|
Christmas Message from Bishop Singh
|
|
|
|
|
The Rt. Rev. Prince Singh, elected provisional bishop by the joint convention in October, offers a word of greeting and a reflection on the season ahead of his arrival to our dioceses in February.
|
|
|
Love came down at Christmas. Love all, lovely love divine. Love was born at Christmas, star and angel gave the sign. Beautiful words from Christina Rosetti, reminding us of the beauty of Christmas which combines the deep vulnerability that God would come and become like us.
My first experience as a priest of Christmas was in a very remote village in South India and the only place that we could meet on that dark, starlit night was in a cattle shed. And so there we were, sitting among the animals with the smells and everything that goes with being in a cattle shed.
It reminded me of how deeply God loves us. That God would choose to become dirty and vulnerable and to communicate this love.
The second thing that stands out for me in this love is the deep trust that God has – that we will take care of each other. God became a human being in the form of a baby entrusted to human hands: Mary’s, Joseph’s, yours, mine – that we will take care of each other, especially the vulnerable, the lonely, the elderly, the refugee, the one who doesn’t agree with us politically. Let us trust again and again, wisely, but trust again.
And finally, it takes agency for us to actually translate these beautiful concepts of vulnerability and trust. And so I invite you to appreciate the essence of Christmas by reaching out and acting out in love, in great vulnerability, and trust so that you may be a channel of love in a real way wherever you are.
I look forward to coming to you as your bishop provisional and wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a blessed journey that we will engage together with Jesus walking beside us and perhaps creating a new thing by the Spirit’s leading.
In my encounters with you, I have seen you always hold your palm up and every time somebody did that to give me directions, I took that as a sign of blessing. So the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you now and always. Amen.
|
|
|
Parishioners from St. Mary's gather for the Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols in the barn at Pond House Farm.
|
|
|
Christmas Eve Services of Holy Eucharist
|
|
|
St. Andrew's, Big Rapids
4:00 pm
St. Mary's, Cadillac
8:00 pm
All are welcome!
Both services will be livestreamed to the church Facebook pages.
|
|
|
|
Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols
This Sunday, December 26, join either St. Mary's or St. Andrew's at 10 am for a Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols! Both services will include readings of the Christmas story and lots of Christmas carols. At the St. Andrew's the service will include Holy Eucharist and the reading of a children's Christmas story.
|
|
|
2022 Annual Meeting Dates
The St. Andrew's annual meeting will take place on January 23, 2022, immediately following the service.
The St. Mary's annual meeting will take place on January 30, 2022, immediately following the service.
At both annual meetings we will celebrate the last year in our parishes, elect new vestry members, elect new members of the leadership council, and elect our 2022 diocesan convention representatives.
The deadline to submit all ministry reports is January 11, 2022.
They can be emailed to standrewsbr@gmail.com.
|
|
|
Call for Nominations for
Annual Meeting Elections
Both of our churches will hold elections for several important roles in our parish lives. You are invited to prayerfully discern if you might be called to serve in any of these roles. Nominations may be given to any vestry member or to Mtr. Radha.
|
|
|
St. Mary's
- Vestry - 2 people to 3-year terms and 1 person to a 2-year term
- Leadership Council representative - 1 person to a 3-year term
- Diocesan Convention representatives - 1 person to attend the next 2 conventions and 1 alternate
|
|
St. Andrew's
- Vestry - 2 people to 3-year terms
- Leadership Council representative - 1 person to a 3-year term
- Diocesan Convention representatives - 2 people as representatives and 1 alternate
|
|
|
Intergenerational Faith Formation
Will Return in February
Our new Intergenerational Faith Formation program will take a break for the holidays and annual meeting season. We will resume these gatherings of learning and reflection in February. They will continue will take place in the parish at 9 am every other week, on the Sundays when Holy Eucharist is scheduled and will be led by Mtr. Radha.
All ages (kids included!) are invited to attend. Each faith formation period will begin with a short time of teaching or introduction to the topic that is geared for all ages. Then, kids and youth will split off with Mtr. Radha for their own discussion or activity. The adults will continue with self-led discussion.
Stay tuned for more information!
|
|
Epiphany Bonfire and Orchard Wassailing
at Plainsong Farm
Orchard wassailing is an over 1,000 year old ritual, a winter blessing of the trees, during which communities sang and danced amongst the trees, fed the birds that aid the health of the trees, and nourished the roots of the trees with cider and other spirited drinks. Come for a bonfire, singing, hot drinks, and ancients rituals reimagined on Sunday, January 9 at 4:30pm. All ages are welcome!
|
|
|
News from the Wider Church
|
|
|
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Christmas Message 2021: ‘In the name of these refugees, let us help all refugees’
|
|
|
|
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry Christmas Message 2021
|
|
|
A number of years ago I read a book by Roberta Bondi who at that time was teaching at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. The title of the book was “To Love as God Loves.” Professor Bondi in that book looked at and examined early Christians. And one of the things she observed was that early Christians saw their vocation of following Jesus as learning how to love as God loves. And that was the title of the book, “To Love as God Loves.”
