Town & Country e-mail newsletter   

Welcome to the e-newsletter from the Northwest Conference Town & Country Commission aimed at resourcing and encouraging our Town & Country churches.

Advent Season Newsletter
The Wonder of Advent

By Pastor Tim Shekleton, Bethlehem Covenant, Wheaton, MN  

As a wise pastor once reminded me, it's Monday and Sunday is coming. This is advice that pastors and worship leaders can easily apply to the soon upon us Advent season. "It's September, and Christmas is coming," and with it, the wonder of the season. "I wonder ... what to plan for Advent this year?"

Advent translated indicates an approach or arrival as revealed in Isaiah 9:2. "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."  

But I find it's a challenge re-capturing the traditional culture and meaning of Advent within the approach of the contemporary holiday season. Personally, I like the season. I like the generosity of gift giving. I like the festive lights and decorations. I like the sentiment, and the nostalgia and the sense of wonder. And I don't like being the scrooge who advocates against the rampant culture of consumerism and grumbling the loss of "the true meaning of Christmas," though we need a constant reminder.

In light of this, the approach our worship team is advocating is a focus of wonder in this "season of coming." By remembering and engaging in the past, we immerse ourselves in the traditional culture of God's people. We sense their hope, their joy, their anticipation as we read the ancient prophetic scriptures. We become occupied with the generosity and faithfulness of our God.

In the fulfilling of God's promises we recognize that our heart's genuine desire is found not in the packages or holiday festivities, but with the gift in the manger. Immersed in the wonder of the past, we unite with God's people through all time to stand in awe of another arrival-Christ's return. By bringing the past and future promises of God's people together in Advent, we are becoming better equipped to embrace the wonder of Christmas as undiminishing. It won't end with a date on the calendar, the last package opened, or the sendoff of the last guests. Trusting in what God has done and still has planned, will leave us in wonder this Advent season.

Some Wonder-ful Advent Practices

The lighting of the Advent Candles

Many churches continue to practice this tradition. In our church we encourage participation of different families or groups each year to light the candles and share the readings. Though this is a traditional practice, don't get stuck in your tradition, change things up this year. Consider a short Advent skit or a variation on how the lighting is done. There are many options, just be sure to read the prophetic Scriptures of Advent.

Lectionary Scriptures

If you haven't preached the lectionary passages of Advent recently, this might be a good time to reconnect your congregation with the rhythm of the season. Preach them as a series, on approaching the season, while connecting your church with the anticipation and wonder of Christians around the world.

Children's Christmas Program

Instead of becoming one more thing to check off the list before Christmas, our church starts Advent with the Children's Christmas Program. This centers us early in the season on the message of Christ's coming. And more practically, it helps remove some of the "pressures" during the final days before Dec. 25, with the hope that we can better focus on the wonder of Christ's arrival.

Tell the Story Visually

We have a great story to tell. Why not share it in as many ways as possible? Use visuals to engage the church and community in the hope and message of Christmas. Our church decorates a large tree with lights and Crismons, or Christian symbols. Banners announce themes of God's promises, even "giving trees" provide opportunity to remember God's generosity and encourage us to reflect his love.

Advent resources are available from many sources. In fact, they will be arriving in your mailbox soon. I encourage you to take a moment this fall to research and consider ways to bridge the culture of Advent back into Christmas. A pastor and close friend once shared his Christmas preaching dilemma. After considerable striving for a new way to share the familiar message, he wasn't satisfied with his efforts. In sharing his struggles with his wife, she gave him sound advice that holds true for all of us. People are showing up to hear the message of Christ's coming. Just tell the story.

The true wonder of Advent is the age old message that God's love came down.

By Steve Allison, Financial Service Representative at Covenant Trust Company

According to data collected by Live Science in 2012, only 41% of Baby Boomers retired when they thought they would. 51% retired earlier than expected, the top two reasons being poor health and a lack of job opportunities. And 8% retired later than they had planned, often because they needed the money.

It's important to save for retirement as soon as possible. Your investing power is always greater today than it is tomorrow. However, simply saving isn't enough-you need a plan for retirement and contingencies for that plan should you have to retire early, work longer, or face any number of situations that may arise.

Some things, like living arrangements, might be easy to plan for, but certain aspects of your retirement won't become clear to you until you're actually retired. And of course, things can change during retirement, too.

That said, don't let uncertainty or the possibility of change deter you from making a plan; just be sure you can adjust in case of emergencies or other special circumstances. Even if you're already retired, you should make contingency plans if you haven't already. For example, what will you do if your taxes or health care costs increase, or if your investments go through a down period?

A good retirement plan should include:

• A retirement savings goal and a savings plan to reach that goal.
• A budget for retirement expenses that covers: living arrangements, groceries, hobbies/entertainment, transportation, healthcare costs, remaining debt, etc.
• A plan to manage money during retirement, including: a savings withdrawal rate, investment management strategies and charitable giving plans.
• Alternatives, adjustments and contingencies.

Make sure you regularly review and update your estate plan, too. The adjustments you make during retirement could affect your Will or Revocable Living Trust.

At our Northwest Conference Annual Meeting this spring our Town & Country Commission presented our new grant program for Town & Country churches that are doing a new outreach initiative and need a little help. We are happy to say that we did award two grants in June which was part of our July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013 budget.

One grant went to Huntley, MN, for their new park and play area the church is developing for the town. The other grant went to LaBolt, SD, for a new prayer ministry they have been developing. We will be hearing more from each of them in future newsletters.

From our July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014 budget, we have also awarded two grants. One grant is going to the Evangelical Covenant Church in Cook, MN, to help with a new initiative to reach out to their community. The other one is going to the Evangelical Covenant Church in International Falls to help with a concert for the community and counseling they are doing starting this fall to help their community deal with a the lay-off of 1/3 of the Boise mill employees (300 people).

If you are interested in hearing more about our grant program, contact Nancy King at rudynancy.king@gmail.com. We are able to award two grants per year.