matthew Britto, Dewey, those who are unemployed or underemployed; and those serving in the armed forces at home and abroad.
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St. James’ Vestry
Carolyn Briles
Katherine Bucklin
Chris Cuellar
Andy Durot
Jim Ferry
Tom Horne
Karen Knobloch
Mary Lou Leipheimer
Steve Mayo
Wayne Newell
Rebecca Page
Jane Roth, Secretary
Maddie Reece, Youth Representative
Treasurer
John Forcier
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St. James’ Clergy and Staff
Interim Rector
Dr. Steven Cooksey
Director of Music/Organist
Dr. Stephen Knobloch
Corner Chorale Music Director
Walter Litzenberger
Assistant Choir Director/Organist
Parish Administrator and Registrar
Janet Stayrook
Preschool Director
Adan Cortez
Lead Sexton
Francisco Ramos
Sexton
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