If that is true, as I believe it is, when we look at the New Testament stories of Jesus, and particularly the stories around Christmas, we see early glimmers of Jesus showing us how to love as God loves. The Christmas stories found in Matthew and in Luke, for example, actually show us something about God's way of love.
We all know the Christmas stories, the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes as it's found in Luke's gospel, the baby that's born of Mary, the stories of Mary while she was pregnant meeting her cousin Elizabeth, and the words of the Magnificat—“My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
We know the stories of Mary giving birth in the manger because there was no room for them in the inn, the stories of the shepherds out on the field beholding the angel choir— “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” The stories of a baby born is the story of beauty, a story of hope; for as the Jewish tradition says, every child who is born is a reminder that God is not finished with the world yet. In this case, the baby that was born was named Jesus.
Matthew tells the same story but highlights other dimensions that remind us profoundly of the way God loves. In Matthew's story, the child is born and there is great beauty in it, but there is some difficulty, even in the relationship between Mary and Joseph when they discover that she is with child before they're actually married. But an angel intervenes and tells Joseph in the dream that this child is God's miracle.
And so Joseph accepts his responsibility and cares for Mary and the baby Jesus who is to be born. And all moves along well. And in Matthew's version there is the star, the Magi or the wise men who come from afar, but then the story takes a dark turn.
And all of a sudden the same beauty that surrounded the birth of a child now is tinged by an ugliness of tyranny, the ugliness of injustice, the ugliness of hatred, the ugliness of unbridled selfishness as King Herod hears rumors of a rival to his throne being born and begins plans to execute children to stamp out his rival. In Matthew, that is the context for the birth of Jesus.
And Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus when he is born are forced to flee as refugees seeking political asylum, eventually in Egypt, because of the wrath of King Herod. They are saved from the destruction, but many do die.
In the late 1930s, The Episcopal Church embarked on efforts to save refugees who were fleeing tyranny, evil, injustice, bigotry, hatred in Europe at the advent of the Second World War. In The Episcopal Church, Episcopalians and many other Christians and Jewish people in the United States and people of goodwill and human decency worked together in a variety of ways to save as many refugees as they could.
And at that time, Episcopalians created this image. And it shows Mary holding the baby Jesus in her arms on the donkey with Joseph walking with them. And as you can see, the sign said, “In the name of these refugees, aid all refugees.”
The Christmas stories are reminders that this Jesus came to show us how to love as God loves. And one of the ways we love as God loves is to help those who are refugees, those who seek asylum from political tyranny, poverty, famine, or other hardship.
In the 1930s, Episcopalians did this to love as God loves, and today, ministries like Episcopal Migration Ministries, the work of this church, have helped to resettle some 100,000 refugees as of December 2021. And that work goes on for refugees from Afghanistan and from other places around the world.
The Christian vocation as Jesus taught us is to love as God loves. And in the name of these refugees, let us help all refugees.
God love you. God bless you. And, this Christmas, may God hold us all in those almighty hands of love.
|
|
|
Episcopal Word of the Week
|
|
|
|
For the season of Advent, let's learn some Advent words!
Great O Antiphons of Advent - Antiphons sung before and after the Magnificat at vespers on the seven days before Christmas. The texts are of unknown origin and date at least from the ninth century. Each antiphon begins with the letter “O” and a name or attribute of God from the Hebrew Scriptures: O Sapientia, “O Wisdom”; O Adonai, “O Sacred Lord”; O Radix Jesse, “O Root of Jesse”; O Clavis David, “O Key of David”; O Oriens, “O Rising Sun”; O Rex gentium, “O King of nations”; and O Emmanuel, “O Emmanuel.” In the Roman rite the antiphons are sung from Dec. 17-23, but in the medieval Sarum use they began on Dec. 16, adding on Dec. 23, O Virgo virginum (O Virgin of virgins). The Great O Antiphons have been adapted as a popular Advent hymn, “O come, O come, Emmanuel” (Hymn 56), whose verses may be used as antiphons for the Magnificat on the appropriate days.
