The Spire a Newsletter of Christ Church Ithan Advent 2018
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The Spire A Newsletter of Christ Church Ithan Advent 2018 Yes and Amen A message from Fr. John In This Issue Dear Friends in Christ: A Message from 2 Our worship life is central to who Fr. John we are as a community of faith united in Christ. We come to Holiday Potluck worship weekly to praise God, to listen to God’s Word and to share Communion. Through the sacred 3 Cookie Swap actions we perform, we enter more deeply into our identity as a Wreath-Making people who follow Jesus’ Way of Love and we are strengthened to do the work that Jesus would have us do. Everything we are about comes together in this holy moment and in our worship we encounter Jesus and remember 4 Greening of the the saving events of his death and resurrection. Through what we Church do, we are equipped to participate in God’s work of transformation in our world today. Carol Singing I don’t know if you ever noticed, but our worship is set up in a hearing / responding motif. We hear a reading and respond by saying a psalm. We hear the gospel and the sermon and respond 5 The Upper Room with the words of our Creed. The two major parts of our Service, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, reflect Marriage that same hearing/responding motif. Giving Tree “Worship is profound and captivating; it is all about encounter with God, the God of all creation, the source of our life.” 6 Christmas Schedule In the first part of our Service, we hear our story in readings from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures and our story is brought home to us in a sermon. And our response to our story 7 Good Works leads us into the second part of our Service with the Great Thanksgiving and eventually our Communion. The structure of the Service is a reminder that all of our lives are meant to be about hearing / responding to God’s in-breaking in our lives. 8 Website There is something about the structure of our worship that conveys to me a sense of bigness and immensity; worship is Calendar profound and captivating; it is all about encounter with God, the (Continued on page 2) Yes and Amen (Continued from page 1) Now, I know there are many times in the Service where we respond “Amen.” But this God of all creation, the source of our life. one should be shouted out; it should be Every Sunday, we take a moment out of our repeated over and over. “Yes, yes, yes,” lives to enter into mystery, to allow ourselves there are so many reasons from praising our to be immersed in God’s life and love for us. God and offering our thanks. “Yes” – to God I lack the words to capture how amazing be the glory! what we do every week really is. And yet, we come to it so nonchalantly. It can be very So, knowing we are timid Episcopalians, I’m routine and we mumble our way through our not expecting a barn-buster “Amen,” but I prayers, sometimes totally unaware of the would love just a really strong, convincing magnificence of it all. “Amen.” When it falls flat, it feels so disappointing. That’s the view from the other Which brings me to the purpose of my side of the altar. Sometimes it is good for us writing today. I guess you can call this my to look a little closer at what we do week pet-peeve. I prefer to think of it as my view after week, break up the routine and focus from the other side of the altar. The Service on what we should be excited about when we builds toward Communion. Having heard the gather on Sunday. A great “Amen” is a Word of God, we offer our gifts and wonderful way to conclude it all with gusto. ourselves. Give it a try the next time you’re in church. That offering leads us into our Great This is probably not the Advent message you Thanksgiving during which we recount God’s were expecting. Part of Advent, though, is saving deeds in history and culminating in about rejoicing, about the joy we find in Jesus. We remember Jesus as the bread and knowing we are the saved people of God. wine are consecrated. And then, those holy The “Amen” is an expression of affirmation gifts are lifted up and the priest proclaims: that says “Yes” to our story of salvation, to “By him, and with him and in him, in the the wonder of a babe born in Bethlehem who unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is is Savior of the World. “God so loved the yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever.” world…” We should say “Yes” to that, “Amen” with gusto, every day, for indeed, God is so And our response is “Amen” – “Yes” – “So be very good! it.” And more often than not, all I get back from that proclamation is a mumbled, Blessed Advent to you all. sometimes hardly audible, “Amen.” Your pastor. HOLIDAY POTLUCK – Please join us for an informal holiday potluck get-together for the parishioners of Christ Church, Ithan and St. Martin’s Church, Radnor at the home of Rick and Mollie Wheeler on Saturday, Dec. 15th at 6:00PM. Everyone should be receiving an Evite (an electronic invitation) and can RSVP or you can sign up on the easel at the front of church and indicate the dish you are willing to bring. Once we have an idea of our numbers, we will post a list of what people are bringing and what is still needed on a “What to Bring List” on the evite. Rick and Mollie’s home is at 700 Sproul Rd., Bryn Mawr. This event is BYOB. Christmas Cookie Swap Last year we held an inaugural cookie swap. So you know what that means? Yes… we need to have another one, otherwise the last one won’t have been “inaugural”. This year’s Cookie Swap will be held in Ithan Hall on Sunday, December 9th at 11:15 (following the 10am service). Each person participating will provide 6 cookies for each participant plus 6 cookies for the sample tray. Bakery bought are acceptable, but homemade are preferred. Example: If 10 bakers are participating, each person should bring 66 cookies (10 x 6 + 6). There will be a maximum of 12 bakers. Cookies should be bagged with 6 cookies per bag to give out, and should include a recipe card attached to each bag. We have extended an invitation to St. Martin’s to join us, and there is a sign up board in sanctuary of the church. Advent Wreath-Making Advent is just around the corner. That means it’s time to order the supplies to create a beautiful table Advent wreath. We will be making Advent wreaths on the first Sunday of Advent, December 2, and everyone is invited! If you have a wreath form tucked away somewhere, dig that one out. If not, email Cynthia and let her know you need one. You can also sign up for a set of Advent candles. Anyone who has greens in their yard, small, natural decorative items (dried flower clusters, cones, shells, pods, etc.), or narrow ribbon to use to decorate the wreaths, please bring them on December 2nd. Also bring your gardening clippers if you have a pair, we will supply the wire, extra clippers, and hot glue guns and will show everyone how to make this simple and beautiful table wreath. The cost of the wreath form is $4.00, the set of four Advent candles is $6.00. If you know anyone who can’t make it to church but would like a wreath, please let Cynthia know ([email protected] ) and we will make a wreath to be delivered to them. Sunday, December 16th will begin our annual Greening of the Church. Please plan to join as we put up the trees and artificial decorations. We will start around 12 noon, to allow people to attend Ron and Al’s hospitality hour in celebration of their marriage. Saturday, December 22nd will be when we apply the final touches by creating the fresh flower arrangements for our church’s beautiful Christmas celebration. We will meet in the church basement around 10:00 am to make the floral arrangements and place them in the sanctuary along with the poinsettias to once again make Christ Church Ithan the prettiest church on the main line. We’ll need boughs, berries, and pinecones from your yards too. This is also a really lovely time to be with fellow parishioners, I do hope you can join. No experience necessary! Please mark your calendars for both dates, and call or email Jacqui North with any questions. ([email protected] / 484-582-1212) Carol Singing in Ithan Hall Join us on Sunday, December 23, immediately after the 10:00 service for a Christmas soup and bread lunch and carol sing along! There are so many lovely carols that we sometimes just can’t fit them all in the Christmas Eve church service, so we’re going to sing them in Ithan Hall on the 4th Sunday of Advent. Jeff will lead us on the piano and a group of our super kitchen folks will host a winter soup and bread lunch, so grab your hymnal after the 10:00 church service and head on over to Ithan Hall for a dose of Christmas spirit.