Dear Friends,
Happy Advent! What a joy it is to see more in-person worshippers week-by-week. The 9am mass continues to grow, and we had 75 people last Sunday and over 20 children! Starting this Sunday, the candles on the Advent wreath will be blessed at the 9am service. If you have not taken home your Advent and Christmas Postcard, they are available in Church and list all the services and concerts. Also, look out for an email that was sent after Thanksgiving Day that had links to Memorial Flowers, to Christmas Candles at the Crèche, and our Angel Tree Project.
On Sunday, and we will welcome our new Associate for Adult Education and Formation, The Rev. Dr. Luigi Gioia. Fr. Gioia will preach his first sermon at 11 a.m. and there will be a special coffee hour afterwards to welcome him and his husband, Claudio. Now that it is getting colder, we are moving our coffee hour to Andrew Hall until Easter. At 4 p.m. we shall have a beautiful service of Advent music and readings with the Choir in candlelight. That service will be repeated on Tuesday, November 29 at 5:30 p.m.
A reminder that, on Advent Sunday, we will also restore the common cup at the Holy Eucharist. If you wish to receive from the chalice, please assist the ministers by taking the chalice into both hands and guiding it to your lips. Also, please note that the Bishop has forbidden the practice of intinction (dipping the host in the chalice).
The American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem have produced an on-line Advent Calendar to help children learn about the lives of Holy Land Christians and the ministries of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. As you know, a number of us visited the Holy Land during Easteride this year, and we saw first-hand the work of the Diocese.
This year, the Blessing of the Crèche Service will take place on Saturday, December 17 at 4 p.m. The music will be provided, once again, by the Noble Singers children’s choir and some of the choristers will also be involved. As we tell the Christmas story and build the Christmas Crèche, the children will take the lead. Bring your families, grandchildren, godchildren, and encourage your friends and neighbors to come. The service will be followed by a party for the Sunday School Children, their families, and for Staff who have children.
Finally, our friends at the Living Church Foundation have asked us to advertise an upcoming pilgrimage to the United Kingdom in Spring 2023. We will be having our own parish pilgrimage as part of a planned Choir Tour in the Bicentennial in Eastertide, 2024. If you cannot wait that long, please click on the picture of Canterbury Cathedral (below) to find out more.
