WEEKLY NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
December 13, 2020

Sunday Worship
December 13, 2020
The Third Sunday of Advent

Scripture Readings for this Sunday:

Service of Holy Eucharist
with Music,
in the Sanctuary
8:00 am

Please make a reservation as we are allowed a limited number due to social distancing.

Make you Reservation below: 


Please wear a mask.
Service of Holy Eucharist
with Music,
in the Sanctuary and Zoom
9:30 am

Here is the link to join us on Zoom:

PRAYER REQUESTS THIS WEEK
Healing of body, mind and spirit for
Joanna (COVID); Chelsea; Gregg (struggling to hold on to life, COVID); Peggy (healing from daughter’s suicide); Nancy (healing of colon cancer); Scott (coping with dementia); Greg (healing of leukemia); Webb (healing of lymphoma); Sarah (peace of mind & to feel God's love); Julie (patience and peace of mind); Peter (continued healing from heart surgery); Susan (strength and courage during cancer treatment); John; Ola; Michael; Terri (healing of multiple myeloma); Stevan (Tinnitus); Scott (coping with dementia); Elaine, Sue Ellen, Peter, Xavier, Web & Kelly (healing of cancer); Nancy (during her radiation treatment); Doug (recovering from stroke); Matt’s dad (polio) and Matt's mom (strength); Bill (healing of infected shoulder); those infected by the virus; healing for our world.
Greetings from our Priest-in-Residence
Dear new Friends in Christ,

We gather in this holy season of Advent, in the words of T.S. Elliot, “as frail children of the Light who hold the little lights of our lives toward the great mystery of God’s light.” In our
annual approach to the sacred mysteries of Christmas, we gather at an anxious time in history. We also gather in the name of Jesus, who is our Strength, our Security, our Holiness.

We hold before God our own frail lights, our fears and hopes co-mingled. As we rehearse the familiar story of God’s life in Christ, we seek to find ourselves in that story. We look within our own lives for signs of God’s grace, God’s word of truth, God’s body broken for the life of the world.

We pray for strength to make our way securely along the path toward justice and peace
on behalf of all God’s children throughout the world.
Even as we await Christ’s coming in Glory, we acknowledge that God is already with us.
Emmanuel. God with us. Intimate. Immediate. Nearby.
God is with us, embracing and transforming the follies and foibles of our humanity into the glittering light of hopefulness for the future. Advent is a time when we are invited to receive God’s gentle power to live and to do the work of love wherever we find ourselves in the days ahead.

We the community of Christ Memorial Church, gather together in this sacred Advent season as “frail children of the Light who hold the little lights of our lives toward the great mystery of God’s light.” We wait in joyful expectation, humbly praying that as vessels of God’s healing and reconciliation, God’s love will shine radiantly through us in these Advent days, and beyond.

Warmly,

Zack+
MUSINGS
We welcome your thoughts on the message from Sunday worship or any inspiration you may have this season of Advent.

Our hope is that the newsletter will become more than a calendar of events, and will instead act as a space to share and learn.

Please email the church office with your responses.
UPCOMING
Music with Monica Chung
Monica Chung is our guest musician this Sunday. She is a concert pianist, producer, music director and teacher. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in London, Hungary, New York and St Petersburg in Russia and more. She teaches a select group of talented young pianists on Kauai and accompanies Kauai Voices concerts. We are blessed to have her worship with us.
The Way of Love: An Advent Journey
December 17th at 10 a.m. 

Thursday Mornings in Advent
With The Very Reverend Zachary Fleetwood
Visiting Priest-in-Residence

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge— that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. – Ephesians 3:17-19  

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry regularly welcomes us to live not just as the church but as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement: the ongoing community that follows Jesus into loving, liberating, life-giving relationship with God, with one another, and with all creation.  

The season of Advent invites us into an attitude of hopeful expectation as we anticipate the celebration of Christ’s birth. Each year in these four short weeks, we have this precious opportunity to wonder and reflect on the meaning of Jesus’ birth for our lives, the life of our community and the life of the world.  

Please join Zack+ for this time of reflection, conversation and prayer. Focusing on readings from the Gospel of Mark and the Book of Isaiah, Zack+ will offer a meditation, followed by discussion and a time for quietness and intercessory prayer.  

To Join us on Zoom for Part 2 of this series, follow this link.
Advent Joy in Hopeful Expectation
Time can feel like our enemy. We fight time, manage time, and resist time. On the other hand, our instincts tell us that anything worth having is worth waiting for.  

Advent reminds us that the gift of time is the pathway by which we embrace a future that is fully and finally meant to be good, a future that is good because it is God’s future. Time helps us to make our way into that future and to embrace all that it holds for us. Advent is that precious time in which we consider how we get from here to there by looking forward and not backward, by anticipating rather than regretting. Advent is the season of hopeful expectation.  

Advent reminds us insistently, relentlessly, that God is ahead of us, out there, watching as we watch, waiting even as we wait. In Advent, God summons us to a future time that will set all things right in justice, mercy, and peace.  

So Advent is the feast of the future, calling us to the courage of great expectations. We wait not for the time that once was, but rather for the time that is yet to come. Faith beckons us toward the future. And as hopeful followers of Jesus, we are called to greet the future with faithful joy and high anticipation! 

