THE. Another Christmas Eve in the Manger. by the Rev. Ken H o w a rd. Grotto of the Nativity, Bethlehem

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1 THE VOLUME 2, ISSUE 12 St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, The Rev. Ken Howard, Rector. Sunday Services with Eucharist: 10:00 am, 5:00pm. Sunday School for Children: 10:00 am Another Christmas Eve in the Manger by the Rev. Ken H o w a rd Many years ago, when I was still in seminary, I visited the Holy Land for the first time. One of the things which amazed me was the number of traditional holy sites. The place was crawling with them. For every act of Jesus there was a town that claimed to be the site where it happened sometimes more than one town. Most of these traditional holy sites were simply places where people commemorated an event in the life of Jesus. But there were two sites that the experts believed the acts commemorated actually happened - the place He was born and the place where He died. COMMUNICANT DECEMBER 2012 A place to belong! A place to become.! Grotto of the Nativity, Bethlehem The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is the one everyone visits. It is an impressive structure that is a home to the representatives of a half-dozen denominations. Less frequented is the Grotto of the Nativity. It is a small dark room in the basement of the Church of the Nativity in occupied Bethlehem room for no more than a dozen people at a time. At one end of the room is a tiny alcove, about the size of a college student s desk, with oil lamps hung over a marble floor. The alcove is built over the stone manger (cattle feeding trough) in which the baby Jesus was laid. One by one worshippers crawl into the alcove and reach through the hole in the marble floor. At the bottom of the hole you feel the rough stone from which the cattle trough was hewn. The hustle and bustle of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher did little for me, but when I touched the manger stone, I immediately felt a sense of awe. Here was the place where God took on our humanity and dwelt among us-- a helpless child born to homeless parents who would soon be refugees born in a stable and placed in a feeding (continued on page 6) Dear Friends, A Message from the Stewardship Chair I'd like to thank you - and everyone in the St. Nick's community - for your presence and participation in the life of the church this year. Together, we are the Body of Christ. Individually, each and every one of us contributes indispensably to the health of Christ's Body, not just financially, but also through our presence, our interconnectedness, and our gifts of time, skills, and spiritual gifts. But today, because it's time for the leadership of our congregation to plan for 2013, I'm writing to talk to you about money. Specifically, I want to talk about our goals and plans for financial support of the church and your part in them. You may recall the recent "what if" challenge that Bishop Marianne proposed to Fr. Ken. We want our leadership to be able to respond to challenges and opportunities like this rapidly and decisively. To do that, they need to have the clearest possible picture we can provide them of the financial resources we are (continued on page 6) Inside this issue: Welcome to St. Nick s, Father Nicholas Editorial: So much has changed, So much remains the same The Children s Page 3 News Briefs: Chicks and Chick mates Have a Night Out What If? The Communicant takes a Hiatus Open Doors: Update on a Project Another Christmas Eve in the Manger continued A Message from the Stewardship Chair continued Advent and Christmas Events 7 Save-the-Dates 8

2 Page 2 THE COMMUNICANT DECEMBER 2012 Welcome to St. Nick s, Father Nicholas!... on December 9, 2012, we will be celebrating St. Nicholas Sunday, the feast day of Bishop Nicholas of Myra, the saint after which our church is named. It is a fun day because it is a day of special celebration: for the children among us and for the child within each of us. Most churches, if they're lucky, get one episcopal visit each year. We almost always get two: one from the Bishop of Washington, one from the Bishop of Myra. Old Bishop Nicholas (almost 2,000 years old) visits our main service, with coins of gold (gold wrapped chocolate, actually) for S a i n t N i c h o l a s, Pa t r o n S a i n t o f C h i l d re n, S a i l o rs, T h e Po o r, a n d T h e I n n o c e n t. the kids, and stories and good humor for everyone. It is a serious day because it is the day we will be "tying the bow" on our Giving Campaign for the upcoming year by gathering together all of the 2013 Giving Estimates we have collected and asking God's blessing upon the gifts we hope to give next year and the ministries we hope those gifts will make possible. Ken + EDITORIAL : So Much has Changed, So Much Remains the Same On reviewing some of the objects related to St. Nick s storyboarding, I found an article by Rev. Ken Howard which seemed appropriate to be used as the lead for this issue of the newsletter. Its title, Another Christmas Eve in the Manger. So much has changed since this article was written in December So much has changed since St. Nicholas Episcopal Church was conceived in the early 1990 s. (Read the Welcome from the Rector on the church s web site Yet, so much remains the same. By the grace of God, no longer is St. Nicholas Episcopal Church homeless on Christmas Eve, packing our tent and going down the street and around the corner to hold our services at the Seneca Academy. St. Nick s moved in and soon after dedicated its new building in May Yet, there are so many things the church still needs. It longs to have more office space for staff and storage, more room to accommodate Sunday School, Christian formation groups and new ministries, to name but a few. The waiting and longing and improvising described in Fr. Ken s article remain. It is now stewardship season and the reminders are everywhere. St. Nick's needs support, yours and mine. To phrase it delicately, the church needs help to move itself forward on the path of growth and development. However, as Fr. Ken puts it With all of the waiting we ve been doing lately, it s easy to let ourselves become fixated on the things we are waiting for and that which we do not have. He wisely reminds us that while our needs may have changed, what remains is far more important: A congregation that knows deep in their hearts that their unity lies on Christ s love and that alone. With that thought in mind, waiting becomes less stressful. Think how far St. Nick s has come. What if St. Nick s has to spend another Christmas Eve in the Manger? What if??? The journey and its story can only get more interesting. - your articles by the 15th of the month to The Editors, at newsletter@saintnicks.com. We reserve the right to edit all s and letters for length, style and clarity. Thank you.

