The Messenger. December 2014 OF TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH FINDING JESUS IN THE HOLIDAYS

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1 December 2014 Growing as Disciples of Jesus Christ Through Worship, Learning, Fellowship and Outreach The Messenger OF TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH FINDING JESUS IN THE HOLIDAYS The holiday season can be one of the most joyful, or the most taxing, seasons of the year. It can be a time of great peace and childlike wonder, a time of forgiveness, reconciliation and family. Or it can be a time of distraction, disappointment, frustration, fatigue, loneliness, need, and tension. For most people, it is a little bit of both. But what is it supposed to be? Christmas, in the life of the Church, is the celebration of the Incarnation of our Lord. It isn t a one-day birthday party for Jesus, but a twelve day celebration of the gift of Jesus and all He means for our salvation and our life in Him. But Christmas does not just point us backwards. It points us to our future, our hope. Just as Jesus first advent fulfilled God s promises through the prophets, so it also secures our certain hope that He will come again. Advent is a season that prepares us for this celebration that points to Jesus second coming. As the Eucharistic Prayer says each Sunday in Advent, we are to prepare ourselves so that we may, without shame or fear rejoice to behold His appearing. Advent calls us to prepare for Jesus second coming by preparing to celebrate His first. How, though, do we keep from losing sight of the true purpose of this season amidst the busyness and distractions all around us? This Advent and Christmas, our sermon series is Finding Christ in the Holidays. We will explore how to use this season to draw closer to Jesus and keep our eyes on Him how to find Him in the crowds and the crammed schedules. We will talk about waiting and watching by slowing down, about cultivating joy and thanksgiving through a life of unceasing prayer, about being ready for Jesus every day as we surrender ourselves in obedience to Him. But the sermon series isn t just about the content of the message, it is about the voice of our liturgy. The services themselves will invite us into that watching, that peace, that joy, and that hope. How? By helping us find and experience Jesus through the readings, collects, hymns, and special presentations. I want to encourage you to join us in finding Jesus in the midst of the holiday season. While the sermon series will make many more practical suggestions, I will mention just two here. First, consider joining me in engaging the readings of Morning and Evening Prayer and daily praying the weekly collects appointed for each week (found in the Sunday bulletins). Second, make the decision to celebrate Christmas not as a day, but as the twelve day season it is and deserves to be. You will find that as you do, the pressure to fit everything into one day is relieved and the letdown of the day after goes away. 1 Yours in Christ, Fr. Karl+

2 Leisure: the Basis of Family Life Josef Pieper, a German Christian Philosopher, wrote a little book in 1947 when Europe was enormously busy rebuilding itself after WWII entitled, Leisure: The Basis of Culture. Pieper argues that what makes a culture great in fact, what makes a culture at all is not the sheer amount of work and labor it can do, not the amount of energy it can expend or create, not the amount of building it can do, but rather whether or not it can carve out space and time for more pointless activities like singing, enjoying fine meals, art, reading, prayer. Pieper points out that a culture that despises leisure, preferring to occupy itself constantly with work, business and busyness, very soon ceases to be a culture at all and acts more like a band of slaves. Is it all that different in family life? Isn t leisure those times when we carve out space and time simply to be a family, to enjoy something that has no point beyond itself isn t this what makes family life truly joyous and meaningful? And isn t the holiday season when we celebrate the Gift of Christ, which has absolutely no point beyond Itself one of the best times of the year to enjoy leisure as a family. My contention is that this has an enormously good effect on the spiritual lives of our families. And further, lack of leisure, lack of free time and open space in our schedules, has a negative effect on the spiritual lives of our families. Think about it for a moment. Take prayer, for example. Is prayer an act of work or an act of leisure? Well, it can certainly be both. But primarily prayer is a leisurely thing to do; it doesn t tick off all the boxes on our schedules. But it does open up space and time in our lives for the presence of Jesus. So, if we don t build leisure into our family lives, how can we teach our kids to pray? How can we teach our kids to carve our space in their lives for God, if we don t also teach them how to carve out space and time for their family? The two are most certainly connected. Trinity Family Ministry Growing Together in Christ Sunday School On the Campus of St. John s Pre-K 8th meet in the Sanctuary and then process to class at the Gloria hymn Youth Group Sundays: 5:30-7:00 pm 12/7 Youth Group 12/14 Youth Group 12/21 Christmas Party 12/28 No Youth Group Youth Group Christmas Party Food Games Cocoa Caroling Parents are Invited December 21 So, how can families enjoy leisure in this holiday season? There are countless ways, really. Have more meals together as a family in this season. Have fun conversations during dinner. Sing Christmas songs together. Play a board game or two. Have another family over and show hospitality. Go see Christmas lights together. Decorate the Christmas tree together with hot cocoa and cider. These aren t particularly holy things to do. But in doing these things we teach our kids how to cease from the busyness and that is a prerequisite for enjoying the presence of Jesus in our lives, a most certainly holy thing to do. Blessings, Dcn. Joe 2

