December 2019 THE WARNER MEMO THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF WARNER MEMORIAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH December Calendar PASTOR’S MESSAGE Faith. The nice thing about faith is that we have a bona fide scriptural definition for the word: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 1:11). The best news about faith, though, is that you don’t need to have a lot of it. According to Scripture (Matthew 17:20, Luke 17:6), if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing would be impossible for us. That thought gives me a good deal of comfort. When I think of faith I think of the little girl, Susie, in the movie, Miracle ​ On 34th Street. If you recall, Susie’s Mom didn’t want Susie to be ​ sucked in by fantasy. Mom took great pains to raise a logical, rational child who would grow up to be a logical, rational adult. Mom made sure that Susie knew there is no Santa Claus. Susie’s mother works for Macy*s and is responsible for the selection of the store’s Santa Clauses. Susie is, therefore, very much aware that the Macy*s Santas have pillow stomachs and fake beards. (And most of them drink a little too much.) But one day, Macy*s hires a Santa who claims to be the real thing -- Kris Kringle, himself. Susie is not about to be taken in by this; but, gosh, this Santa is VERY convincing. Consequently, life gets muddled and very confusing for Susie. Susie didn’t want to ask Santa for a Christmas present because, after all, as convincing as Mr. Kringle was, he really was just a very nice man. But Mr. Kringle insisted, so Susie decided to ask Santa for a house. Not a doll house - a real house in the suburbs. Maybe, just maybe this guy really was Santa. Christmas day was spent at Mr. Kringle’s retirement home, but there was nothing under the tree about a house for Susie. Being the logical, 2 rational kid she was, Susie was politely appreciative for the gifts she received and Susie is utterly disappointed. On the drive home Susie sat in the back of the car joylessly murmuring, “I believe... I believe.... I believe.” Susie was torn between her doubt and her faith. She couldn’t seem to give up either one. Truthfully, this is where I spend a surprising amount of time - caught somewhere between my doubt and my faith, unable to relinquish either one. The faith part of me knows God is working in the world to bring all of creation back to the perfection God originally intended. When I get a glimpse of that, I know I have encountered pure Grace. But, the doubting part of me cannot drive by the Pentagon and breathe at the same time. I cannot read the newspaper without gasping and breaking into tears. I don’t know what to do about that. But faith does. Faith, it seems, is not the antidote to doubt. Faith and doubt coexist quite uncomfortably and indivisibly together. But even when doubt is raging, faith seems to maintain the upper hand because we don’t need a lot of faith to outmaneuver a whole lot of doubt. Faith keeps hanging in there no matter what doubt tries to do. A preacher I know once said “the point of faith is not that you will be certain. The point of faith is that you will continue worshiping.” Huh? I had to think about that. I think what he meant is that when we worship we bring all that we are, including our fears and doubts, and we lay it all in the arms of Jesus. Our doubts and fears are no longer the center of our attention. Jesus is. And that is worship. The more we worship the more we encounter the living Christ. Then the eyes of our hearts become more receptive to the sightings of God working in the world and our faith is sustained. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it is at least mustard size faith, and it is enough. Pastor Leslianne 3 UPCOMING WORSHIP HIGHLIGHTS ● The Warner Sanctuary Choir will be presenting a special music offering at the 11:00 AM service on Sunday, December 15. ​ ​ Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols is an exquisite suite of ​ carols from old English sources, accompanied by harp. The choir will be joined by acclaimed local harpist Monika Vasey Rhodes. A Ceremony of Carols is one of the acknowledged ​ masterworks of the 20th century, written first for treble voices and then adapted into a version for mixed choir. It’s a truly extraordinary work that has never before been presented at Warner. ● On Tuesday, December 24 join us for our Christmas Eve ​ candlelight service at 8:00 PM with special music starting at 7:30 PM. 4 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Advent At The Turn Of A New Decade What is the most compelling reality in your life: Is it awaiting the shopping deals of Black Friday or Cyber Monday; perhaps it’s the inauguration of a new decade at the waning days of this calendar year; maybe it’s the upcoming election; or, is it the pregnant, life-full anticipation of the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom come? You will likely note that my framing of the question posits that it should be the latter for those of us in the Church. My point here is not to exhaustively identify every demand for our desires, affections, and loyalties; nor is it a request for us to retreat from the social, cultural, political, and economic life where we are. Not in the slightest! The simple question I want to ask myself this Advent is this: What is it about worship, fellowship, and education at 10123 Connecticut Avenue that changes our minds to reflect koinonia1 in Christ’s body and blood throughout our lives? The liturgical season of Advent begins Sunday, December 1 in our church calendar. Let us celebrate Christ’s evergreen invitation to resurrection life when we gather that morning from 9:30-10:30 AM for 1 “refers to communion or fellowship, joint participation, the share which one has in anything,... It identifies the idealized state of fellowship and unity that should exist within the Christian church, the Body of Christ.” Wikipedia 5 CE’s annual Advent Wreath Construction Workshop. Please RSVP to [email protected] to help us prepare enough materials. All you need to bring is a vase capable of holding a 4x4” floral foam square. We also encourage you to bring greenery for the wreath (though it will also be provided). Throughout Advent, CE will also be coordinating with members of the congregation to light the four Advent Candles during worship– a common way of marking the time until Christmas that we encourage you to practice at home with the wreath you take home from the workshop! We are eager to celebrate in worship with the families of young children in our congregation who will light the Advent candles, beginning with that of Kabara Korth on December 1 and Chelsea Cook on December 8. Dave Grace, C.E. Director UPDATE FROM THE PASTORAL NOMINATING COMMITTEE The Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) is pleased to report substantial progress in the search process. On November 18, Session approved the Ministry Information Form (MIF), Pastor Position Description, and Calls and Jobs Listing, which means our search will soon “go live.” The MIF will be sent to the Church Leadership Connection, which enters it into the database and conducts a match with Personal Information Forms (PIFs) from pastoral candidates. Then the PNC will receive a notice that the matched PIFs are available for download. The position description will be sent to the Congregational Transitions Commission for approval and posting on the Presbytery website. Candidates who are interested in the position can send their PIFs directly to the PNC. 6 These actions will complete step four of the nine-step process in calling a new pastor. Thus the PNC is poised to enter the heart of the search—reading and evaluating the information received from pastoral candidates. You can follow our progress on the PNC page on Warner’s web site and on our bulletin board, which will soon go up on the wall outside the office near the Calvert Street entrance. Again, we ask you to journey with us in prayer as we ask God to open our hearts and minds and to shine a light on the path ahead toward Warner’s future. With enthusiastic hope in the search ahead, The PNC ​COMMISSION TO THE COMMUNITY A Perfect Gift this Advent Season As we prepare for Christmas, many of us spend time in search of the perfect gift — the gift that communicates to friends and family how much we know and love them. We search our memories for 7 indications of what gift might cause the faces of our loved ones to light up. We scour the stores and shops, hoping to come across the ​ thing that will communicate a depth of love that our words cannot. As important as gifts to loved ones are, we have an opportunity to give gifts that help many people we do not know through the Christmas Joy Offering. These gifts in particular draw us back to the manger and God’s perfect gift to us — Jesus Christ. During this Advent Season, we celebrate leadership; past, present and future through our support of the Christmas Joy Offering.