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In This Issue
December Bulletin
Christmas Festivities
New Year Festivities
Didgeridoo Workshop
Community Garden
Turkey Trip
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Winter Solstice Celebration
Rev. Carol Parrish, Rev. Retha Banez and Rev. Robert Willson will lead our solstice celebration at 7:30 PM on December 21st in the chapel.
This is a magical time that honors a threefold birth:
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the cosmic birth of the Christ spirit
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the historical birth of Jesus the Christ
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the mystical birth of the Christ within each disciple
On the shortest and darkest day of the year, we welcome the coming cycle; we welcome the return of the light.
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Christmas Festivities
Please join us in the chapel at 7:30 PM on the 24th for our Christmas Eve Candle Lighting Service.
We will not have morning meditation on the 25th.
There will be a community Christmas Dinner in Fellowship Hall at 1PM. Everyone is welcome!
At 8 AM on the 26th, we begin the Twelve Days of Christmas Morning Meditations.
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On December 31st, instead of our usual meditation in the evening, Rev. Carol Parrish will lead a special world healing meditation at 7 AM in the chapel. The service will include a group candle lighting ceremony.
On January 1st, the Twelve Days of Christmas meditations continue an hour later than usual, at 9 AM.
There will be a community New Year's Day Dinner at 1 PM. More details to follow in our next issue.
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Thank You For Your Support
The work of Sancta Sophia Seminary and Light of Christ Community Church would not be possible without your support.
We thank all of you who contribute to the work in whatever way you are able.
Click Donate to make a contribution via PayPal. |
Contact Us
We love hearing from you! If you have a question or a comment, please write us at:
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| Dear Light Bearers,
We wish you all a wonderful holiday season in this last issue of 2007.
December is often a blur with preparations and social engagements, and we are challenged to remember the spirit of the season.
Our services this month will consider the spiritual significance of the holydays with Advent:
This commencement of the Christian year begins four  Sundays before Christmas day as we prepare to celebrate the historical birth of Jesus. We contemplate specific concepts weekly:
1) expectancy,
2) purification and preparation,
3) hope and joy,
4) identification,
reminding us of humanity's long journey from awakening to
awareness of the birth of the holy within.
--CEP, dictionary
May we all find time and peace to contemplate our blessings.
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December 2nd, 10:30 AM
First Sunday in Advent
(expectancy)
"The Sacred Seed"
Rev. Marjorie Stuth explores Advent as the season of the Sacred Seed. Jesus said, "The Seed is the Word of God sown in the human heart." Mary formed Him from  herself. She had nothing to give but herself; He asked for nothing more. It is the same for us. We must believe that He is growing in our lives. This attitude makes every moment of every day and night a prayer, a state of awareness of our union with God. Today Christ is dependent upon those of us who will respond to His inner Presence.
It is the time to reawaken ourselves to the ever present transformational Love of Christ within our lives. The spiritual impulses of this season prepare us for the downpouring of heavenly forces which accompany the annual rebirth of the planetary Christ into our earthly sphere.
Communion: Rev. Robert Willson
Officiator: Rev. Linda Oliver
Music: Rev. Roberta Wilkes / Doris Pass
Hierarchy Meditation: Rev. Bonita Plymale
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Sunday, December 9th, 10:30 AM
Second Sunday in Advent
(purification & preparation)
"Discovering the Point of Self-Empowerment"
 Phil Jones, a sound therapist and frequent lecturer, will be our guest speaker this morning in addition to leading an afternoon workshop (details below). He will explore how using breath, primordial sound and harmonics facilitates access of clear and focused states of consciousness, at which point infinite possibilities become apparent.
Communion: Rev. Carol Parrish
Officiator:Rev. Retha Banez
Music: Rev. Roberta Wilkes / Doris Pass
Hierarchy Meditation: Rev. Peg Willson
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Sunday, December 16th, 10:30 AM
Third Sunday in Advent
(hope and joy)
Rev. Carol Parrish examines how we prepare ourselves for the new cycle as we approach the most powerful point of the spiritual year.  We re-member our lives into a more aligned position, we energize our longing for higher contact and renew our quest for the Holy. Too often the sacred seems out of reach rather than a natural goal for those who prepare and commit themselves to "the road less traveled".