- Zachary Fleetwood+  
CONNECT
Volunteer at Helen Mitsui's Shared Blessing Thrift Shop
Helen Mitsui Shared Blessings Thrift Shop is seeking Volunteers to work as Greeters + Merchandisers + Donation Intakers + Work from Home Team Members. Each volunteer shift is a 2-4 hour commitment for a minimum of one day per week.

Volunteers are invaluable to serving our community. Our goal is to reuse, repurpose and recycle goods — keeping as much as possible out of landfill — while providing our community with access to reasonably priced, quality merchandise.

Greeters welcome shoppers and ensures a pleasant shopping experience. Merchandisers restock the floor and display retail goods. Donation Intakers receive and process donations. Work-from-Home volunteers help prepare merchandise for sale. We are looking for team players with a genuine interest in serving the community and contributing to the reuse movement.

Requirements?
Willing to support COVID-19 safety measures set by Shared Blessings
Physically able to lift 50 pounds (Merchandisers and Donation Intakers only)
Experience in Retail, Customer Service, and/or Retail a plus

Benefits?
Serving the community is rewarding work. We have a lot of fun! New merchandise is donated daily, so the element of surprise and wonder is constant. Get a first peek and more!

Interested?
Click on this reply button to learn more. Provide your interests, availability to volunteer and your contact information. Mahalo!
CONNECT - A Note to Our Zoom Family
One big blessing for our church that has come out of the struggle with the COVID-19 virus is the connection we have made via Zoom. Many folks who are either seasonal residents, timeshare residents, or even tourists consider us their church community. They can now be a more active part of our church. We have a Sunday worship service, two Bible studies, an Adult Confirmation class and Centering Prayer, made possible through Zoom. Who knew? This has been a learning experience for us. The good news is that even after the virus crisis is over, we will continue many of these offerings on Zoom.

Here are some things everyone can do to help us all have the best experience possible:

  1. Please try to connect at least 10 minutes before the service or the meeting to make sure everything is working correctly.  
  2. If possible, keep your video on so it feels more like being together in church.  
  3. Have your audio always on mute unless advised by the facilitator.
  4. Be present. Try not to multi-task. Having your water or coffee nearby is fine but since your video is on, probably best not to be moving around.
  5. Try your best not to leave early. If your computer drops you out, come back on but make sure your video is on and your audio is muted.  
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Our Thrift Shop is Open!
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 2:00 - 5:00 pm
Wednesday 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Saturday 9:30 am - 3:00 pm

For a safe shopping experience, we can only allow 8 shoppers in the store at any time. All must wear masks and use hand sanitizer.

Online Bible Study
Monday 10:00 am-11:15 am:
Spiritual Lessons from the Book of Genesis

Wednesday 2:00 – 3:15 HST
Letters of Paul 

If you wish to join us, let us know know and we will send you the link and the questions we will discuss. 
Online Centering Prayer & Scripture Reflection
Tuesdays, 9:00 - 9:45 am (HST)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7532197968

Centering Prayer is every Tuesday morning on Zoom, 9:00 - 9:45 am. We begin with a Scripture reading for the day followed by 12 minutes of meditation. Then a reflection is read and anyone who would like to share an insight is invited to do so. We finish with prayer time for those in need of healing.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

Meets in the Parish Hall:
Monday 6:15 - 7:15 pm & 7:30 - 8:30 pm
Tuesday 10:00-11:00 am & 7:30 - 8:30 pm
Wednesday 7:30 - 8:30 pm

Go to www.kauaiaa.org for more info.
GIVE
Our giving is important, especially now.

Although we aren’t gathering in the sanctuary for worship, our church bills are still the same. We’ve had questions from our Sunday worshippers and now our Zoom worshippers about how to give. Your continued gifts really matter, especially in this time of uncertainty.  
If you like to give by check, please send to:
Christ Memorial Episcopal Church,
P.O. Box 293, Kilauea, HI 96754

Or consider changing to Automated Giving. It makes life easy. Just click on the button below to make a one-time or recurring donation. 

Thank you for your love and care for our Christ Memorial community!

STAY INFORMED
Keep up-to-date with messages from the Bishop. Click on the buttons below to view the Bishop's weekly Monday & Wednesday messages, and find links to online worship in the Diocese.
QUICKLINKS
Newsletter Mission: Our weekly newsletter was launched to inform our island community, as well as connect with our broader community of old and new friends, near and far. Whether you live on Kaua'i, visit seasonally or joined Christ Memorial for the first time during vacation, we welcome you into our global family. We endeavor to include inspiration, new ideas, practical advice and updates on news and events of Christ Memorial. Let us know how we can serve you best in 2020 by replying to this newsletter or emailing us.

Have you met Pastor Gae? Pastor Gae wants to get to know you all – phone chats, home visits, morning coffees, afternoon teas or walks on the beach. Near or far, reach out to meet or share your thoughts by emailing her or call (623) 208-9436.
Christ Memorial Episcopal Church
2509 Kolo Road, Kilauea, HI 96754
Mailing: PO Box 293, Kilauea, HI 96754
Phone: (808) 482-4824