Dear friends in Christ,
I hope all your Thanksgivings were safe and went well. As we enter fully into the Advent season, we’ve got a number of things going on in the life of the church:
Christmas Pageant: 12/19
Our annual Christmas Pageant is back! It will be held on Sunday, December 19th during the worship service. We are looking for volunteers of all ages to participate in various roles and also as readers and singers. We will not be having the traditional choir due to covid safety, but rather having small groups or soloists sing some of our favorite hymns (also available for sign up!). Rehearsal will be Saturday, 12/18 from 10am-12pm
If you’d like to participate, please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0F48AAAF2FA7FC1-christmas or email Valerie B.
Middlebury Tree Lighting: 12/4 @4
This Saturday at 4pm is the Middlebury Christmas Tree Lighting! Thanks to Greg E. and other volunteers, we’ll be providing hot chocolate to help warm everybody up as we carol around the Green. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you and getting to resume a lovely town tradition once more.
12/7: Presentation on Managing the Stress of the Holidays
Janine SW has graciously offered to give a presentation on dealing with the stress of the holiday season on 12/7@7pm in the church social hall. Here’s the link to the Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/1s3ytwf8l
This is a resource we’re offering for anyone in the area who might find it beneficial, so be sure to spread the word. Thank you Janine!
December Mission Projects
- Star Tree: Through our Covenant to Care program, we have agreed to provide gifts to 60 children at Christmas in the Wellmore program in Waterbury. Ages for these children range from newborns to teenagers. Please pick a star, purchase the requested gift(s) (at a cost of no more than $35 per gift), and place the wrapped gift(s) with the star attached to the outside under the tree in the sanctuary (or the office) before December 16th at 10:00 am. You are more than welcome to choose more than one star! Stars for family members are grouped together and by color on the list.
- After church on Sunday, I believe all the stars have been claimed! Thank you to everyone who has signed up for a star!
- Christmas Baskets: We are sponsoring three local families (the same families we sponsored for Thanksgiving) and providing them with a Christmas dinner! To help make this family’s holiday a little better, sign up to donate something (you are more than welcome to take more than one item) on the sheet on the bulletin board outside the kitchen. As with other sign-ups, if you can’t sign up in person, let Jeanine know and she will help you! We need to have all donations in by December 20th.
General Comments
I want to thank everyone who helped decorate the sanctuary because it looks lovely. I’ve attached a photo. Additionally, I’ve attached pictures of two of the advent wreath crafts: one with just the materials we’ve provided and one where a little extra pizzazz was added. If any of you want to share how your wreaths have turned out, feel free to send along pictures!
As we continue in Advent, here’s a prayer for the season by Kate McIlhagga:
“Christ our Advent hope,
bare brown trees,
etched dark across a winter sky,
leaves fallen, rustling,
ground hard and cold,
remind us to prepare for your coming;
remind us to prepare for the time
when the soles of your feet will touch the ground,
when you will become one of us
to be at one with us.”
Peace,
Pastor Katrina