With Christmas Eve on a Sunday, churches faced unavoidable ‘conundrum’ in scheduling Advent

From ENS-

What to do about Dec. 24?

It’s a liturgical debate that has been brewing in congregations and clerical forums all season, based on a church calendar that this year has Christmas Eve landing on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Every parish in the Episcopal Church must answer the question, as a matter of scheduling, and there are strong views on both sides.

“It’s the Episcopal Church. Everything we do leads to debate,” said the Rev. Keith Voets, a New York City priest who helps moderate a Facebook discussion group on Episcopal liturgy.

The conundrum for parish leaders goes something like this: If they load up on Christmas Eve services while maintaining their full Sunday morning schedule, they risk burning out their clergy and volunteers. But to reduce or eliminate the morning services could be seen as curtailing Advent.

The potential solutions churchwide are as plentiful as Advent candles, though the scenarios playing out at Episcopal churches across the country generally fall into a few categories. Episcopal News Service surveyed more than a dozen congregations by phone and email and found that church leaders were basing their scheduling decisions on tradition, local needs and, in some cases, a bit of experimentation.
More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2017/12/18/with-christmas-eve-on-a-sunday-churches-faced-unavoidable-conundrum-in-scheduling-advent/

No More Lying About Mary

From Patheos-

It’s Advent, and the same old lies about Mary are slipping over pulpits and out of parish letters, Christmas cards, public prayers, TV holiday movies, and late night comics’ jokes.

The subjugation of Mary, the maligning of her as meek, mild, and mindless, has been harmful to millions.

Hiding within the wonder of Christmas are a thousand years of doctrinal female subjugation, doctrines that, like tinsel, are dripped all over the season of Christmas. In the midst of the celebration of Wonderful Life, these malicious ideas keep women from feeling empowered, invited to be strong, and urged by God to imagine new ways t live, as Mary of Nazareth did, who mothered God’s redemption of the human world.


Read more at-

 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/biteintheapple/no-more-lying-about-mary/#H2boOWTD0qrh9ttz.99

The world is full of horror. So how can we hang on to hope?

From The Washington Post-

As a kid, the 24 hours leading up to Christmas were always the longest day of my life. Time fought to stand still, grudgingly giving way to the movement of the clock’s hands.

I wanted the day out of the way in time for the great vigil — an event I never stayed awake long enough to observe: the surreptitious delivery of presents by a visitor in the night.

Now, Advent, that four-week waiting period for Christmas, has assumed its rightful time and place in my adult life.

Advent comes with instructions that are often hard to follow: Slow down, be quiet and meditate on the real reason for the season; prepare for what’s to come.

Try doing that this tumultuous year.

Advent, which ends today, got started on Nov. 27 at my St. Mary’s Episcopal Church with a ceremonial lighting of “Hope,” the first of four candles on the Advent wreath.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-world-is-full-of-horror-so-how-do-we-hang-on-to-hope/2016/12/23/aca104b6-c864-11e6-8bee-54e800ef2a63_story.html?utm_term=.c43d7dbdcccc

Stop being jerks about Christmas

From The Living Church-

Let me state this as plainly as I can: Traditional Christians are losing Christmas because we’re being jerks about it.

I confess to God, to Mary Ever Virgin, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I was just such a jerk for a long time. I was the proverbial Grinch. I didn’t start out that way. I loved Christmas as a kid. And yes, the Christmas that I loved had a lot to do with the culture. I loved getting presents. I loved watching Mickey’s Christmas Carol on repeat from about Halloween onward on an old VHS tape. I loved seeing the lights go up in the neighborhood and the Christmas train garden that my mother would set up around the Christmas tree.

And cookies. I really liked Christmas cookies.

More here-

http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2015/12/15/christians-stop-being-jerks-about-christmas/

Why a Pink Candle in the Advent Wreath?

 From Missouri-

In my parish, we use three purple candles with a pink candle lit on the Third Sunday of Advent. This is the traditional practice in most, by by no means all, liturgical churches. We don’t do this for aesthetics — we’re not trying to prep out by getting our Talbots on (yes, I live in Hingham, Massachusetts, home of Talbots). Nor is it because the males among us need to demonstrate just how secure we are in our masculinity. No, that third candle is pink (or technically rose-colored) because it’s Gaudete Sunday. Huh?

Okay, let me back up and do some explaining here. First of all, we refer to the Third Sunday in Advent as Gaudete Sunday because the introit for the mass begins “Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete” meaning “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say rejoice.” While much of the penitential nature of the season has been lost in favor of hopeful expectation, some of the readings still do sound this note. The Third Sunday has traditionally been a respite from the penitential themes of Advent emphasizing instead the joy of the coming of the Lord.
Read more:

http://www.waynesvilledailyguide.com/article/20131212/BLOGS/312129999/196/features#ixzz2nGYyVlzw

Pastors help congregation keep true meaning of Christmas in focus

From Texas-

Despite last-minute shopping trips, meal preparations and all the stress that comes from holiday arrangements, pastors are hoping people keep the true meaning of Christmas alive.