Basic tools for good lives do not change, but persistent dedication to those tools changes us. We recall the traditions that nourish and embrace the aspiration that can utilize the profound energies of the Christmas Season. We vow to make sacred each day we have to live, each task to be done, and each person we meet. And so it is.
Communion: Rev. Marjorie Stuth
Music: Rev. Roberta Wilkes / Doris Pass
Hierarchy Meditation: Rev. Steven Chase
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Sunday, December 23rd, 10:30 AM
Fourth Sunday in Advent
(identification)
"The Way of Christ"
 Rev. Retha Banez and Rev. Marilyn Szoko join together for the Fourth Sunday in Advent and the Full Moon of Capricorn, sharing their thoughts about The Way, the path of initiation demonstrated by Christ through the life and works of  Master Jesus. Come and receive a very special blessing under the Hierarchy of Capricorn identitied as the Archangels, or the Cloud of Silent Watchers.
Communion: Rev. Retha Banez
Music: Rev. Roberta Wilkes / Doris Pass
Hierarchy Meditation: Rev. Connie Swan
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Sunday, December 30th, 10:30 AM
"Endings and Beginnings"
 Two days before the new year, Rev. Peggy Eaton examines endings and beginnings. As we close 2007, we are saying AMEN to all that has been, to what did not turn out as expected, and to profits and losses of all kinds: people, hopes, dreams, finances, etc. We say AMEN!! to finish unfinished business so we can move into the new year unburdened. We start New Beginnings with a clean slate and plan for the future. We open ourselves to whatever the Universe has in store for us!
Officiator: Rev. Steven Chase
Communion: Rev. Retha Banez
Music: Rev. Roberta Wilkes / Doris Pass
Hierarchy Meditation: Pract. Pamela Ramsfield
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LCCC Schedule of Events
World Healing Meditation
7:30 PM Monday
Aquarian Rosary
9 AM Saturday
Discipleship Class
6:30 PM Tuesday
Please note the following schedule changes for December:
No rosary on 12/8 (New Moon Service)
No meditation or discipleship class on 12/25
World Healing Meditation at 7AM on 12/31
Meditation at 9 AM on 1/1
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Merry Christmas
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Happy New Year! | |
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| Didgeridoo Workshop Sunday, December 9th, 1:00 - 3:30 PM
 Australian musician Phil Jones will host an afternoon workshop on using the didgeridoo, an ancient aborigonal instrument made out of eucalyptus. Phil will demonstrate how combining powerful breathing techniques with primordial tones can enhance meditation and prayer.
Each participant will be provided a didgeridoo to use during the workshop, and Phil will have didgeridoos and meditation CD's available for purchase afterwards.
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 Turkey Trip
Sancta Sophia is pleased to announce details for our 2008 pilgrimage to Turkey. Join Rev. Carol Parrish on a 17 day adventure in May as we visit many historic sites throughout the country. To view a detailed itinerary, click on Pilgrimage. |
| Community News
 The Sparrow Hawk Village Home Owners Association would like to share some pictures of our community garden taken in mid November. We are fortunate to have a new gardener in the village, Matthew Truelove, who along with John Cutrell and other volunteers have been working to revitalize the garden.
 Plans are underway to pursue donations and grants from wherever they may be found. The Committee has joined a program for community development sponsored by the Cherokee Nation. They are exploring ways to expand their undertaking to attract and involve people from the greater Tahlequah community.
 The garden operates on agricultural principles called Biodynamics, discovered by Rudolph Steiner. At present, squash, mustard greens, snap peas and arugula are available for harvest.
You are invited to come see our progress and sample our produce! We are looking for more volunteers as well as people interested in partaking of the harvest.
If you have questions or if you would like to get on the garden mailing list, please write john@cutrell.net. |
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When He was born at Bethlehem, it was not simply the birth of another divine teacher and messenger, but the appearing of an individual who not only summed up in Himslef the past achievement of the race, but Who was also the forerunner of the future, embodying in Himself all that it was possible for humanity to achieve.
--Djwhal Khul
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