3 Page 3 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 12 The Children s Page O Come, Let Us Adore Him... Christ, The Lord.

4 Page 4 THE COMMUNICANT DECEMBER 2012 Chicks and Chick-mates Have a Night Out Ten of us gathered at Memsahib in Rockville on Saturday, Nov. 17th. Six chicks and four others: Mindy and Bob, Kevin and Karen, Marsha, Kimberly, Joyce, Julie and Kevin, and Michaela (Julie s daughter). We sat on couch-like seats, with plenty of pillows for added comfort. Dinner was a 5-course meal, served on 2 huge circular plates, one plate for each group of five people. The meal included eggplant dip, spicy carrots and cucumbers, fried fish, lamb and rice, and butter chicken. Fresh flat breads were used to scoop up the food. During a dessert of bananas, almonds and walnuts, we were entertained by a belly dancer. For thirty minutes, she danced, never seeming to be out of breath. She used scarves, intricate hand movements and footwork in the dance, and in one routine she balanced a sword in several different ways. We had a great time. (Contributed by Joyce Mason). NEWS BRIEFS What If?... The Communicant Takes a Hiatus It may be hard to believe but The Communicant, St. Nick s monthly newsletter is completing, with this issue, two years of publication. At this time, the newsletter s management team thinks it prudent to pause, reflect, and take stock of how effective and useful the newsletter has been to the purpose of the church. Is the newsletter growing and developing in tandem with St. Nick s growth and development? Does the benefit in terms of its usefulness as an agent of parish life balance the cost in terms of manpower and materials? What do you, the readers and members of St. Nick s congregation think of the newsletter? Do you enjoy reading it? Do you find its content informative? What changes, if any, do you consider desirable? Do you have any concerns about the newsletter? Do you think it necessary to even have a newsletter? The management team plans to seek your responses through a survey which will be distributed shortly. We need your opinions to help us plan how our continued conversation should look and feel, and what it should contain. Chicks relaxing at Memsahib Restaurant Photos by Machaela Peterson The Dancer at Memsahib In the meantime, The Communicant will take a hiatus. If however, you have comments you would like to share before the survey is distributed, please send them to the editors of the newsletter. Until then! Let s keep in touch. M I L E S TO N E S Welcome to Andrew Timothy Strafford who was born November 16, Congratulations to his parents, Timothy and Tanzi, and siblings Ross, Anna and Margaret. Congratulations to the following parishioners on their wedding anniversary: Mary Ellen and Nicholas Howey who celebrate on 12/4 Melanie Hedrick and Bill Carruthers who celebrate on 12/18 Laura and Tim Honesty who celebrate on 12/30

