The Fourth Sunday of Advent
From the Bishop
This weekend we turn the corner from Fourth Advent into Christmastide. Things will be different in how we celebrate, both from the perspective of our family and personal lives, and also as communities of faith. Our circumstances, however, bring into relief the significance of Christ’s birth like few opportunities in our lifetimes. The collects for Christmas carry different emphases—receiving Christ as Redeemer and bringing confidence when we meet Him as Judge; knowing the mystery of God’s true light on earth that prepares us for the perfect light of heaven; and finally, the focus on the incarnation as the invitation of our adoption as children of God, and as bearers of the Spirit’s renewal of humanity.
It is John’s influence upon the writer of the third collect that strikes home for this season. We live this life of faith within the circumstances that history brings us. In 1914, warring armies found themselves confronting each other on Christmas Day. The echoes of Christmas carols proved too strong to be drowned out by the machine guns and explosions. Nor could the compelling nature of the Adeste Fidelis Christmas carol, as it got picked up by soldiers singing it aloud, be contained within the boundaries of mutual self-defense against the enemy. People risked coming out from the trenches and met one another in a gesture of peace and goodwill across the barbed wire and bloody no man’s land.
“First, the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started “O Come, all ye faithful” the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fidelis. And I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing—two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of war.” (Graham Williams to the New York Times)
Of course, several officers on both sides were later court martialed for “fraternizing with the enemy,” or were removed to other warring fronts. Yet, like the star seen in the East, or the glimpse of the heavenly host that came and went leaving its indelible impression, it is how life is. How do we carry such moments forward, and make of them a way of life? We pray, “Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit though our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the Christmas prayer we offer one another as we pass through this pandemic—that all the evidence of sacrificial efforts, of generosity and love, of glimpses of light that we have seen in this year that is passing, and will continue to see in the year to come, may actually be God’s change agency for a redeemed world. We as Church stand at the beck and call of such a Divinely appointed mission. Let us not characterize the moments of light as aberrations, and submit them to our narrow judgement of possibility (i.e. that nations at war cannot find peace). Rather, let us see God stepping in among us right now, even as we suffer, and see God showing us what can be. Sing your carols this Christmastide, and let them take you where they will. Trust their prompting, and give yourself to the new emphasis their words will carry because of the times we are all living.
In the peace and love of Christ,
+Alan
The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa
P.S. As I was thinking about the potential power of Christmas traditions this year -- when they will be experienced in foreign, and yet much more familiar, circumstances such as our homes -- I remembered a family tradition that my brothers and I grew up with (and unfortunately grew away from). We would sit around the fire in the front room and sing Christmas carols. We never actually went to Church as a family, and I wondered: when did this tradition stop? Ironically, it was probably the exact moment when I, as the sole Church goer at that time, began to go out on Christmas Eve, to attend Church!
The diocesan worship opportunities that are available online will be found on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel, and will be on the diocesan website. Call-in option for members who only have access to phones: 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#
Join us on Sunday for Holy Eucharist offered by members of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Des Moines at 10:00am.
Please join us for our special diocesan Choral Eucharist on Christmas Day at 10:00 am to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, offered by members of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Des Moines.
Please join us for our special diocesan Choral Eucharist on Christmas Day at 10:00 am to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, offered by members of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Des Moines.
A Christmas Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Sunday, December 27 at 10:00am.
Join members of all ages across the diocese to celebrate in word and song!
Resources for Advent & Christmas
Mini Retreats: H.O.P.E.
The Small Church Core Team in the Diocese of Iowa invites you
to a series of four mini-retreats focused on HOPE during these changing times.
Join us on Saturday, January 16, Saturday, February 6, and Saturday, March 6.
From 9:00 am to 10:00 am. We will gather using Zoom technology.
Topics for each session include:
Healing and Hope on December 5
Opportunity for Community and Hope on January 16
Patience and Hope on February 6
Expectation and Hope on March 6
Dismantling Racism Training
Grounded in The Episcopal Church's commitment to dismantling racism as essential to our formation as Christians, this ONLINE training is open to all persons who would like to deepen their understanding of racism, prejudice, and privilege.
The training will consist of 2 sessions from 10:00am-12:00pm and 12:30pm-2:30pm
Youth Ministry
Compline & Youth Check-in on Wednesday, January 6
Zoom information will be emailed on Monday, January 4. If you do not receive monthly Youth Ministry updates, please contact Amy Mellies at amellies@iowaepiscopal.org or at 515-277-6165.
Diocesan Christmas Playlist
Click on the image to go to our Spotify Playlist for a bit of musical cheer.
Have a song you'd like added? Email it to tpetty@iowaepiscopal.org Thanks to all who've sent one in!
GILEAD Grant Spotlight: St. Thomas', Sioux City
Check out how St. Thomas' in Sioux City has used a GILEAD Grant to reimagine their space and opportunity for ministry in the community!
They were featured in a Sioux City Journal article, click here to read more
Discipleship Circles
Read more about Discipleship Circles, how you might get circles started in your congregation, and find resources for circles to use for worship, study, and prayer.
https://www.iowaepiscopal.org/discipleship-circles
Another way of thinking about them might be House Churches - read here about how small church groupings are helping members of a Lutheran church in Detroit connect, pray, worship, and study together.
Resources
Free to a good church home
St. Andrew's in Waverly has a children's altar that they would like to give to an Episcopal church. The dimensions: 55” long, 25-1/2” deep, 36” high (front) & 40” high (back). Contact Anne Wagner if interested.
Mental Health Resources
The holiday season can be a hard time for all of us, and maybe more so this year with the pandemic. Here are some Mental Health Resources for you to use or share with others. These are also available at IowaShare.org or on our website on the Children and Youth page under Resources and Documents.