3 In The Parish Family DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS Thank you note to Anne Giles, Dennis Gibson, and all the volunteers who worked to hard and lovingly in moving our office to it s new location. to Mike & Jenn Young and Dick & Anne Giles, and all the Team Leaders for heading up our Capital Campaign Well done! to Mildred Woods for organizing and working so hard to make our Thanksgiving Pot-Luck a wonderful success. Congratulations to... Katie Sawyer & Joe Franco on marriage. John Pryor for having his book published. COOK BOOKS Our Cook books will not be available until early January. If you have ordered some books as Christmas gifts, we will have gift cards available in the church office. We are sorry for this inconvenience. Jack Merickel Judy Wilcox Michele Jones Joanne Fredriksz Betty Wickersham Connee Schroeter Heather Merickel Joseph Fredriksz Liz Smith Karen Williams Matthew Fredriksz Anne Giles Joy Hawley Nick Points Jerry Starr Juliet Smith Diane Moore Howard Quilling Kristin Savage Corinne Bogie Darcie Larman Joshua Wagner Suzanne Wagner Jeanie Howard Plan Ahead ANNUAL PARISH MEETING January 11, 2015 NEW ADDRESS FOR THE CHURCH OFFICE Bakersfield, CA For those who have their pledges automatically mailed in, please notify your bank of the change of address. It is with great excitement that we report that the Ages to Ages Capital Campaign resulted in a three-year pledge commitment total of $2,506,490 from 126 donors. We still anticipate a few more commitments coming in and are actively talking to the bank regarding construction financing options. We will be consulting with Woodbridge Pacific about the proposed property as soon as the bank gives us an indication of their options. Contributions to Ages to Ages can begin immediately. We ask that separate checks be made to Ages to Ages and your Operating Budget contributions. Make checks out to Trinity Anglican Church with Ages to Ages noted in the memo line. Ages to Ages envelopes are available in the church office or at Sunday services. HOLY BAPTISM Our next baptism will be on Sunday, January 11th. If you have a child you wish to have baptized, or if you want to be baptized, please call the church office at and speak with Fr. Karl. 3

4 SERMON AND SMALL GROUP HOLIDAY SERIES FINDING CHRIST IN THE HOLIDAYS How to find the peace, joy, and hope of Jesus in the holiday season. Come grow as a Disciple of Jesus through studying God s word in fellowship with others. To join look on the website or contact Garrett Ming - gming78@gmail.com JASON S CHRISTMAS TREE SUNDAY We are eager to continue our work in cooperation with Bakersfield Recovery Services. What greater blessing and encouragement can there be to those in active recovery than by taking some of the burden off of their families at Christmas. We will be providing a few Christmas gifts for their children. Your wrapped gifts will be delivered by the staff of Bakersfield Recovery Services to the children of their clients in Jason s Retreat, Capistrano House and Lincoln Street Retreat. Please bring your wrapped gifts to the Church office no later than Monday, December 15 th. Once again, our heartfelt thanks and blessings to you all for your generous love and support in our work. Your brother in Christ, Dn. John CHRISTMAS TEA Saturday, December 13th at 2 p.m. All Trinity church women and guests are invited to the ACW Christmas Tea at: First Congregational Church located at 5 Real Rd. The cost is $10. Tickets are available after church or in the office during the week. The cut-off date for purchasing your tickets is Monday, December 10th. We are not able to sell tickets after that date, and no tickets will be sold at the door. TAX REMINDER All donations for the tax year of 2014 must be received by noon on December 31st. TRINITY STATS Attendance November 2nd 238 November 16th 224 November 9th 235 November 23rd 201 Giving Year-to-Date October Actual Budget Actual Budget Income $48,697 $44,625 $477,547 $446,250 Expense $41,331 $44,484 $423,630 $444,840 CHRISTMAS AT TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH Advent 4 Sunday, December 21st, 8 and 10:30 a.m. Children s Christmas Gospel Presentation during the 10:30 a.m. service Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist at 7:30 p.m. St. John s Lutheran Church 4

5 Trinity Anglican Church December 2014 WORSHIP SERVICES Sunday Morning At St. John s Lutheran Church 8 a.m. Holy Communion (1928 Prayer Book) 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion (Rite II) Thursday Morning 10 a.m. Healing Service BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mike Young Mike Chase John Cronen Anne Giles Marilyn Brown Ron Christolear Lynne Hall Guy Lingo Steve McCalley Jeff Mendoza Kevin Ray Chad Savage Sr. Warden Jr. Warden Treasurer Clerk #108 Bakersfield CA Office Fax office@trinitybakersfield.com OUR CLERGY The Rev. Karl E. Dietze, Rector The Rev. Joseph Lawrence, Assistant The Rev. John M. Wilcox, Retired The Rev. John LaMar, Deacon OUR STAFF Sue Wagner, Director of Music Tara Michaels, Office Manager Kendi Miller, Bookkeeper The Messenger 5