PASADENA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH The ...... CLARION Volume 78 Issue 4 December Issue 2018

Saturday, December 8 Sunday, December 24 CANDLELIGHT AND CAROLS EVE CONCERT CANDLELIGHT COMMUNION 4:30 P.M. and 7:30 P.M. in the Sanctuary The 73rd annual assembly of children and SERVICE 9:00 P.M. adult choirs, handbell ringers, and the Pasadena All are Welcome! Music by the Kirk Choir and Van Singers present two performances of sacred an Etten Handbell Choir. Rev. Ann Oglesby preaches. secular music for the Christmas season, with members of the Friends of Music Orchestra and pipe organ accompaniment. Tuesday, Plus, expect plenty of audience December 25 caroling! 11:00 A.M. FREE ADMISSION A WORSHIP SERVICE Saturday, for Christmas Day. In Korean December 15 Monday, POSADA December 30

5:00 P.M. A reenactment of the pilgrimage WATCHNIGHT to by Mary and Joseph SERVICE in search of a room. Presented 10:30 P.M. –1:00 A.M. by Spanish Language Ministry. All In Korean are Welcome! Tuesday, January 1 Sunday, ROSE PARADE December 16 Tickets are now available for LESSONS & CAROLS purchase to watch the parade from the church’s grandstands. 10:00 A.M. in the Sanctuary A continental breakfast and English-language worship use of real restrooms make features this traditional telling of attending the parade at PPC the and Christmas story using the best deal in town! Order your tickets online at tix. a blend of scripture and music. com. For church members, clergy and active military you will need a code from the church office to get the Sunday, December 23 discounted rate. CHILDREN’S PAGEANT $70 General Admission 11:15 A.M. (following morning worship) $45 for PPC Members, clergy and PPC’s children bring the Christmas story to us through active-duty military personnel song and word. In Fellowship Hall WE VOLUNTEERS! (626) 793-2191. A Message from Pastor Ann Christmas Flowers At PPC The holidays are a time to remember loved ones and “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, celebrate special occasions. This year, you can help my Savior.” Luke 1:46-47 beautify the sanctuary during the Christmas season by purchasing one or more plants to be placed in This verse is part of a larger text that we refer to as the sanctuary. After Christmas, the potted flowers are Mary’s Song or The Magnificat. It was the response of delivered to homebound and hospitalized members and Mary, the mother of , to the news that she would friends. The suggested donation is $20 or more. be bearing God’s Son as she visited her cousin Elizabeth. Mary had gone to be with her cousin during her pregnancy Please complete the form and send to wait and prepare for the upcoming birth. it, with your check, made payable The season of Advent is the time we set aside to pre- to PPC and designated Christmas pare and wait for the upcoming event of Christmas. But Flowers, by Monday, December 10, there are different kinds of preparing. For many of us our for inclusion in the December 16 & preparation tends to be making lists, completing chores, 23 worship bulletins. and buying presents. While the preparing of logistics is I am donating $______important and satisfying on one level, too many of us only prepare for Christmas in this way and do not engage in Given by ______preparing our souls. Preparing our souls is spending time with God. Preparing our souls involves the waiting part of (Please choose one of the following designations) Advent, something called sacred waiting, something that gets us ‘ready’ in a different way. In memory of: ______The Psalmist tells us that ‘they that wait upon the Lord In honor of: ______will renew their strength’. This ‘sacred waiting’ slows us Celebrating: ______down and encourages us to listen and ponder, like Mary who ‘pondered’ these things in her heart. Isabel Anders, in her book, Awaiting the Child, shares that ‘Advent is a time to listen, not to declare. In silence, in hiddenness, the seed of our hope is nurtured - our belief that Christ has come, 2018 Christmas Joy Offering does comes, and will come.” It is a time for us to listen for Sunday, December 16, 2018 the deep unfolding of God entering into this world. But Advent listening is not just a passive, reflective time. It is In this season when we a time of listening to the suffering of the world and then celebrate the child born in moves us toward serving. It is a time of listening to the Bethlehem, we also real- mistakes we have made and moves us into offering the ize that the birth of Jesus regrets that we need to make. Advent listening is a time ushered in a new realm of to more fully embrace the call of God in our daily walk. God’s love at work in the world. This love causes (continued on page 4) us to recognize the image of God imbedded in all Sunday Adult Education Offering humankind. It compels us December 2 and 9 to reach out with charity, 11:20 A.M. justice, and grace. We seek to honor every child of God. INTRODUCTION to the GLORY TO GOD For over seventy years, Presbyterians have been respond- Hymnal and Hymn Sing with Rebecca ing to that love at Christmas by giving generously to the Thompson and Tim Howard. Christmas Joy Offering. The Offering helps students at As we start this season of Advent, racial ethnic schools and colleges develop their gifts come ready to sing (or just listen!) and and find their calling to serve God through serving their learn about our new hymnal. December 2 will include community. At the same time, the offering helps families the introduction to the hymnal and Advent songs. On of both active and retired church workers to meet unex- December 9 will we continue with the introduction of pected needs. As we celebrate Jesus’ love in our lives this Christmas songs. Christmas, our gifts bear joyful witness to the power of the boundless love that changes lives. (From Pastor Ann .. continued)