Pressure to get the perfect gift, frustration from standing in long lines and stress to create the perfect holiday family experience can make the holidays a hectic – and joyless – time, but clergy members are trying to make sure church members don’t lose focus of what’s really important.

“That is a challenge for everyone who either wears a collar or who calls themselves pastor or priest,” said the Rev. Jerald Hyche, senior pastor at St. James the Apostle Episcopal Church. “It’s a challenge for us as well because obviously this is one of the busiest times of the year ... with us as well. It really does put us there with everyone else with all the extra services and details.”

In the Episcopal Church, the Advent season, the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day, help church members dedicate time to prayer, reflection and quietness, Hyche said. Still, it’s tough to find the time during the holidays.

“A lot of that is unavoidable,” Hyche said. “In the midst of the craziness, the focus is to take a moment to take a break.”

More here-

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/woodlands/news/pastors-help-congregation-keep-true-meaning-of-christmas-in-focus/article_a41b095c-2ded-11e1-a3c2-0019bb2963f4.html

Luke 1:39-56: Magnificat for a Broken World

From Huffington-

I left St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in New Haven with a soaring spirit. The Lessons & Carols service -- quintessentially Anglican worship interweaving Scripture and music -- had just concluded. Particularly memorable had been a haunting setting by Roderick Williams of one of the seven Greater Antiphons of Advent: "O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel" ("O Adonai, and leader of the house of Israel"). This stunning piece has a dark edginess that beautifully captures what waiting for God can be like. Dissonances rise and clash above powerful choral continuities; impressions of order are challenged by free-form melodic descants; a tenor solo seeks valiantly to unfold the narrative of Israel's redemption against the backdrop of luminous but subtly disturbing musical chaos.

O Adonai, and leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and to him gave the Law: Come to redeem us with outstretched arms.

As I drove away, I passed the turn that would have taken me to the other church in my life. St. Andrew's, where I currently serve as a deacon, is just a few blocks away from St. Thomas', but it's in an entirely different world. The well-resourced St. Thomas' is located in a lovely neighborhood with million-dollar houses along the broad, tree-lined streets.

St. Andrew's is in the troubled Newhallville area of New Haven. Across from the church is an overgrown vacant lot with trash and used drug paraphernalia caught up at the bottom of a chain-link fence. The neighborhood is plagued by crime; several shootings have taken place within a few blocks of the church in the past three months. With a tiny congregation and no endowment, St. Andrew's struggles to stay open. It hasn't helped that in recent months, the church has experienced two break-ins, an off-site robbery of its Sunday offering, and the home invasion of an elderly parishioner.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carolyn-sharp/luke-13956-magnificat-for_b_1146988.html

Grace Episcopal to conspire for Advent

From North Dakota-

A conspiracy is afoot at Grace Episcopal Church in Jamestown this holiday season, but it’s not about ruling the world.

Instead, the Advent Conspiracy is all about taking back Christmas by spending less, giving more, worshiping fully and loving all people.

“I hope they can get folks to get back to the meaning of Advent and Christmas… and kind of remember what the whole season is about,” said the Rev. Kevin Goodrich, pastor at Grace.

The Advent Conspiracy is a national grassroots movement involving more than 1,000 churches in 17 countries. Its theme is that Christmas can still change the world.

Advent, the historic beginning of the Christian year and the season centered on preparing for the arrival of Christ, begins Sunday.

The Christmas shopping season has already begun.

More here-

http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/149164/

Episcopal leader urges focus on compassion for Advent

From Ekklesia-

Advent is "a time of waiting, but it is not a time to sit around and wait for someone to do something," The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, says in her seasonal message.

The American Anglican leader is urging individuals and congregations to take time during the reflective period of preparation for Christmas to reach out with compassion to families and to strangers, in particular.

The Presiding Bishop's video Advent message, taped on the grounds of the Cathedral Church of St John The Divine in New York City, is available on the home page of The Episcopal Church website.

In the liturgical calendar, Advent is the season leading up to Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent was 29 November 2009.

"Advent is a time of expectation and hope," she said. "We are in a time in the world's history when we are in a great deal of darkness."

She declared: "It's a time to remember those who are suffering, around us and far away. I urge you to remember those who are at war, those who are returning from war and their needs."

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori concluded: "You have an ability to make a difference. We live in expectation of a world that is healed."

The Presiding Bishop's video Advent message will be posted on YouTube and Facebook.

The Episcopal Church has 109 dioceses and three regional areas in 16 nations and is a member province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

More here-

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10718