5 Page 5 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 12 Open Doors: Update on a Project... by The Rev. Curtis Farr Few things scare us more than speaking on average a person would rather be buried than deliver a speech, and discussing serious topics with strangers seems contrary to our basic instincts. When this is true for a community of believers, it turns evangelism into taboo. It s no surprise, then, that someone once compared the Episcopal Church s method of evangelism to putting a fish tank next to the ocean and hoping that the fish would just jump inside. Though evangelism is scary, and even though we have shied away from evangelism, we are evangelists at heart we desire to belong to a community of believers, and we want others to belong as well. Our desire needn t stop within the four walls of our building. In November a few of us opened doors to new evangelistic opportunities by knocking on the doors of our neighbors to ask two simple questions: 1) What are the needs of this community? 2) What needs to you have that we can pray for at St. Nick s on Sunday? Our tasks were simple: introduce ourselves as individuals from a nearby church, ask these questions and listen carefully to the responses. Our goals were plain: gather information, discuss how that information might help us address needs, take the first step in building relationships with people in our community. Without inviting anyone to come to our church, we showed our neighbors that we exist and are open and friendly qualities that often do not go hand-in-hand with door-todoor evangelism. For 90 minutes we walked the neighborhood, talking to each other and talking with our neighbors. In those 90 minutes we knocked on 20 doors and spoke with 15 friendly folks. No one was rude or slammed the door in our face. In fact, one woman named Betty even welcomed us into her home. We met people who were very religious or weren t religious at all. We met people who spoke of Darnestown as a fragmented community. We met people who just needed their leaves raked. Most importantly, we met people whom we had never met before and probably would not have met otherwise. In January we will do it again, so keep your eyes and ears posted for Open Doors 2.0. I do other things at church, and I think that this will stretch me too thin. The only commitment that you would have to make for Open Doors is two hours the same amount of time it takes to watch the new James Bond film. I don t like it when people knock on my door, I don t want to knock on other people s doors. We do everything possible to not take too much of our neighbors time, but the simple fact is that we cannot reach out to people unless we actually reach out to them. There may be somebody behind that next door who is waiting to be reached out to, and their time commitment is more like two minutes than two hours. I still am not quite sure about this whole thing, but I d like to support those who are going to do it. Before going out, we gather for coffee and doughnuts and pray together. All are welcome to join us for this time of fellowship and worship, and your support is greatly appreciated. Imagine what would happen if in a couple of years St. Nick s could take that first step in reaching out to hundreds of our neighbors in Darnestown? What new relationships and ministry opportunities might be revealed? Please pray and think about joining us for the next Open Doors. The Rev. Curtis Farr Sunday Services with Holy Eucharist 10:00 am, 5:00 pm Sunday School for Children 10: 00 am Wednesday Vespers 7:00 pm

6 Page 6 THE COMMUNICANT DECEMBER 2012 Another Christmas Eve in... (continued from front page) trough, soon to be visited by a bunch of stinky shepherds. This is not a God who is distant and uninvolved. This is a God who gets down in the dirt with us, and risks being vulnerable to and dependent on us. That image of the homeless, vulnerable God has stuck with me over the years. So much so, that all these years since we started St. Nicholas it has always seemed so fitting that we too should make ourselves homeless on Christmas Eve, packing our tent and going down the street and around the corner to hold our services at the Seneca Academy, our Bethlehem, our stable. That yearly trek reminds us that as Christians we are always strangers in a strange land, refugees from this world, and that our true home is in Christ -- that Church is not a building but the people who seek refuge in Christ. Call me weird, but I will kind of miss that annual reminder, that annual experience of something of what it must have felt like for the Holy Family that yearly homecoming to the heart of Christ. With all of the waiting we ve been doing lately, it s easy to let ourselves become fixated on the things we are waiting A Message from The Stewardship (continued from front page) for and that which we do not have. But I hope we will not let our impatience for the future keep us from participating in what we are now. A congregation that knows... I h o p e w e w i l l n o t l e t o u r i m - p a t i e n c e f o r t h e f u t u r e ke e p u s f r o m p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n w h a t w e a r e n o w. A c o n g r e g a t i o n t h a t k n o w s d e e p i n t h e i r h e a r t s t h a t t h e i r u n i t y l i e s o n C h r i s t s l o v e a n d t h a t a l o n e. deep in their hearts that their unity lies on Christ s love and that alone. For that reason yearn to share that love with each other and those around us... Ken+ (Extracted from The Abbey, Special Christmastide issue, December 2007, lead article). willing to make available for them to put to use on our behalf. So the focus of our Stewardship Campaign this year is to give our Vestry that ability by providing them with that kind of clarity. When you complete and submit an Estimate of Giving, you are helping our Vestry make better plans and wiser decisions on our behalf by providing them a greater degree of certainty. An Estimate of Giving is exactly that: our best estimate - our most educated guess - of how much and how often (e.g., weekly, monthly, annually) we hope to give. Because it's an estimate, you are free to adjust it up or down at any time according to your circumstances: just send in a new form so we can keep our financial projections current and accurate. And the greater the percentage of our congregation that completes and submits Estimates of Giving, the greater the level of certainty and accuracy we provide. Increased giving is always welcome but knowing what to expect from week to week is even better. So our goal for our 2013 Giving Campaign is to increase the number of Estimates of Giving from the 67 we had in 2012 to 95 for This would greatly decrease the proportion of our total income that is unknown while greatly increasing the vestry's ability to make clear choices when it comes to financial decisions. This is an easy way for us all to help move St. Nick's forward on the path of growth and development that Bishop Marianne has suggested. We kicked off our 2013 Giving Campaign at our Annual Parish Meeting on October 28. We hope to complete it - to have all Estimates of Giving submitted - by Sunday, December 2. This way we can celebrate the end of the campaign on Sunday, December 9, along with the Feast of St. Nicholas, and give the Vestry sufficient time to finalize the 2013 Budget by December 31. So take some time to prayerfully consider what God might be calling you to give. And when you come to a decision, please click on the Submit a Giving Estimate button below to complete and submit your 2013 Estimate of Giving on line. (For those who would prefer to drop your Giving Estimate in the plate, you can either print out your completed online form or watch for the snail-mail letter coming to you shortly.) Either way, just remember to do it by December 2, so we can wrap this thing up! If you have questions, or if I can be of help in your decision making, please feel free to catch me after a service or call me at home at Blessings and thanks! David. David Maglott, Stewardship Chair.