It is easy to get distracted by busy preparation, the demanding sounds of consumerism and miss the sacred mo- ments of waiting and the quieter sounds of the Holy Spirit. Advent preparing and waiting can lead us to reconciliation, to healing, and for binding up one’s wounds. Advent listen- ing can be a celebration of our souls that goes beyond the unwrapping of gifts and festive celebration. It can be the cel- ebration that renews our understanding of Christ’s imminent coming. And when that happens we can then understand and sing along with Mary “ . . . and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” I pray that you will find time in this Advent season for sacred waiting and thought- filled preparation so that you Saturday, December 15 might know the true blessing of God’s coming into this world Posadas are a part of the Mexican Christmas of darkness to bring His light of hope, love, joy and peace. celebration. The word “posada” means inn or shelter in Spanish, and this tradition re-enacts Mary and A blessed and sacred Christmas to you all! Joseph’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. Join Pastor Ann the Spanish language ministry on the 15th at 5 P.M. at the church for Posadas. Everyone is welcome to join the fellowship, , appetizers, pinatas and an ugly sweater contest.

Advent One of the oldest and fondest Advent traditions for both congregations and families is the lighting of Advent candles, a tradition that reaches back to pre- Christian northern Europeans. During the darkest days of winter, they lit as ROSE PARADE GRANDSTAND many as 24 candles on an evergreen- covered wheel or wreath. By lighting TICKETS ON SALE NOW a candle a day, they marked time, Tickets to Watch the Rose Parade on Tuesday, January 1, 2019, anticipating the return of the sun’s light and warmth. from grandstands in front of PPC are now on sale online. If By the 1500’s Christian congregations adapted the you are church member, retired clergy and active military, as a devotional way to prepare for the call the church office for the discount code that gets you the coming of Christ, the Light of the World. reduced rate.

$ 70 General Admission TOTALITY $45 PPC Members, retired clergy and active military CHRISTMAS POTLUCK (with discount code) SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 Mele Kalikimaka! All adults Purchase tickets at 40+ are invited to kick off the https://tix.com/Event.aspx?EventCode=1098098 or go to the Christmas party season at the ppc.net/roseparade and follow the instructions home of Jean and Mark Burns in Pasadena, Saturday, December 1 at 6:00 P.M. Let’s all Volunteers are needed on parade day to provide hospitality gather together to enjoy food, drink, and each other. for guests viewing the parade from our grandstands. Contact Bring a dish to share and something to drink. Bring the church office if interested. (626) 793-2191 friends and family, too! All are welcome. RSVP to Jean at [email protected] or 626.440.1777. 74th Annual Candlelight & Carols Saturday, December 8, 2018 4:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Free Admission ~ Voluntary offering The annual “Pasadena Tradition for the Whole Family” again offers two performances! Take your pick—4:30pm or 7:30pm—because each one offers plenty of audience carol singing, adult and children’s choirs, handbells, and the Friends of Music Orchestra. Highlights of this year’s program include Bob Chilcott’s setting of The , and Clem- ent Clarke Moore’s famous poem “The Night Before Christmas” for narrator accompanied by the Friends of Music Orchestra. A festive reception follows the 7:30pm performance.

Advent Event a Huge Success! On Sunday, Dec. 2, over 80 people from all three Language Ministries came together in Fellowship Hall to begin the Advent Season. Adults, parents, children and youth enjoyed a festive event making wonderful Christmas ornaments, decorating cookies, making Christmas crafts and logs. Many of the ornaments were made for the Christmas trees which you will see throughout the season at PPC. The event ended with a program including singing carols, a Christmas story, and explanation of the lighting of candles for Advent. A special huge thank you to Tineke Switzer for coordinating and planning the event! Thanks to all who participated and for our Children and Youth Committee who sponsored the event.