From the Vicar...

Advent: a journey sanctified

The season of Advent has begun - the new liturgical year is upon us. For me, it's my third Advent with you - having celebrated my second anniversary as your Vicar last Sunday. It is significant that we begin a new series of lessons and hymns with Advent. It is not without purpose. In so doing, we are reminded that what we do as a Christian community all begins with Christ. Quite simply, without Christ, we would not be known as Christians. Perhaps we would have some other distinctive name, but it would not be the name by which we are now known. Even this name did not emerge as a way to identify and honor those who followed Christ. It began as a pejorative expression in the city of Antioch. This pejorative expression was embraced and sanctified by those it was intended to harm.

The rising of the Advent Season reminds us that all we do should begin with Jesus. This statement encourages us to maintain our focus as we approach the celebration of our Lord's birth. The master teachers have for centuries shown us how we can benefit spiritually from periods of silence and times of reflection. I submit to you that Advent is an appropriate season to discover the value of silence for the spiritual journey. In these moments of silence, we close the door to the noise of our common lives and we allow God's voice to penetrate those places previously impervious to divine speech. The busyness of modern life blurs our vision and reduces our capacity to listen to the voice of heaven. It is unfortunate that most of our living reveals that we have been seduced by the forces of our technological society. We often find ourselves at odds with the value system of the Bible. This is why silence is so important. In places of silence, we hear God's voice in ways that we have not before, and are brought into deeper places of communion and awareness.

During Advent, I encourage you to take time apart from the rush of life to reflect on your Christian experience. If you probe your experience honestly, you will ask yourself divinely inspired questions. If the answers you hear disturb you, be encouraged. It means the Realm of God is near you. If the answers you hear comfort you, be comforted. God is seeking to affirm you in your struggle to be like Christ. If you hear no answers at all, do not be discouraged. God is teaching you to pray, to listen, and to wait. The blessings of Advent await you in the stillness and silence of your journey, a journey sanctified by your earnest desire to hear divine speech and follow a divine path.

Fr. Chip

Our Shared Ministry Cycle of Prayer

Each week, in both of our churches, we pray for one ministry we share and one or two households in each church. About once every six weeks, we will instead using the Shared Ministry Collect we prayed throughout the opening months of our Shared Ministry.

In our prayers the next two weeks, we give God thanks for...

Christ Church Christmas Fair is Saturday, Dec. 6

Get ready for our upcoming Christmas Fair, from 8 am - 2 pm, which will include the following:

• "Best cookie walk in New England" 
• Bake sale 
• Fair trade items and gifts 
• Christmas crafts  
• Silent Auction 
• Raffle 
• Cafe 
• White Elephant 
• Surprise crafters

Christmas Flowers

We'd love your help in adorning our altars for Christmas by purchasing a poinsettia. And at the same time, you may honor your loved ones, acknowledge a special occasion, or give thanks and praise which will be included in the bulletin. 

This year there are two size choices: 6 ½"  at $ 6.50  or  7 ½" at $12.00 and the color choices are: white, red, burgundy, "Jingle Bell"(speckled) and pink.

Please contact Alberta True, at  926-8252 at Trinity Church to place your order. At Christ Church, you will find poinsettia offering envelopes on the guest book table in the hallway. You may also email Nita at trinity55ad@gmail.com. However you place your order, be sure to let us know how many flowers you would like to order, what sizes and colors, and provide wording for your listing in the bulletin. Then be sure to place your payment, marked "flowers," in the offering plate or snail-mail it to the Shared Ministry Office. 

 

New Hampshire Gay Men's Chorus to sing at Christ Church Dec. 7

 

Tickets are available online for the New Hampshire Gay Men's Chorus' holiday concert series, A Blizzard of Seasonal Songs. The group will perform Christmas, Hanukkah, and holiday favorites. The concert will be held Sunday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. at Christ Church, Portsmouth, with additional concerts in other venues throughout the month.

 

 

Ham & Bean Supper at Trinity Church

Saturday, Dec. 13 at Hobbs House

 

Event: Buffet Style Ham & Bean Supper

Time: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Cost: $5 per person, $15 a family (3 or more persons), children under 3 free

 

Proceeds go to Hobbs House upkeep.

The men of Trinity Church are in charge!

 

 

Salvation Army Giving Tree at Christ Church

 

Tags for children of various ages are still available on our tree.  Please help brighten a child's Christmas by taking a tag of your choice and returning it by Sunday, Dec. 14. Each gift is to be placed in a gift bag, with the tag on the outside.  We usually include a toy along with something such as hat and scarf, or pajamas, for a child. 

 

Tena Wolf

 

Christmas Festival Lessons and Carols

Sunday, Dec. 28 in both churches

 

The Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols is adapted from an Order drawn up by E.W. Benson, who would later become Archbishop of Canterbury, for use on Christmas Eve 1880 in Truro Cathedral. King's College later adapted the service for their own use, and that is the version that has become most familiar today. Wherever the service is observed and however it is adapted, whether the music is provided by choir or congregation, the pattern and strength of the service derive from the lessons and not the music. The center of the service is still found by those who "go in heart and mind" and who consent to follow where the story leads.

 

I would encourage you to invite friends to join you on Sunday, Dec. 28 as we hear again the readings from Holy Scripture that tell the story of God's enduring promise of redemption through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus. The carols sung are chosen to reflect on these passages and meant to help anchor us more securely in heart and mind as we rejoice in the birth of our Lord and Savior. It is a fitting way to remind ourselves that Christmas is a twelve-day feast, full of rich opportunities for enjoying the narrative and music that open to us the mystery of the Incarnation.

 

If you would be interested in reading one of the Lessons that day, speak with me or contact me by email (see below). We will need several readers in each church, so there is plenty of room for volunteers!

 

Fr. Chip