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St. Brigit Episcopal Church


The Celtic Courier
December 2020


Mission Statement

Where God's Love Transforms Lives
Through Worship and Service To Others  
Click below for upcoming Sunday Lessons from the Revised Common Lectionary
 

Christmas Presence!

Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas
lies in your heart.

-St. Nicholas-

 

Ever since I can remember, the Christmas season has been one of family, ritual, reverence, beauty, and celebration. Over the years however, many family members have moved on to various places in the cosmos and we don’t see each other anymore. What we do see however, is the special nature of this time that comes in December and ushers us into January and beyond. Advent and Christmas are a launch pad that invites a passage from darkness to light, from endings to new beginnings. 

Innate in the human psyche is a need for regular communal celebrations that touch the soul and point beyond themselves. This emphasis reaffirms our common human/divine identities, strengthens our communities, and binds us to a world nurtured and supported by divine presence. Peace on Earth and Love for All are values that bring us together in a spoken and unspoken mystery of unity, collective responsibility, cooperation, purpose, creativity, and abundant life. Here we discover our unity in our diversity.  

This is a time of special reverence for the creator and creation; a time of blessing, of commemoration, of recommitment to the highest cultural ideals and best practices we can know. It’s also a time for celebrating the goodness, awesomeness and ordinary day to day involvements and engagements of Life. It’s not reserved for a ‘special‘ group of people, but for the whole human family to know and experience our Oneness through a common Source known by many names. It speaks to hearts and awakens souls.

The word Christ comes from Christos, a Greek word meaning anointing and blessing. It was given to one man who gave it to all humanity. In this divine presence, we are all anointed and blessed to be a blessing. It’s an unconditional gift given everyone at birth that connects our humanity and divinity. Unfortunately, we are taught that only people of our tribe receive this anointing and blessing with conditions. This teaching separates and divides us rather than uniting and bringing us together. It’s imperialism. Not God. 

The month of December brings us Advent, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, and Christmas. Each started out with a specific group of people; Pagans, Jews, Africans, and Christians. Each also started out with a purpose to celebrate and affirm their common identity which we’re beginning to recognize as the common identity of the whole human family. Intuitively, in the depths of our souls, but in many cases, unconsciously, we know that we are One family, One community, One Being.

Like so many things we’ve seen as separate, we’re coming to know that they, we, are One. Commemorating the past is ideally a pursuit in experiencing the lessons learned about reverence, respect and remembrance which will intentionally lead us to higher levels of consciousness. It’s in giving that we receive, in letting go that we let come. It’s in death that we find new life, in wonder that wisdom is awakened. It’s in love that we let go of fear, in every breath that we can find the infant Christ within us all! 

This requires our utmost presence. This Presence is beyond thought, word and good intentions. It’s a contemplative dimension that allows us to see through the illusions of our conditioning while opening ourselves to the possibilities and potentialities of our original blessing. It’s being receptive, ready, willing, and able to grow with curiosity and delight on a journey beyond resistance, fight, and flight. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride of a lifetime here and now. Taste and see, keep learning how.

“Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart.” says the patron saint of our contemporary Christmas, Saint Nicholas. From this place, we can see the beauty that surrounds us, flows in, around and through us. From this place, we can join the planetary community of all and everything to sing songs of anointing and blessing day by day all the way Home. Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Christmas Presence! Alleluia!

•    This week into the next, meditate on your original anointing and blessing. Let go of all the negativity you’re experiencing and rest in the wonder and beauty of the Who that is Truly You. . . .

•    Become aware of how you receive and reject the gift of love for yourself and others. Awaken to the conditioning you received in your life about who you are and who you’re not. Observe how you accept and reject your original anointing and blessing. . . . 

•    During this Advent and Christmas season, become aware of your innate and wonder-filled blessings. Find the humility and gratitude to live into them. Practice Christmas Presence every day in this season of soul and see what happens. . .  Make it your Mission. Continue to remember Christmas Presence every day in every breath.


Áit Caol Winter Solstice Service
Sunday, December 20, 6:00p.m.

There is no doubt this Christmas season will look different from previous years.  Do you need a break from the stress of all the changes in our lives due to the pandemic?  If so, come relax while reflecting on God’s presence with us, even in the midst of dark-ness. Please join us on St. Brigit’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/StBrigit.

For the ancient Celts, the Winter Solstice was a time to celebrate the turning point in the year when days slowly became longer and warmer.  For us at St. Brigit it has become a way to prepare for the birth of Jesus, the Light of the World. 

Even though the Winter Solstice Service will be online, we will close the service with a (virtual) bonfire, as is our tradition.  You will have an opportunity to symbolically release into the fire something dark in your life or the world.

You can click here for a flyer with all the details.  Feel free to distribute it widely and post it on your Facebook page.

This will be our thirty-first Áit Caol Service and our ninth Winter Solstice Service. Áit Caol services were inspired by The Wilderness services at St. John’s Cathedral.  They combine ancient Celtic spirituality with Christian theology and include live music, meditation areas designed to reflect the chosen scriptures and a contemporary liturgy.

 

Please contact Juanita Redfield at aitcaol@stbrigit.org if you have any questions.


The Core Values of St. Brigit Episcopal Church
  

The Core Values of St. Brigit church were developed at the formation of the church and have been in continual use since that time. The words “core” & “values” speak to both a basic, essential, enduring part of an individual and a principle or quality intrinsically valuable or desirable. With those definitions in mind and based in scripture, these core values have guided us.

During a Zoom meeting for clergy and Bishop’s Wardens, Bishop Kym Lucas asked all churches to review their core values. She particularly asked that a core value around “safety” be added if it was not already included. The BCC developed a Core Values Survey (Thank you, Alicia Florin) to ascertain keeping the values the same, changing them or adding to the current values. The results showed there was overall satisfaction with the majority of the Core Values along with interest in strengthening OUTREACH and adding one for SAFETY.

This updated list of Core Values will now be a part of all St. Brigit media, website, church bulletin and other sites to remind ourselves and others of the core of our belief system.

Core Values

Children:  A place where children are welcomed and learn to love God and one another. (Luke 13:15-17)

Outreach: A strong emphasis on Outreach to communities with both urgent and continuing needs in Christ’s name. (Matthew 25:34-36)

Hospitality to All:  A place that includes and offers hospitality to ALL. (Luke 10:25-37)

Christian Formation: A place that nurtures the pursuit of lifelong Christian formation. (Romans 12:1-2)

Caring Well/Home: A place where we care well for one another and a place we call home. (John 15:12-13 & John 13:12-14)

Safety:  A place that provides physical, emotional and environmental safety for all and responds to the urgent needs of the communities around us.
(Jeremiah 32:37-38 “I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. They shall be My people, and I will be their God.)

CONTACT US

The Rev. Rick Meyers, Interim Vicar
priest@stbrigit.org
720-313-3716

The Rev. Nancey
Johnson Bookstein, Deacon
nancey@stbrigit.org
303-918-9110

Eileen Bisgard,
Parish Administrator

admin@stbrigit.org
720-394-1525

St. Brigit Episcopal Church
110 Johnson Street
Frederick, CO  80530
720-208-0280
www.stbrigit.org

NEW SUNDAY SCHEDULE

9:30 A.M.  Zoom Services followed by virtual Coffee Hour until further notice.


12:00 P.M.  Zoom Youth Group for middle school and high school ages.

Nursery is temporarily suspended.

VISIT US ONLINE

http://stbrigit.org
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St. Brigit Episcopal Church · 110 Johnson Street · Frederick, CO 80530 · USA

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