Dear friends in Christ,
I hope you’re all doing well this snowy evening. There are a number of things coming up in the life of the church as we get closer to Christmas:
Christmas Pageant 12/19
- Our annual Christmas Pageant is back next Sunday 12/19 during the worship service! We still have some slots left for people of all ages! 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!). If you’d like to participate, please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0F48AAAF2FA7FC1-christmas or email Valerie B. for more info.
- Pageant Setup Volunteers 12/12
- This Sunday after church we will need volunteers to help get our sanctuary set up for the Christmas Pageant. We’ll also need to get some things down from the attic to be ready for Christmas Eve. If you have time after worship on Sunday, please stay after to help us get things ready for our upcoming special services!
- Pageant Rehearsal will be Saturday, 12/18 from 10am-12pm
December Mission Projects
- Star Tree: All the stars have been chosen, and presents have begun to be dropped off! As a reminder, 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
- Christmas Baskets for Middlebury Families: We are sponsoring three local families and providing them with a Christmas dinner! A sign up sheet is on the bulletin board by the kitchen. Right now, most things have been signed up for, but there are a few more slots, including singing up to buy small gifts for the families. 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.
Presentation on Dealing with Holiday Stress
Thank you to Janine SW who gave a helpful presentation on managing the stress of the holiday season last night. We did film it, and I should have the video all edited and up on our YouTube channel some time tonight if you weren’t able to join us in person but wanted to watch it or share with friends.
General Comments
I want to thank Greg, Kelly, and Kayleigh for heading up our team of volunteers to provide hot chocolate at the town tree lighting this past Saturday. Thank you to all our volunteers from Saturday. This year we moved the hot chocolate outdoors, and we got to see so many more people from town. It was a really lovely evening. I’ve attached some pictures I took during the tree lighting festivities.
During Advent, we wait for the light of Christ to come into the world on Christmas, and this time of year always seems in need of more light with the sun setting so early. The Christmas tree on the green, the candles in the windows, and the lights everyone puts up help light up the darkness as we wait, and they hint at the true light which enlightens everyone, Jesus Christ, who is soon to be coming into the world.
Peace,
Pastor Katrina
