The Third Sunday of Advent
The Christmas specials are beginning to appear on TV, and the college and community choirs are streaming their versions of lessons and carols. Deprivation has a tendency to sneak up on you. Our brave fronts of resilience in these months of careful living, mostly in our own company, quickly crumble at the sound of familiar Christmas carols. At least that is what I was finding as I listened to the Simpson College rendering of “O come, all ye faithful,” and the tears began to roll. I wasn’t consciously thinking that this would have been my last Christmas Eve service at the Cathedral in Des Moines with that glorious choir, the full and beautifully decorated church, the solemn procession and the organ that makes your bones shake with joy as you stand at the altar and take its full force, as well as the spiritual power of the celebration that on “this day in Bethlehem is born a child, whose name is Jesus for He will save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21). It is a night when I always give thanks anew for the privilege of being invited to stand in that place at the altar as your bishop.
We are a strange species. We do remember how we make each other feel, and not so much what we say. And that is why emotional deprivation can prove so costly, and one reason we need celebration that touches us and helps us feel. Music, of course, is key to that, and there’s one genre that we reserve for our darkest and longest days—Christmas carols. We never just sing them; we belt them out! And to our amazement (since we only sing them once a year with eleven and a half months in between) we know the verses by heart!
So what’s to be done this Christmas 2020? At 7:45pm in the town of Glenwood, Iowa every household is invited to stand on their porch with a candle in hand, and to sing “Silent Night.” In the parking lot of our Cathedral in Davenport, the congregation will be led by the carillon in a carol sing as they assemble in their cars and communion distribution will follow as they park in the lot; the people of St. Andrew’s in Des Moines will hold a drive-in carol sing on Tuesday of Christmas week. This is going to be the most outdoor, expressive, and evangelistic Christmas celebration season we have ever undertaken. And it invokes in me memories of how we spent Christmas Eve in Bradford where the youth group traveled around the city and up onto the Yorkshire moors to bring Christmas carols to Church members and friends. And yes, I think Christmas carols would be a great offering, suitably masked and physically distanced!
We are almost all preparing to hold Christmas services online or by radio together, and we know it won’t be the same, and our emotional needs may not be completely met. Yet Jesus barely got indoors for His own birth. His parents were wandering the streets going from one inn to another most of the night, and right up to the precious moment. Shepherds were “in the fields abiding”; angels were “lighting up the sky” and one extraordinary star set some wise men into the night on a long journey from the East. We have domesticated the scenes, but not this year. It will look and feel different, but the mystery of Christmas will still be with us.
As I got caught up on the holiday special episode of my wife’s favorite show, “Call the midwife” (there I confess to a weak moment), I was struck by the incredible outbursts of kindness, generosity, and self-giving that Christmas evokes. And though we cannot pull out all the usual stops (an organ image) this year, we can seek to capture the essence of our joy in those very same expressions of kindness, generosity, self-giving and celebration of human nature, which God so blessed in coming among us as one of us.
Though the chess board is cleared of its pieces, the game can still be played for we know it so well. We know our songs without hymnals and our faith without prompts. We know how God makes us feel and how that sense of being loved leads us to loving. So, “what can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.”
In the peace and love of Christ,
+Alan
The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe
Bishop of Iowa
Diocesan Online Worship
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.
Resources for Advent and 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
Register for online 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
Youth Check-in on Wednesday, December 16th
7pm for 4th-8th
8pm for 9th-12th
Zoom information will be emailed on Monday. 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
Do you have a favorite Christmas or Advent song? Help us make a playlist featuring favorites from people around the diocese by submitting a song here. We'll put all the songs into one playlist and send out a link where you can listen to holiday music chosen by your friendly neighboring Episcopalians.
Questions? Contact Traci Ruhland Petty: tpetty@iowaepiscopal.org 515-277-6165 x202
Listening at Lunch
Come join our last Listening at Lunch session of the year this Thursday at Noon! And don't worry if you can't make it, stay tuned for more opportunities in 2021.
For Zoom information, email tpetty@iowaepiscopal.org
GILEAD Grant Spotlight: St. John’s Dubuque
This Sunday, St. John's in Dubuque is hosting the first session of their "Before Compline" series - a live interview segment with a notable church leader or thinker. Come see what's been made possible from a GILEAD Grant: check out this session with Brother Jason Gaboury, O.P., and join in for Compline immediately following.
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.
