Announcements for December 20

• Vestry Meeting Monday
  The vestry meets Monday, December 21, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
  
  
• Christmas Services
  The Holy Eucharist and children’s Christmas pageant, Christmas Eve, 4:00 p.m.
  Festival Choral Holy Eucharist, Christmas Eve, music at 10:00 p.m., worship at 10:30 p.m.
  The Holy Eucharist on Christmas Day at 10:00 a.m.
  Christmas Lessons and Carols (with Holy Communion), Sunday, December 27, at 10:00 a.m.
  
  
• Christmas Pageant Rehearsals
  There will be a rehearsal for all children cast in speaking roles in the Christmas pageant this Sunday beginning at 9:00 a.m. Both of the younger Sunday School classes (Godly Play and Catechesis) will meet for Sunday School as usual. ALL participants in the pageant, please attend rehearsal Wednesday, December 23, from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
  
  
• Donate Christmas Flowers for the Church
  Envelopes are available in the pews if you would like to contribute to the Christmas beauty of the church. Donations may be made in honor or celebration of a loved one or event, in memory of the faithful departed, or to the glory of God.
  
  
• Altar Guild Correction
  The altar guild will gather to decorate the church for Christmas on Wednesday, December 23rd (not the 22nd, as printed in The Evangelist), at 10:00 a.m. Please RSVP to Sue Buckman for lunch.
  
  
• Vestry Nominations
  The vestry nominating committee will be meeting soon. If you feel called to serve on the vestry, please speak to Pastor Orr or one of the wardens.
  
  
• Pledge Reminder
  As the year comes to a close, please remember the importance of fulfilling your 2009 pledge to support the ministry of St. John’s. And if you have not yet returned your pledge card for 2010, please do so as soon as possible.
  
  
• Parish Office Closed
  The parish office will be closed December 24 and 25 for the Christmas holiday.

Reflection for December 20

A Bidding Prayer for Advent

Dear People of God: In the season of Advent, it is our responsibility and joy to prepare ourselves to hear once more the message of the Angels, to go to Bethlehem and see the Son of God lying in a manger.

Let us hear and heed in Holy Scripture the story of God’s loving purpose from the time of our rebellion against him until the glorious redemption brought to us by his holy Child Jesus, and let us look forward to the yearly remembrance of his birth with hymns and songs of praise.... [The Book of Occasional Services]

Announcements for December 13

• Saturday’s Cookie Walk
  You did it again! Thanks to our cookie bakers, candy makers, knitters, jewelry makers and our helpers who worked so hard, once again our annual Cookie Walk was a success. St. John’s reputation for baking delicious, beautifully decorated cookies is spreading. One customer even came from Alton, Illinois! Local charities that have been hard hit because of the recession will be grateful to receive donations from the proceeds. Proceeds are currently estimated at $3,900. Once again – many thanks.
  
  
• Cathedral Shelter Christmas Baskets
  Praise God for the generosity of St. John’s parishioners to help others at Christmas time. The following all contributed to the Christmas Basket program: St. John’s Sunday School, Donica Van Voorhees, Harold and Bev Keene, Lynn Ruschhaupt, Audrey Ongman, Bill and Pat Braker, Moxley family, MJ and Mike Bond, Girl Scout Troup 60144, Brotherhood of St. Andrew, John Huntoon and Pat Smith Huntoon, Mike Juskelis, Steven Russell and Richard Lieb, Ann Glascoff, Frank So and Debbi Huggett, Margi Strombeck, Cyndie Knoll, and May Lawler.
  
  
• Christmas Pageant
  Don’t forget the first rehearsal for all participants in the pageant is Sunday, December 20, at 9:00 a.m.
  
  
• Lawrence Hall
  The final tally of donations to Lawrence Hall is $1460, along with a collection of mittens and hats.
  
  
• Altar Guild Correction
  The altar guild will gather to decorate the church for Christmas on Wednesday, December 23rd (not the 22nd, as printed in The Evangelist), at 10:00 a.m. Please RSVP to Sue Buckman for lunch.

Reflection for December 13

In The Meaning Is in the Waiting, Paula Gooder admits her own impatience with the waiting of Advent. But her perspective changed during her first pregnancy. She realized then that she didn’t want the pregnancy to end prematurely, that the birth should go full term. Through her pregnancy she came to see waiting as both a way of being and a gift. “Pregnant waiting” deepens our experience of that which we anticipate. Yet to wait is not to remain passive, but rather to participate in a nurturing process.

Waiting during Advent is a spiritual discipline; it trains us in the art of seeing as Christians, in the ability to see where and how God breaks into our world. Sometimes God enters our world in the most unexpected ways and unlikely places—like a Christ child born in an unbecoming stable.

If something like that were to happen again, could we see it? (Richard A. Kauffman, “Must we wait for this?” posted at http://theolog.org)

Announcements for December 6

• Cathedral Shelter Christmas Baskets
  One family of two and three seniors are still awaiting adoption. Please contact the parish office if you are able to provide for these people at Christmas time. Completed baskets are due December 10.
  
  
• Stewardship
  Please return your pledge cards as soon as possible. They may be placed in the collection plate on Sunday or returned to the parish office.
  
  
• Christmas Pageant
  Please speak with Donica Van Voorhees this Sunday, December 6, during coffee hour to let her know if your child(ren) will be participating in this year’s Christmas pageant, which will occur on Christmas Eve, December 24, at the 4:00 p.m. liturgy.
  
  
• Little Hands Outreach Ministry
  Next Saturday, December 12, from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. in the undercroft. Grade school aged children (along with older or younger friends and siblings) are invited to come learn about the PADS ministry and to help package personal care products for PADS clients.
  
  
• Faith in Films: Juno
  The 2007 hit Juno will be shown Friday, December 11, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Guild Room. Popcorn and stimulating discussion are provided. Everyone’s invited.
  
  
• Care Packages for College Students
  All youth are invited to put together care packages for our college students at the home of Betsy Elliot on Saturday, December 5, at 1:00 p.m. Please call or e-mail Betsy to let her know if you will attend.
  
  
• Advent Pilgrimage Canceled
  The youth Advent pilgrimage to the Cathedral, scheduled for December 12, has been canceled by the diocese.

Reflection for December 6

Advent Reflection

One of my favorite [Advent images] comes from the childhood of a Greek peasant during World War II.... One day Alexander discovered a piece of mirror from a crashed German motorcycle. He began to play with it and discovered that he could use it to reflect light into dark holes and crevices. As he grew up, he discovered in it the meaning of his own life, "shining light into dark places." We become those bits of mirror when we approach the dark places of life. The mirror can't do any significant reflective work if it stays too far away from the dark. The image of God in which we are created is meant to be a mirror, reflecting the light of the world into encounters where our connection with the divine is unrecognized.

This Advent, go looking for mirrors. You are more likely to find them in or near places that seem pretty poor and dark and mean. May you find the light of the world and become a reflector yourself. The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, www.episcopalchurch.org/episcopal_life.htm.