Middlebury Congregational Church

Dear friends in Christ,

I hope you’re all doing well and that those of you who commuted this icy morning are safe. I have a few things to highlight for this week:

A Pastoral Concern

For many months we’ve been praying for church members Mickie and her husband Carl as Carl has been on home hospice care. On Christmas, our brother in Christ, Carl, died at home surrounded by his family. There was a private service for Carl this past Monday. Carl’s obituary can be found here: https://www.fordfh.com/obituaries/Carlton-A-Shea?obId=23491595

Please keep Mickie, her children (Robbie, Ernie, and Susan), and the whole family in your prayers. If you’d like to send cards to Mickie or Robbie, their addresses are in the latest church directory, or you can contact the church office. The deacons and I are talking to the family to see if anything else would be helpful for them.

On behalf of the church and the whole people of God, we say to Carl “well done thou good and faithful servant.”

Some Resources

My Christmas Eve sermon had a bit about the WWI Christmas Truce. If you’re interested in learning a little more about that event, the Imperial War Museum has a really nice 12 minute primer video on the truce that I think is particularly good because it’s got audio of veterans telling their stories. You can find that here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-story-of-the-christmas-truce

Some of you asked for the text of the prayer by Thomas Merton that was in my sermon this past week, and here’s that prayer:

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though

I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

In case you’re interested, here’s the SNL sketch I referenced in my sermon this past Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiuYmM0lG6o

As we’re just still barely in the Christmas season, I also wanted to share with you an article by a Yale professor about how December 25^th came to be the date of Christmas. The common wisdom thrown around is that Christians co-opted a pagan solstice festival to get the date for Christmas, but that’s not actually how December 25^th became the date of Jesus’ birth. If you want the full story, the article can be found here: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/how-december-25-became-christmas/

General Comments

I’ve attached some pictures of the church from the past week or so. On Monday, there was a beautiful sunset, so there’s a picture of that. We’ve also had a number of foggy days, and I put in a couple pictures of how the Christmas tree on the green looks in the fog. And then from this past Sunday, I’ve attached a picture of our decorations for Epiphany.

This coming Sunday the church celebrates the baptism of Jesus. Epiphany, January 6^th, is the day the culminates the Christmas season, and Baptism of the Lord marks the start of a stretch of ordinary time in the church calendar before Lent. Some versions of church calendars consider the time between Epiphany and Christmas its own season of Epiphanytide.

Baptism of the Lord Sunday is one of the traditional feast days where baptisms would occur (as you might guess), and it’s also a day the church typically uses for people to reaffirm and remember their own baptisms. One of the traditional rites for remembering baptism is called asperges (which my phone always autocorrects to asparagus.) Essentially, that’s a fancy word for sprinkling people with water. This is usually done with an aspergillum, which those of you from more liturgical backgrounds might be familiar with. It usually looks like a ball on a stick. Or, sometimes a small branch from a tree or shrub is used to sprinkle the water. This Sunday we’re going to reaffirm our baptisms, but I’ve elected not to splash you all with water, at least not this time.

Have a good week and stay safe.

Peace,

Pastor Katrina

Dear friends in Christ,

I hope you’re all doing well this week and that everyone’s Christmas was safe. Things are quieter for now at the church, but there are still a few announcements:

Sunday School Updates

As previously planned, throughout the winter and spring, our older children (grades 4th and above) will remain in the worship service on the first Sunday of the month.  This allows the children to participate in the rituals of a worship service, in addition to partaking in communion.

Just as with the sanctuary, we will keep the windows in the classrooms open during Sunday School to help with ventilation.

In times when we do not have coffee hour, parents and caretakers should come to the classrooms and/or nursery to pick up their children following the worship service, as we will not all be meeting in the Social Hall.

COVID Updates

We are continuing to monitor the rise in COVID cases in the state, and at this point, we are continuing to offer in person worship plus streaming to YouTube. We have put Coffee Hour on pause for the time being, windows will be partially open in the sanctuary for ventilation, and masks will continue to be required for worship. We will also keep the balcony open to allow for people to spread out in the sanctuary. Additionally, all in person church board meetings will require masks and a virtual option will be provided for those who aren’t joining in person.

There are also things we can do as individuals to protect ourselves and others during this surge in cases:

1. Get vaccinated and get your booster
2. Upgrade from cloth masks to surgical, KN95, or N95 masks
3. Have rapid tests on hand in case of exposure or if you start to feel unwell

Videos from Christmas Eve Services

This year the music at the 5pm and 11pm Christmas Eve services was different, so I’ve made videos of the music from each service. (Thank you to John D for streaming both services!)

5pm Introit (Choir): https://youtu.be/ORI1-tEwEYM

5pm Anthem (Choir): https://youtu.be/mW2WJbl4zFs

11pm: Introit (Anna & Audrey): https://youtu.be/0aFLohPBb7k

11pm Anthem (Anna & Audrey): https://youtu.be/r9PzoN1ACcI

Thank You!

A special thank you to all our musicians, ushers, deacons, readers, staff, and volunteers who enabled us to have our Christmas Eve services this year. It takes a team effort to put everything together, particularly after not having had indoor Christmas Eve services since 2019, and I’m very grateful for everyone who offered their time and talents this Christmas so our church could offer Christmas Eve worship for our community.

General Comments

I’ve attached some pictures from Christmas Eve. The outside of the church looked lovely with the new paint and the dusting of snow. Indoors, we added a new light into the mix. If anyone has pictures of Christmas Eve you’d like to share, please send them along to me so we can share them with everyone.

This Sunday we’ll be celebrating Epiphany! Technically, Epiphany is January 6^th, but as we’re not having an extra service on a Thursday, we’re transferring the celebration to the nearest Sunday in Christmastide. Epiphany celebrates the arrival of the magi  to the nativity and in general people recognizing the birth of the messiah. There’s a question King Solomon asks when he’s dedicating the Temple in Jerusalem in 1 Kings 8: “Will God indeed dwell on the earth?” Christmas, culminating in the feast of the Epiphany, is an emphatic “yes” to Solomon’s question; God has indeed come to dwell upon the earth in the person of Jesus. Church Father Ephrem of Syria said of Jesus: “Blessed is he who became small without limit to make us great without limit.”

As we look with some uncertainty to the coming New Year, I thought this prayer by Anglican monk John Charles, speaks well to this moment:

“For all the possibilities ahead in this new year, make us thankful, O Lord. Give us wisdom, courage and discernment in the face of so much chaos, despair and fear. Help us to see how, in our circumstances, we can contribute towards peace, faith and love, and give us the will to translate our desires into actions.”

Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year,

Pastor Katrina