This is the irrational season It may seem irrational in these days to have hope or to believe that we may yet recover and move forward as a country and nation. But as Christian, as people who hold vigil at the foot of the cross and outside the tomb, we are prepared for times such as this with the most radical of actions for these days…the action of hope. A hope that does not just sit and pray and wait, but a hope that moves, carries others with us and finds its way to Bethlehem. All the Bethlehem’s of the world…places of the unexpected appearance of God.
As Advent begins, your church has been hard at work helping each of us to find hope and meaning in these days. From Advent Care packages to meaningful worship, from social distanced gatherings to Zoom conversations, from continued care for the vulnerable in our midst to “Christmas” adapting our property, it is our hope and aim that we experience the coming Christ fully this year. Hope beyond reason, it’s what so much of the Biblical promises rest on. I hope you will join in, take part, sign up, and decorate your home sanctuaries in this same spirit. You are loved and we are blessed to have one another in these days. Advent Peace, Pr. Sara & Pr. Nate
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By Barbara Day Turner, Director of Music Martin Luther understood that music was a unique form of expression, with or without words. (Personally, it is my preferred language of expression.) He wrote songs, and texts, and quite a few sayings about music, including this gem---
"Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. No greater commendation than this can be found — at least not by us. After all, the gift of language combined with the gift of song was only given to man to let him know that he should praise God with both word and music, namely, by proclaiming [the Word of God] through music." -Martin Luther Many faith communities spend some time during the fall talking about stewardship. Centered around themes of gratitude and giving, stewardship is a time to talk about ways we can be good stewards of the gifts we’ve been given. One of these gifts is the making of music and in particular, singing. I am grateful to all the members of our congregation that take the time to participate in choir and band, to those who sing out during in services, and to those who choose to listen and experience. I really miss singing-choir, congregation, families, friends. This remark that I ran across on Facebook pretty much sums it up---"The longer the lockdown has gone on, the clearer it has become that singing together in church is something rare, wonderful, and hard to replicate through digital distance." Joe Deegan writes that "singing reminds us that there is a powerful, supernatural, magical force behind creation, and that force has invited us to engage with him in a powerful, supernatural and magical way. We were designed by God to sing." I couldn't agree more-and remember, there is always room for one more when we are making music! If you would like to add your voice to our next virtual choir recording, or join the choir when we are able to sing in person, please contact me, Barbara Day Turner, at [email protected]. Greetings Prince of Peace members and supporters!
We want to take a moment to thank each and everyone of you who have taken the time to respond to this year’s Pledge Drive. Thank you! You are doing great! So far we have responses from 41 households, both by mail and over the Pledge Form. Yay! This is a wonderful start; let’s keep that momentum going! If you have not been able to share a pledge yet, you should be receiving a letter from the office this week to help in that process. Or you can click this link to our Pledging webpage for step by step guides. Every pledge matters: Historically, roughly 75% of Prince of Peace's income is through member (and guest) donations. The remaining 25% of our income is largely comprised of “Building” or “Property” usage. With lock down orders many individuals and organizations that would have rented our facilities haven’t, and therefore our income from “building usage” is down significantly. Your pledge - whatever its amount - helps us create a clearer picture of our financial situation looking into 2021. 2020 was an unsettling year. And even with the good news of medicinal progress, things will not immediately stabilize at the strike of midnight. However, the more we can help each other, the better we will all make it through these days - and maybe even come out with a deeper connection to Prince of Peace and each other. Again, thank you for your support. We are grateful. Stewardship Team Are you missing the organic normalcy of church gatherings?
One of the gifts of church and coming together for in-person anything was always the relationship strengthening, the ability to communicate and share about our lives and what we are all engaged in as a church community. We know that at least half of our church community will not be ready to gather in person until we have a vaccine or clear treatment for this virus. As your church leadership, please know that we respect that. But we also know that the length of this isolation is difficult for all of us and hard on our church community. To address this, a new idea for gathering has bubbled up! A few of our members suggested that we offer monthly “Townhall meetings” via Zoom. The goal of these gatherings will be:
Our first Zoom Townhall will be Sunday the 15th at 5:00PM. Link will be in the Weekly E-notes and on our Facebook Page. As always, if you can’t connect or are unsure how to use Zoom, please reach out to us! We have two iPads that were donated to the church that we would be happy to share with anyone who needs it. As always, PoP Community, we look forward to the day when we can gather safely in person. Until then, we continue to try new and different ways to keep us connected to God, one another, and our neighbors. I am sure this comes as a shock to no one, but I am the rule enforcer and the (eh-em, sheepishly admitting this) one who yells the most in our family. Pr. Nate is the calmer and much more patient parent of the two of us. A few months ago, I was stomping around the house frustrated about the toys everywhere and the general mess of the whole world and started giving clear and direct instructions on “cleaning-and-picking-up-and-no-tv-until-this-is-done!” At one point into my tirade, Pfeifer looked up at me and said very directly “Mom, I don’t like your mad-itude right now.”
Boom, my heart dropped. With a simple made-up word my 5 year old pulled me right out of my spinning emotions and reminded me where I was and who I was talking to. Perhaps you are much more emotionally stable than I am, but maybe some of you can relate to the ways it is so easy to be spun up by the anxiety, stress, and uncertainty around us…and then bring it home to our families, work settings, or to our on-line interactions. In this month of November, I invite each of us, all of our church community back to the ancient practice of gratitude; cultivating a grateful heart. The way to do this is simple but does require intentionality…it means being careful every single day, to speak a word of thanks to those around you, spending time each night/morning sharing what you are grateful for. Texting or calling people unexpectedly and telling them a story from the past of which you remember and are grateful. Writing letters to people in our church community who you know are in need of some encouragement. For all of us on social media, it can include posting a picture or word of gratitude for the small things around you that bring life, joy, comfort, or hope. Each week of the month of November, we will post prompts and suggestions on our Facebook page to help you along the gratitude journey. We deeply hope that you will take part in this! It is my conviction that one of the ways we can heal as individuals, communities, neighborhoods and a country is by cultivating gratitude. Yes, even when the world seems terrible and the end is nowhere in sight…we can still, as Paul reminds us in Philippians 1, find that God who had made us God’s good work will not abandon us. With Thanks for each of you and the gift it is to be in community with you, Pastor Sara |
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