Weekly Update 20 December 2024
Advent
The Advent wreath in the church marks the four Sundays of waiting for the birth of the Christ child. This Sunday, four candles on our Advent wreath will be lit.
The Creche in front of the altar represents the nativity story. After learning that all of the inns in Bethlehem are full, Mary and Joseph arrive at the stable. The animals and their shepherds are there. The camels are in the Narthex, waiting until they are needed for the journey of the Wise Men, the Magi, who will follow the star to Bethlehem. Together, we wait patiently for the birth of the Christ child.
Reflection
The Rev. Courtney Jones
The Reverend
Courtney
Jones
Happy 4th Sunday of Advent, or, as I like to call it: “Banned Scripture Sunday!”
This Sunday’s service will include one of the most frequently banned scriptures: the Magnificat, or Song of Mary.
You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Wait. I don’t remember there being anything unseemly in the Gospels.” I know it seems almost impossible to think that Christians might ban the reading of a particular part of the Gospel, but time and again, Luke 1:46-55 has found itself excised from the lectionary:
When the British Empire ruled India, churches were prohibited from reading, singing, or saying the Magnificat.
The military dictatorship that governed Argentina from 1976 to 1983 banned use of the Magnificat in churches.
In the 1980s in Guatemala, the government banned the public display of any portion of the Magnificat.
Why? As it turns out, people with power don’t want people without power to hear Mary’s Song, lest they get any revolutionary ideas. And Mary’s Song is revolutionary: it portrays the world that is coming into being through Christ. Christ, after all, did not come to this world to create a comfortable status quo for empires, but rather to inaugurate the kingdom of God. What does Mary suggest that the kingdom looks like?
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
If you think that’s revolutionary - just wait until you hear what we will read about a baby on Christmas Eve!
Sunday Services
Sunday, 22 December 2024
The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Year C
Chandler’s Square Morning Prayer
9:30 am
Chandler’s Square Retirement Community
1300 “O” Avenue, Anacortes
Presider: June Cook
Christ Church Morning Prayer
10:30 am
Christ Church Sanctuary
1216 Seventh Street, Anacortes
The service is also available on YouTube.
Servers
Presider: Melissa Simonsen
Homilist: John Okerman
Readers: Jason Wells, Tierney Wells
Ushers: Diane Guinn, John Guinn
Altar Guild: Melissa Simonsen
Organist: Lynne Berg/Tom Young
Coffee Hour Hosts: Hospitality Team
Readings
Psalm 80:1-7
Micah 5:2-5a
Canticle 15
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45
Readings may be found in the Episcopal Lectionary.
Hymns
H 56 - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
H 54 - Savior of the Nations, Come!
H265 - The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came
H 438 - Tell Out, My Soul, the Greatness of the Lord!
Bulletin link 12/22/2024
YouTube Sunday Service Link
Greening of the Church
Greening of the Church follows the 10:30 am service. All are invited to help the Altar Guild prepare the church for Christmas.
Coffee Hour
Coffee Hour follows the service. All are welcome.
Announcements
A Joyful Noise December 2024
Find all the December news at A Joyful Noise December 2024.
Blue Christmas Evening Prayer Service
Saturday, December 21
7pm
Christ Church Sanctuary
All are welcome.
Blue Christmas Evening Prayer Bulletin
Thank You!!
Many thanks to all of you who so very generously contributed for our Christmas Greening of the Church.
Thank you to:
Gary Anderson
Martie Arnold
Don Bergner
Jerlyn Caba & Geoff Holmes
Charlene Corbin
John Filler & Mary Basile-Filler
Shirley Forsman
Stephanie Galbraith & Dan Moore
Mary Gronholt
Margo Huth
Valerie Long
Myrna McIalwain
Grace & Jim Minton
John & Leslie Okerman
Dale & Diane Ramerman
Lorne & Judith Render
Jason & Kelley Wells
The church will be beautiful!
Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist
Tuesday, December 24
4pm
Christ Church Sanctuary
Presider & Homilist: The Rev. Courtney Jones
All are welcome.
Christmas Eve Bulletin
Christmas Day Morning Prayer
Wednesday, December 25
10:30 am
Christ Church Sanctuary
Presider & Homilist: The Rev. Vicki Johnson
All are welcome.