From "Building Faith" - https://buildfaith.org/the-colors-of-advent/
|
|
St. Mary's, Cadillac
- December 24, 8:00 pm
- Christmas Eve
- Holy Eucharist
- December 26, 10:00 am
- 1st Sunday after Christmas
- Festival of Lessons and Carols
- January 2, 10:00 am
- 2nd Sunday after Christmas
- Holy Eucharist
- Guest presider and preacher: Fr. Everett Klein
- Streamed to Facebook
St. Mary's Facebook Page
|
- December 24, 4:00 pm
- Christmas Eve
- Holy Eucharist
- December 26, 10:00 am
- 1st Sunday of Christmas
- Festival of Lessons and Carols with Holy Eucharist
- Streamed to Facebook
- January 2, 10:00 am
- 2nd Sunday after Christmas
- Morning Prayer
|
|
|
Readings for Christmas Eve
December 24, 2021
First Lesson: Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm: Psalm 98
Second Lesson: Hebrews 1:1-4
Gospel: John 1:1-14
|
|
|
Readings for First Sunday after Christmas
Festival of Lessons and Carols
December 26, 2021
First Lesson: Genesis 3:1-15
Second Lesson: Isaiah 40:1-11
Third Lesson: Luke 1:26-58
Fourth Lesson: Luke 2:1-20
Fifth Lesson: Luke 2:21-36
|
|
|
Worship Serving Schedules
|
|
|
St. Mary's, Cadillac
December 24: Christmas Eve
Officiant: Mtr. Radha Kaminski
Reader: Nancy Foster
Intercessor: Nancy Foster
Greeters/Ushers: Mary P. & Karlene H.
December 26: Morning Prayer
Officiant: Jim Pals
Reader: Mike Paulin
Intercessor: Mike Paulin
Greeters/Ushers: Karen & Lee Peters
|
St. Andrew's, Big Rapids
December 24: Christmas Eve
Officiant: Mtr. Radha Kaminski
Reader: Isabel Kempton
Intercessor: Janie Shepherd-Worthington
Music: Bob Garrels
December 26: Holy Eucharist
Officiant: Mtr. Radha Kaminski
Reader: Mary Frew & Mark Lauzon
Intercessor: Betty Stolarek
Music: Bob Garrels & Alex Weller
|
|
|
St. Mary's DME Lending Pantry Schedule
|
|
|
December 27: Diane W. & Mike P.
December 30: Fosters
January 3: 2 People Needed
January 6: 2 People Needed
|
|
To sign up to volunteer in the DME Lending Pantry, contact Mike Paulin at Paulin1985@live.com or sign up on the calender in the DME.
|
|
Update (12/14/21): Singing and the service of food may resume. The daily number of new cases is still being monitored. We will return to increased restrictions if the cases rise into the "severe" range again.
Update (9/16/21): Masks are now required for all indoor gatherings at St. Mary's. All people, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask.
Update (9/5/21): Masks are now required for all indoor gatherings at St. Andrew's. All people, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask.
The Episcopal Dioceses in Michigan are currently in Phase 3 of the Plan for Re-Entry for Great Lakes Episcopalians. From the Diocesan announcement:
"This Phase of “Deeper Participation” is focused on best practices with only a few hard requirements, encouraging and empowering responsible local decision-making as you determine what level of re-entry is appropriate for your community at this time."
Overview of current Phase 3 requirements:
- Masks are encouraged indoors and not required outdoors. Masks are especially encouraged in the following circumstances: ministry with immunocompromised populations, children’s ministry (while children remain ineligible for vaccination), and when distributing communion.
- There are no capacity restrictions nor distancing requirements. It is advised that precautions be in place to avoid crowding.
- Communion is permitted in one kind using bread or wafers.
- Communal spaces must be cleaned on a regular basis. However, it is no longer required that this take place before and after every gathering.
- Food may be prepared and served while making every provision to ensure adequate space to avoid crowding.
- Vaccinations are required for clergy and licensed lay ministers. The Standing Committees as ecclesiastical authority, in concert with the Diocese of Michigan, will require all active clergy and diocesan-licensed lay ministers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Advent I, November 28th. Eastern and Western Michigan Michigan clergy and lay people holding diocesan licenses have received a notice containing instructions for submitting this information for inclusion in their personnel files at the diocesan offices. Language reflecting this requirement has been added to each phase of the COVID-19 directives.
- It is strongly recommended that all local staff and volunteers be required to be vaccinated in order to practice in-person ministry and service. The addition advises instituting local vaccination policies for staff and volunteers who minister with folks face-to-face, such as eucharistic visitors, healing ministers, nurse and health ministries, food service outreach, etc.
Please read “Phase 3: Deeper Participation” within the Plan for Re-Entry for Great Lakes Episcopalians for additional detail and recommendations.
|
|
|
Contributions are welcome!
|
|
|
|
|
