Dear friends,

Two thousand years ago, into a world of turmoil and struggle, the Word of God was born. When Jesus came to live as God with us, he didn't choose security. He came to share our human experience in all its joy and sorrow.

This Christmas may feel a little more like that first Christmas, in all its messiness and uncertainty. And that's all right. Messiness and uncertainty are exactly where Jesus shows up. No pandemic, no political upheaval, no isolation, and no injustice can keep him away. Please join me in celebrating the birth of God's Word among us.

After prayerful discussion with the vestry, our wardens and I have decided to continue our plan to hold a simple outdoor service on Christmas Eve. However, for better weather and lighting, we will move that celebration from 4:00 (as originally announced) to 1:00 p.m. This will be a very simple service in the quadrangle courtyard, rain or shine. Attendance is limited to 40. Register in advance at incarnationsantarosa.org/christmas, and please dress for the weather. This service will not be livestreamed.

Our principal Christmas Eve liturgy will be at our usual links on Zoom and Facebook, with a Choral Prelude at 7:00 p.m., followed by the Holy Eucharist at 7:30 p.m. Although we cannot hold it in person, this will be the experience of music, candlelight, and beauty that so many of us associate so deeply with Christmas Eve. Please invite your friends to join us online--this is the very best time of year to invite a new person to join you for church. You're invited to have a candle with you to light during the singing of "Silent Night."

To allow those at home to participate in Holy Communion, we will have two opportunities to pick up a home Communion kit or have one delivered to your home. Communion kits will be available for pickup in the church parking lot at 636 Cherry Street between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve and between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. on Christmas Day. Since we now have a fairly good sense of how many kits to have available, no preregistration will be needed to pick up a kit. You may also have Communion delivered to you at home by registering at incarnationsantarosa.org/christmas (call the church office if you have trouble registering online).

You may choose to receive Communion at home:

·      During the livestreamed 7:30 p.m. Christmas Eve service (if you received a kit that afternoon).

·      During a brief Zoom gathering we’ll hold at 11:30 a.m. on Christmas Day. This will be shortly after the end of the 10:00 online Christmas morning service at Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, so you might choose to participate in that service online first if you wish.

·      Or at any time, on your own or with members of your household, using the prayers in the leaflet with your communion kit.

All these details are on the Christmas schedule that is being mailed out to parish households and will be posted on our website at incarnationsantarosa.org/christmas. This will be an unusual Christmas, to be sure. But it will be no less holy. “O come, let us adore!”

In Christ’s love,

Stephen

Living Compass Focus this week

National Cathedral Evening Advent Service every Sunday

Here's more on how to use Zoom.

We are also live streaming each Zoom service on our Facebook page, so you can also watch the service on Facebook, and it will be archived there for viewing later in case you're not able to join in live. You don't need to be a Facebook member to see the live stream on the Facebook page by clicking the link above.

register to attend at incarnationsantarosa.org/Christmas

come to the church parking lot, 636 Cherry Street; no reservation needed

or reserve a kit for home delivery: incarnationsantarosa.org/Christmas or (707) 579-2604

To use Zoom: Visit zoom.us/j997787434

To use Facebook: Visit facebook.com/IncarnationSantaRosa

or reserve a kit for home delivery: incarnationsantarosa.org/Christmas or (707) 579-2604

Visit facebook.com/Trinity.Cathedral.Sacramento

To use Zoom: Visit zoom.us/j/007787434

Dear friends,

As most of you know, we’ve been working hard to prepare a budget for 2021. Because of the need to close a pre-existing deficit, coupled with the new challenges of COVID-19, we had expected to have to make significant cuts in spending, likely including reductions in hours for our core staff members. Alison, Eric, Daphne, Carol, Mary, Robert, and I had all been expecting to see some amount of salary reduction. I’m profoundly grateful to say that, because of the extraordinary generosity of our congregation, our pledged income for 2021 is about $41,000 greater than we had projected—allowing us to make a budget that avoids making those staff cuts.

We will still have some tough choices in the years ahead to reach full financial sustainability, and we have had to make some tough choices this year. We will have to bid a grateful farewell to Keith Keller, who has been doing our Monday and Tuesday evening lockup. We will no longer have a regular part-time sexton on Tuesdays (Tedros Haile had been filling this role until recently). Once we are open for regular in-person services again, we will schedule two nursery staff workers on Sundays instead of three. We’ll need to adjust some of our habits: taking full responsibility for locking up after ourselves and developing rotas of volunteers to take out the trash on Tuesdays and to assist in the nursery. But we know our congregation is up to those tasks.