Christmas Day Bulletin
Church Office
The Church Office will be closed Monday-Wednesday, December 23-25. I will be checking email and phone messages on Monday and Tuesday. The office will re-open on Thursday, December 26. -Marcy
Annual Reports
Annual Reports are due by January 2.
Please email your report, as a Word document, to Marcy at office@christchurchanacortes.org, with “Annual Report 2024” as the subject.
If you are including a photo, please send separately, as a jpg.
Thank you!
Clark McKee Memorial Service
Saturday, January 11
2pm
Christ Church Sanctuary
A reception will follow in the Parish Hall Gathering Room.
All are welcome.
Annual Meeting
Sunday, January 26
Following the 10:30 am service
Parish Hall Gathering Room
We will be electing four Bishop’s Committee members and our 2025 Diocesan Convention Delegates and Alternates. We will take a look back at 2024 and a look ahead at 2025. The 2025 Operating Fund Budget, which the Bishop’s Committee approved at their December meeting, will be presented.
Please join in. Your participation is important to the life of our church.
All are welcome.
Centering Prayer
Weekly on Wednesdays
1:15 – 1:45 pm
Christ Church Sanctuary
All are welcome to join in this short, simple service: a Scripture reading, twenty minutes of silence, an intercessory prayer, and the Lord’s Prayer.
Questions? Please contact Maggie Collinge.
Men’s Group
The Men’s Group meets weekly on Fridays.
9:00 – 10:00 am
Parish Hall Gathering Room
Questions? Please contact Deacon Eric Johnson.
Gentle Yoga Class
No class in December.
Class will resume in January.
The Red Door Thrift Shop
Weekly News
Dawn Jex, Red Door Manager
Dawn Jex
Hello everyone!
If you haven’t been in the shop lately, take a moment to look at the dish display in the front corner windows. I woke up at 3:30 on Thursday last week with an idea for how we could display dishes to make them really stand out. Then I went into the shop to make it happen! I would like to keep these two front windows specifically for dishes so take a look so that you will know what it should look like.
Also, I have created a clearance section in the back room. There are several red signs and the area is outlined in blue tape. This is the place we want to put things that have been sitting on the shelf for quite a while. This is the last stop before they get moved out to Goodwill or the free pile. Anything can go here. We will clean it out on a regular basis so that we can rotate items.
Debbie and I have planned to bring in goodies this week. If you have some Christmas snacks you would like to bring to make the back room a little more jolly please feel free. If you are one of our volunteers, but you are not in the shop very often please stop by, pick up a cookie, say hello. Let us give you a holiday hug!
We are getting low on empty jars at the shop. We use these jars to put old broken jewelry or beads inside for our craft area. If you have a few clean spaghetti size jars we would be grateful for them. Thank you.
Also, this is our slow time of the year for donations. If you have items at home that you’d like to donate - now is the time! Please and thank you!
Backroom folks or linens people: If we have old, vintage and/or embroidered linens that we are not going to sell in the shop. If they are stained, have holes etc... We have a volunteer who would like us to save those items for her. Kathy Ives is a wonderful crafter and quilter who will reuse these items in the things she makes. She does wonderful work so lets save these items for her that would otherwise go in a NWC bin. Thank you!
Next week there will not be a weekly update as I will be out of town. Debbie will be running the shop on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we are closed for Christmas. I will be back to run the shop on Thursday and Friday. We will also be closed Wednesday January 1st.
Quick battery policy reminder: batteries in the back room are only for testing items. Please do not sell items with batteries in them unless the item is being sold for more than $10. This is Red Door policy. :)
This week all of our Christmas items will be half off and pink tagged clothing will be 50 cents each.
I hope you all have a lovely week and a peaceful holiday. We are almost at the end of 2024!
Big hugs,
Dawn
Christ Church’s Red Door Thrift Shop is located at 1019 Seventh Street in Anacortes.
Red Door Thrift Shop
360.293.8027
Red Door Shopping Hours:
Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday: 10am – 3pm
Red Door Donation Hours:
Monday & Wednesday: 10am – 1pm
Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday: 10am – 3pm
Profits generated at the Red Door Thrift Shop fund Christ Church’s Community Support program.
Shoppers, Volunteers, & Donations are always welcome!
Day by Day
Day by Day daily devotions may be accessed at the following link:
Day by Day Daily Devotion.
Prayer List
Dale
Zoanne
Linda
Jim
Tom
Karen
Leslie
Diana
Val
John
John & Mary
Brendan, and Jennifer, family & friends of Mary