January 1, 2015


HAPPY NEW YEAR!    HAPPY EPIPHANY!
One of several valiant Christmas pansies in our Memorial Garden
This coming Sunday, January 4th, the Second Sunday after Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany, we are scheduled to have ONE service only at 9 a.m., with coffee hour hosted by the Pastoral Care Committee.

But… the weather situation for Sunday morning is a bit “iffy.” Expect an email from me sometime Saturday evening and a final decision on possible changes by Sunday morning at 6:15. The church voice mail will also be updated at that time. If it should be necessary to cancel the morning service, it will probably be postponed to 5 PM.

Readings for this Sunday: Jeremiah 31:7-11, 13-14, Canticle 11: The Third Song of Isaiah, Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a, Matthew 2:1-15, 19-23.

Don't miss the Photo Gallery below from June and George's 70th anniversary honoring.

Coffee Hour Hosts are needed:  Please check the signup sheet in the Parish Hall for dates that need to be filled for after the 8am and 10 am services. There are people who will gladly show you the ropes if you have never hosted.

ALL ARE WELCOME every Wednesday at 9 AM, for a service of Morning Prayer held in the church led by one of our three licensed worship leaders.

Women’s Lunch Bunch will be meeting this Wednesday, January 7th at noon at the Mountain View Station Restaurant in Center Ossipee. Need a ride? Call Dale at 539-3761.

Are you new to Saint Andrew’s in the past year? We are glad you are here.  If you would like to formalize your membership by transferring into this parish from your previous church or having the record of your baptism (at the church where you were baptized) recorded in our register book, please talk to the rector. This is the procedure by which you become a voting member at our Annual Meeting.

Mark your calendar: Plan to attend the Annual Parish Meeting on Sunday, February 1st.
Debra will be looking for Annual Reports from committee chairs as soon as you can get them to her.  The final due date is January 15th.  Please don’t wait until the last minute. Send them via email to the office or drop off a hard copy to her in-box.  If you need a copy of last year’s report, please send your request to her and she can either email it to you or provide a hard copy.
Winter Weather Advisory!!!  Please keep in mind during the winter: When the weather looks questionable for safe travel, please call the church before you leave home to check for possible schedule changes. If a storm comes in on Saturday evening or Sunday, the rector will make a judgment by 6:30 AM about whether to hold, cancel, or delay services. I will also send an email out to you if you have provided me with your email address. PLEASE do not travel if it feels unsafe to you. Enjoy a Sabbath morning at home and remember St. Andrew’s in your prayers.

Food for thought and contemplation as we live the 12 Days of Christmas…
Going to God with the Shepherds
by Louis William Countryman

If you want to go to God, go without
your certainties. Take your graces. Leave
your certainties behind. If you go looking
for a Triangle inside a Trefoil inside
a Conundrum, you’ll miss he greatest sight
of all, the Holy Trinity playing
children’s games on the lawns of heaven. If
you only look for the Virgin of the Window,
you’ll walk right past Our Lady, laughing and telling
stories with a group of friends.

The disciples
knew not the Lord Jesus in his resurrection
flesh. They were expecting someone else,
someone they knew for certain. And this was like,
but was it he? They knew him only when
he handed them their bread.


Go to God, then,
taking in the hand of memory
the silken light of a clear dawn after
wet weather and say, with tears if need be,
“You made this.” Take the name of your beloved
and say, “You made him and in him you remade me.”
Take the goodness of your life. And take
some moment of uncertain and life-giving
hope, like an angel whispering or – sometimes –
trumpet in your ear. These are your guides.

And so
go with the shepherds on their angelic quest.
Go to that hick town that David left
as soon as he got the chance, go to the stable,
see what you never expected to see, the doors
to God opening in that manger against
all certainty.

And then return to find
anew the tracks of grace: the beauty of men,
the beauty of women, the delight of children,
the running of a swift dog, the flight of birds,
the sweetness of a pear, hands held in quiet.
If you want to go to God, leave your certainties
behind. But be sure to take your graces.

Celebration of June and George Donovan's 70th anniversary.





The book is a collection of photos of their house of many years.
They recently moved to the Center for Community Living on Whittier Road.
They welcome visitors.
Four generations of Donovans

The family with members of the parish


See you in church!
Blessings,
Heidi+