We’ll have an impromptu town hall this Sunday, December 20, during the coffee hour time on Zoom after the 9:30 service, to talk about this budget update as well as our Christmas Eve plans. Please join us (it will also give the Zoom squad a chance to preview and rehearse some technical aspects for Christmas Eve).

I can’t say how moved and grateful I am for our congregation’s generous and sacrificial financial support. It’s a testament to the love and vitality at the heart of this community of faith. Thank you!

In Christ’s love,

Stephen

Seasons of Wonder Advent 1

The holidays can be a stressful time of year, even without a pandemic. Mind-body skills like meditation, guided imagery, and mindfulness can help us reduce stress and build resiliency. On Saturday, December 19, Deacon Pamela Moore and Veronica Duarte are offering a two-hour Zoom workshop where you can learn how to use these evidence-based skills to develop a resiliency practice. There are no fees for the workshop. However, the workshop is limited to 10 people. If you are interested in the workshop, contact Deacon Pamela at deaconpamela@incarnationsantarosa.org before December 16, 2020. See flyer here.

Our diocesan cathedral, Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento, is hosting a Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, with musical contributions from across the Diocese of Northern California, including Incarnation parishioners who have sent in recordings for our Diocesan Virtual Choir. Join us to participate online at the Cathedral's Facebook page (no Facebook account required).

 2020 has been a difficult year for so many, with grief, loss and hardship around every corner. Maybe the holidays are always hard for you, or you’re just not feeling very holly jolly this year in particular. If you’re in search of hope and healing as we enter the Christmas season, you're invited to join our friends at St. Paul's in Walnut Creek, CA, who are hosting this service of prayer, music and reflection. The Rev. Krista Fregoso (a friend and colleague of Pastor Stephen's) will preside. Download the bulletin for the service here, and participate online via either YouTube or Facebook.

I am hoping you’ve read Stephen Shaver’s good news about our finances for 2021, and that you are sharing the same grin that I have as I write this to you. I will reference Father Jamie’s sermon (Sunday Dec 13) to say that in a year best summarized by an exasperated sigh of “OY!” … that at least in regard to our church finances, we can now exclaim “JOY!”

This past year has been fraught with too many challenges; so you can imagine the sense of dread some of us shared when facing the start of our annual pledge campaign. OY! For so many reasons, this would be a pledge season of too many unknowns.

These facts were known: Due to deaths, moves, and pandemic challenges, we absolutely knew that we lost 14 of our 158 pledgers, for a total of over $25,000. Therefore, for 2021, our hope was to reach at least $370,000 in pledges, which was determined by subtracting the $25,000 in lost pledges from the $395,000 we received in 2020.

Knowing that only $370,000 in pledges seemed realistic in these days of pandemic, Stephen and the Vestry were preparing for various possibilities of reductions in staff hours and/or compensation. You may recall how we struggled with deficits leading up to 2020. So we knew the budget for 2021 would be difficult.

But, JOY! This is what we now know: those able to pledge stepped up and rallied. Thank you! 50 parishioners renewed their pledges for the same amount. And though 16 parishioners reduced their pledges, 64 were able to increase them, for a net increase of $29,000! And about those 14 pledges we lost, for -$25,000? They were replaced by 14 new pledgers for +$24,400!

And a bit more JOY!: after our “Town Hall” meeting on Zoom the last Sunday in October, a surprising thing happened. Parishioners who had already pledged started to send messages to yours truly for one-time donations above-and-beyond their pledges, with the express purpose of preventing personnel changes. Those “impact” donations now total an additional $16,300!

Still “unknown,” though, there remains another 14 pledgers from 2020, who have not yet responded with their intentions for 2021. (Hint-hint, your pledges are still welcome!)  Therefore, our budget for 2021 would still have had a deficit (a reduced one, but a deficit nonetheless).  Thankfully, using funds leftover from the Federal CARES Act PPP grant, the Vestry was able to approve a balanced budget, without any significant changes to staff.

Thank you for your financial support, for your faithful resilience during these times, and for your continued presence in our faith community.

David Jasper

As we come to the end of this year, we reflect with gratitude for are continued ability to serve those neighbors who are hungry and often homeless. We could not have done it without our willing, sleepy volunteers who come in early to make coffee and prepare to hand out lunch bags. Those volunteers are grateful for our Saturday volunteers who cook the eggs and prepare the sandwiches and bags. In turn, those volunteers are grateful for the volunteers who check inventories and make purchases during the week.

