Dear GLC members and friends,

Tomorrow, we'll hear about Joseph, who had his whole life upended and plans changed. Some weeks, your plans break, and you simply have to respond and adapt. That's been this week for me, but I'm looking forward to worship tomorrow, and hope to see you there!  I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to send my Advent devotional video earlier this week - and I'd like to share this thoughtful piece - When your Advent calendar is broken, which includes:

Let’s all keep our Advent calendars broke enough, beloved, to keep us awake to the reason that Jesus shows up at all: to tend to our hopes and our fears. No, not just our Advent calendars, all our calendars.

God still answers the pain of the world, not with a war cry but with a lullaby.

A couple changes for tomorrow:
- We won't be livestreaming on Facebook, but we'll Zoom as usual!
- Change in plans - we won't have an activity between the services tomorrow, but in the sanctuary back alcove, come sign cards and add your prayers!

Upcoming and below:

• Advent & Christmas Schedule, including kids' activities!
• Candle project - gather your jars!
• This Old Church - property updates & news!
• Weekly Bible Study - we're back at it!

Click here for Sunday's bulletin, ZOOM link, and more on our worship page!

Pastor Brett Wilson

Here for you - schedule a meeting with me directly here on my calendly page!

• Thanks to John Henry, volunteer property agent, who has met with SEVEN different (mainly electrician) vendors in the past month. We're receiving bids and learning about electrical repair/upgrades that may need to be done, as well as repairs to our kitchen lights, and many other projects that have cropped up. It's been busy!
• In a big step as a part of this long process, on 12/8 our restoration plans passed the concept review stage by the Old Georgetown Board! Hurray! Take a moment and thank and congratulate Charles Bushman, who is our project leader and has given a lot of volunteer hours and leadership, bringing together our congregation, architect, the Anacostia Watershed Society, and the DC Historic Preservation League! 
  This means we're moving onward to permits, bids, and engineering designs. These plans (pick up a copy in the church entryway) for exterior renovation and repair will include demolishing the old bell structure, repairing the bell tower steps, returning the bell tower louvers to their historic appearance, creating a new level walkway and gathering area outside the bell tower, and managing stormwater on our site to care for and share with our community! Stay tuned for more details and look forward to what's ahead. As one council member put it, "what's old will soon be new again!"