News

December 10, 2015

Dear Parents and Youth,

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.|
 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

I confess it is hard to get into an Advent frame of mind and heart with all the focus on international and national events and the political response/rhetoric about what is happening. Advent is a time of waiting for Christ – which implies patience and quiet. There is very little of that in our day-to-day world, so I think the Advent candles for last week and this coming week are especially important for us to remember. The following is from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Saginaw, MI and I wanted to share it with you:

The second candle to be lit represents peace or preparation. We are reminded to make room in our hearts, in our lives and the lives of others to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us His peace and awareness of our savior.

The third candle represents joy. We have a cause to celebrate! The coming of a savior means that we will be reconciled with our creator. That although we live in a broken world that still suffers from sin, we are not alone! We have a savior, a protector, who frees our hearts to happiness.

I pray you have time in the coming weeks to reflect on these reminders of what Advent means in our lives and our troubled world.

This is the Youth Ministry news for the week:

• Sunday School: No classes until January 10, 2016. Enjoy the break.

• EYC Today, 5-7 pm: is our Annual Christmas Party. Come join the fun! Here’s what you need to do/bring:
  • Wrapped gift for the gift exchange. Please get something fun (is it something YOU would want to receive?) and $10 or less. We’ll do the traditional white elephant exchange.
  • Wear your tackiest (most festive?) Christmas sweater/outfit for our Annual Contest. Prizes will be awarded.
  • No need to bring an appetizer – we have dinner planned.

• Youth Advent Series Concludes: Tuesday, December 15 from 6-7 pm “Praying in Color”: Join us for some quiet time together to de-stress and prepare for the celebration of our Savior’s birth. There is nothing to prepare or bring, unless you want to bring your dinner to eat while we work. We meet in the Youth Wing.

• Next Week 12/19 & 20: Prepping and Painting the Youth Wing. Come Saturday 12/19 from 1-3 pm to prep the room and then Sunday 12/20 from 1-4 to do the actual painting. Dress appropriately.

• EYC on 12/20 is from 6-7: Caroling and Cookies. Come ready to sing for our neighbors around the church. There’s a special signup for cookies and hot chocolate: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050d4baeaa229-christmas. Dress festively and for the weather.

And mark your calendar (and go ahead and register):

• January 29 – 31 – Bishop’s Ball: The theme is “Deeply Rooted” and there will be all sort of awesome activities. There is a formal dinner, followed by a celebration Eucharist and dance with a DJ Saturday night. Most participants dress up for Saturday evening’s festivities. Bishop Anne will be there. The cost is $100 and some scholarships are available. The registration deadline is 1/20, but it does fill up (http://www.dionc.org/digital_faith/events/3165329). This is a not-to-miss event!

Peace,

Leah Dail