7 Page 7 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 12 Advent and Christmas Events December 9 (Sunday) (The Feast Day of Nicholas of Myra) 10:00am St. Nicholas Day Festal Eucharist The Great Room A visit from St. Nicholas with a gift for everyone. Ingathering and blessing of Giving Estimates 11:00am Christmas Cookie Social The Great Room Fun and fellowship. Bring a dish of your favorite Christmas cookies. December 15 (Saturday) 6:00pm Christmas Season Potluck The Great Room Food, fun, fellowship. Christmas Carols. December 24 (Monday) (Christmas Eve) 5:00pm Christmas Eve Children s Service The Great Room A special service for children and their families. 7:00pm Christmas Eve Early Service The Great Room Carols, Candlelight, & Choir Holy Eucharist 10:00pm Christmas Eve Late Service The Great Room Carols & Candlelight Holy Eucharist December 30 (Sunday) (The 1 st Sunday after Christmas) 10:00am Festival of Lessons and Carols The Great Room End the season with this traditional service of song and story. January 6 (Sunday) (The Epiphany) 10:00am Epiphany Service & Pageant The Great Room Special music for the occasion. Children's Epiphany Pageant (for all children). Please see calendar insert listing activities and events for December/January For Calendar Updates, please visit our website

8 Page 8 THE COMMUNICANT DECEMBER 2012 Angel Tree Outreach, 12/2 through 12/16: This year we are sponsoring one single-parent family with five boys between the ages of 9 and 17. You may still donate food and/or gifts for Germantown HELP. Contact: Maura Kibbey, tkibbey1@verizon.net or Christmas Themed Raffle: Beginning Sun. 11/25 through the Parish Christmas Party on 12/15 donate $1 a chance or $5 for 6 chances to receive one of three items: a Christmas themed cookie jar, a Christmas platter or a Christmas Yankee candle. Tickets are available following Sunday and Wednesday services. Donations go toward The El Hogar Mission Trip Project Fee. Contact: Rose Mahan at rosemahan1@earthlink.net or Lunch Bunch Potluck: On Tues. 12/11, 12noon, at Darnestown Presbyterian Church. The Seniors' Group is sponsoring a potluck luncheon and we are invited. We should contribute salads or desserts. There is also a $5-$8 optional gift exchange. Organized by Sandy Kahn of Darnestown Presbyterian Church Women. Contact Karen Kucik at El Hogar Fundraiser: 1/7, Dine at Laredo Grill, at 347 Muddy Branch Road, in Festival Shopping Center on any of these evenings from 5-10:30pm, hand your server a flyer or tell them you are eating for St. Nicholas/El Hogar and earn 20% of the bill toward the El Hogar Mission Trip project fee of $2,000. Flyers are available in the Great Room and will be sent by the week before the event dates. Contact: Terri Murphy Germantown Road Germantown, MD We are a spiritual home, a safe haven, grounded in Scripture and centered in life, where we are nurtured and challenged in our journey of faith. We welcome all people to join us in worship and prayer, and in joyful service to the community around us. We believe that the only sufficient basis for Christian community is Christ s love for us. We experience that the power of Christ s love can hold us together in the midst of great adversity. THE COMMUNICANT Germantown Road Germantown, MD Tele: Fax: office@saintnicks.com Newsletter deadline is generally FIFTEEN DAYS BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH. Send articles to: Rev. Ken Howard at rector@saintnicks.com The Editors at newsletter@saintnicks.com Audrey Thompson at audreyt58@gmail.com Suzy Arnette at suzy@arnettes.net Permission is given to reprint original articles, so long as This Newsletter and the authors are both credited St. Nicholas Episcopal Church.