The chain of gratitude continues to those who financially supported this mission throughout the year. We had generous one-time donors, regular monthly donors, and donations made in memory of a loved one. We also received a grant from the Episcopal Community Services this year that will help us with the purchase and maintenance of equipment.

This is the 11^th year of Sunday Open Table and those we serve are still in need, and appreciative of all the love we put into this mission. As the weather gets cooler and wetter, we try to provide some additional warmth and toiletries. Your help is needed! Items we can use are unopened toiletries such as travel size shampoos, toothpaste, and greatly appreciated are jackets, blankets, and new warm socks. Next time you're in Costco or Target, grab a bag!

Which brings us to more gratitude for the volunteer crew that maintains and sorts out the storage closet and comes in on Sundays to organize, as well as for the parishioners who knit the much loved hats and scarves that are received with happiness. So many hands reaching out! May we all celebrate the blessings of this season.

During the 3 year term, you attend a monthly meeting and a couple of retreats where you bring your ideas and vision to help support the ministries of our congregation. Learn more about how things work here at Incarnation. Pray regularly for all of us. Live out your faith both at home and at work. Pledge your financial support. Be both a servant and a leader.

Please prayerfully consider serving Incarnation in this role or encourage a friend you think would be a good fit. For a fuller description of Vestry roles and responsibilities read here.

If you are interested in serving on the Vestry, please contact Vestry members, Nancy Wegge, 916-600-5458, nancywegge@yahoo.com, or Connie Sinclair, 707-849-4240, constancesinclair@hotmail.com.

Do you find yourself alone this Christmas due to Covid-19? The good news is, you aren’t! Bells will be ringing, and angels preparing, so order your Christmas Eve and Day dinners now. Your Christmas Eve dinner will be lasagna with all the trimmings, and Christmas Day is roast beef and all the trimmings. All requests must be phoned to Julie, 707-755-3515, no later than 6:00 pm, Monday, December 21. Dinners will be ready for pick-up in the church parking lot Wednesday, December 23, 2:30-3:00 pm.

Do you feel helpless to effect change in our pandemic hobbled world? Add your voice to assist in the healing of a divided nation. A group of Incarnation parishioners is praying together every Monday at 3:00 pm on Zoom. The meeting is short (about 15 minutes) and centers on prayers from the Book of Common Prayer. Our nation needs your help. Please join us!

For Zoom link, please email Brad, bradsmith51@yahoo.com.

Geoff, son of Elizabeth and Gene Wright, died on Saturday, October 24. You are invited to join his family and friends for a virtual Celebration of Geoff “Jefe’s” Life at 2 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, January 9, 2021 on this site, http://www.geoffwrightmemorial.com/. Even if you can't attend the celebration, do visit this website were you can read an obituary about his remarkable and singular life, a tribute to him by his former law professor at George Washington University, and view a collection of photos.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to NOLS, a non-profit global wilderness school that Geoff attended. You may send a check to 284 Lincoln Street, Lander, Wyoming 82520 (please reference “Geoff Wright” with your donation) or online at NOLS.edu, (and note that the donation is in honor/memory of Geoff in the appropriate text box). Elizabeth and Gene Wright receive email communication at gwrightcelebration@gmail.com.

Log-in information for the Geoff’s Virtual Celebration of Life can be found under the “Celebration” tab on this site, http://www.geoffwrightmemorial.com/.

..Cindy P., Mary, Early, Don B., Harry A., Jim R., Pam, Dan, Mai-Wah, Amy C., Alyce, Leslie, Chris S., Don G., Francoise, Gene & Elizabeth, Rob M., Hugh & Angela, Mary, Robyn, Monique & Kirk, Amanda, and Nancy H.

...for those who have died: Mario & Henni P., Harry Dingwall, Athy, Bill Whidden, Marjorie Thoreson, Maureen Green, Alberta Jacobson, Ellen Meuse, Geoff Wright, Carole Jean Martino, Susan Hedges, Jerry Angel, Alphonsine Lhermitte, Raimundo Castro, Wallace Look, Marilyn Payne, Gary Lindsey, David Ratner, Frank Gavaller.

click here for the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer.

click here for the Anglican Cycle of Prayer.

Monday, December 21

Tuesday, December 22

Could you use a prayer or a listening ear? Do you have ideas you'd like to share? Although our offices are closed, Pastor Stephen is available to talk by phone or via Zoom. If you'd like to find a time to talk with Stephen, you can call Alison at 707-579-2604 or email Stephen directly at sshaver@incarnationsantarosa.org.

If you know of anyone, including yourself, who could use a communion visit or a prayer, please call the church office (707-579-2604) or email alison@incarnationsantarosa.org