January
2, 2014
On the 9th Day of Christmas ... more
snow!
On this coming Sunday, the 5th of January, we will have ONE service only at 9 AM in celebration of the Second Sunday after Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany. We hope you will join us for worship and song as we close out the Christmas season and begin Epiphany-tide with a special focus on the conclusion of the infancy narrative according to Saint Mathew’s Gospel. The liturgy will be followed by a coffee hour hosted by the Pastoral Care and Facilities Planning committees.
Readings for this coming
Sunday: Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14, Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a, Matthew
2:1-23
Women’s
Lunch Bunch will meet on
Wednesday, January 8th, at noon at the Mt. View Station Restaurant
in Center Ossipee. All women are welcome. If you have questions, please call
Dale Appleton at 539-3761.
Are you
new to Saint Andrew’s in the past year? 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 on February 2nd.
Special
thanks to Lisa Thompson and Gretchen Behr-Svendsen, along with Bernice Thompson and our choir at the
10 o’clock service, who so ably led the congregation in my absence last Sunday
in Morning Prayer at 8 o’clock and a Service of Lessons and Carols at 10. The
rector’s letter of agreement provides the Sunday following Christmas Day as a
release Sunday. Duane and I appreciated the break and were able to spend the
weekend celebrating Christmas with family in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Lisa, Gretchen, and
Cathie Lewis are our licensed lay worship leaders, trained to officiate for
non-eucharistic services.
Planning Ahead!
Our Annual Parish Meeting will be held, weather permitting, on Sunday, February
2nd, following a 9:00 am service.
Reminder: JANUARY 15TH…Annual Reports Due
Date…Please begin preparing and submitting your reports for the Annual
Report. They can be e-mailed to the office or left in Debra’s office
In-Box. The earlier the
better. Thanks.
Food for thought, consideration, and prayer...
The Christmas story may
take on greater meaning if we look to the real life struggles of Jesus, Mary
and Joseph. This Sunday we will expand on the appointed lectionary by
continuing the Epiphany story of the wise men with Mary, Joseph, and in the
infant Jesus' escape into Egypt, the slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem, and
the return of the Holy Family to Nazareth. Strangely enough, these stories are
not included in our regular lectionary cycle. We will be exploring them,
interspersed with several less familiar carols.
I strongly encourage you
to pull out your Bible and take the time to read Matthew chapter 2 slowly and
thoughtfully in its entirety in advance of Sunday. Allowing yourself to enter
into the scenes through prayer means entering into the lives of the fully human
people in the story. Their experiences can enable us to deepen our relationship
with God, who is near us and one with us.
Blessings in this holy
season!
See you in church.
Heidi+
See you in church.
Heidi+
