Jackie. St. Patrick Episcopal Church 232 East Main Street Lebanon, Ohio 45036

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1 St. Patrick Episcopal Church 232 East Main Street Lebanon, Ohio Sunday Worship Services 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. The Rt. Rev. Thomas E. Breidenthal Bishop of Southern Ohio The Rev. Jacqueline Matisse, Rector Nancy Smith, Vestry, Senior Warden Bill Lasher, Vestry, Junior Warden Damian Stout, Choir Director Jack Hasty, Organist Marjorie Donovan, Music Director Emeritus Vestry Jeff Lane, Financial Secretary Trischa Goodwin Vestal Hipp Wayne Spary, Treasurer Steve Belknap Jill Lane Bill Lasher, Stewardship Matt Lang Linda Powers Gretchen Hautzinger, Office Manager Harry Pritchard Jill Lane, Children s Education Our Mission: To take the love of Christ into the World Advent begins Sunday, December 3rd. We will light the first candle on the Advent wreath. I love that moment. It s a kairos moment, one of those moments that holds more than is visible to the eye. A moment that goes beyond space and time. It is a moment of hopeful anticipation. As we light that candle we remember a night when a light was born into a world with darkness and we look forward to a promised time when that same light will burn away all darkness. As we light that candle we recognize that we are the torch bearers who carry it in the interim. We remember that the light lives in us and what an amazing gift that is. We dare to imagine the coming together of heaven and earth. All this happens in the moment we light the first candle on the Advent wreath, Sunday, December 3rd. And then the church gives us a season to savor that moment. Christians live on two levels in December. On one we will prepare for family celebrations. We will buy gifts, bake cookies, decorate trees, have parties and all the rest that is part of the cultural celebration of Christmas. On the other and I dare say, more important level we wait in anticipation for Christ s light, Christ s love, Christ s life to fill this world. We watch for signs that he is coming. We look within ourselves to see if we are making room for his birth within us. So for Christians it s a somewhat complicated season, busy and reflective. May the sanctuary of St. Patrick s help us all take time to pay attention to the season set in motion at the lighting of the Advent wreath. Jackie

2 ADVENT RETREAT MORNING Saturday, December 9, you are invited to two hours of quiet and reflection to observe this Advent season. If you would like to come and need child care to make it possible, please tell Jackie and we ll make arrangements. The theme of the time will be finding the light in the darkness. WOMENS CHRISTMAS PARTY The women Christmas Party at Jackie s home will be on, Wednesday, December 13 at 6pm. All women and daughters are welcome. It s a pot luck meal so please bring a dish to share. Somehow the right amount and kind of food always shows up! Encourage a newcomer to come. It s a good time to meet people and become more acquainted with the community. CAROLING AT THE CHURCH It s been suggested we have a carol sing at the church, so it s planned for Sunday evening, December 17th. We ll simply sing! And perhaps we ll spill out into the neighborhood! And maybe there will be a touch of Narnia in the mix. All ages welcome! CHRISTMAS WORSHIP This year the fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve both fall on Sunday, December 24. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE ONE SERVICE ONLY IN THE MORNING ON DECEMBER 24. The service will be at 9am. It will be a quiet service with communion. If someone would like to offer some meditative music on an instrument or with voice, please let Jackie know. DIOCESAN CONVENTION Diocesan Convention was wonderful! The keynote speakers, the breakout sessions and the worship were Spirit filled. There will be time set apart on Sunday mornings in January after breakfast to discuss it. Stay tuned. Jackie Just Around the Corner by Bill Lasher Our Diocesan Convention was held last week in Cincinnati, and it was one of the best ever. Our Bishop has been building up our awareness of one important topic for the last few years, and this year he presented the full story. The keynote speaker asked, Who is our neighbor?, followed by What does that mean for our church? I can tell you that neighbor is one of the older words in English, and that related word Nachbar is one of the German words. Both mean one living nearby. When we were asked to describe our personal neighbors, most of us did pretty well; but when we were asked to describe our church neighbors, the task was more difficult. I noticed that several people described neighboring houses from the outside, even down to the street number or the store name, but they knew nothing about the neighbors living or working inside those walls. Robert Frost did not believe that Good fences make good neighbors, and it is equally untrue that Good walls make good neighbors. If we are looking for neighbors at home or at church, we need to find out who is there not what. When our Bishop first introduced this idea a few years ago, he began by breaking the convention-goers into groups who generally knew nothing about each other. That was our first practice run: find out who these people are, where they go to church, and what their church does that is different from your own. This year we were talking not about our churches but about the neighborhood around our churches. St. Patrick s did pretty well: we knew at least half of our contiguous neighbors, and talked about ways to meet more. Remembering that you don t have to enter someone s house to meet them, we talked about ways of connecting with neighbors at church or other events. Adding members to our community adds more than faces: it adds hands, voices, and connections we don t have now. My reaction to the Bishop s work in this area is simple: he isn t trying to make us the largest church in the world, but he wants us to grow one parish at a time, one person at a time. I have seen the results of maintaining a church without looking for new members and new life. In Europe I have seen churches with three or four attending Sunday services; you may have seen it in this country as well. The journey we re working on now is not just for ourselves, but for our neighbors.

3 ALTAR SERVERS & PEOPLE OF THE WEEK DECEMBER 3 DECEMBER 24 C Dana C Dana BB Christiana BB Kacee US Dick Wolford & Trish Simonton US Kevin O Brien & Brian Gluntz P Carol & Jum Horst P David & Adrienne Johnson & Family T Nelson & Johnson T Smith & Wolford G Gloria G Trish A Kathy & Janet S. A June & Vestal DECEMBER 10 DECEMBER 31 C Marshall C Marshall BB Maria BB Christiana US Graham Bale & David Johnson US Skip Scruby & Trish Simonton P Arnold Huck & Sara Huckeby P Eric & Margaret Johnson T McLaughlin & Hasty T Lane & Johnson G Carol G Linda A Jan D,, Leo, & Molly A Lisa & Trischa DECEMBER 17 JANUARY 7 C Brady C Brady BB Adam BB Maria US Larry Benning & Norman Bucher US Dick Wolford & Larry Benning P Ginny Jackson P Mike & Kathy Kemner T Simonton & Smith T Smith & Wolford G Ruth G Gloria A Molly & Kay A Rosemary & Gloria A = Altar Guild BB = Book Bearer C = Crucifer G = Greeter P = Persons of the Week T = Tellers US = Ushers LAY READER TEXT DECEMBER The First Sunday of Advent December 3 8:00 a.m. Earl Edmonds 10:30 a.m. Jean Benning Steve Belknap Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 The Second Sunday of Advent December 10 8:00 a.m. Pat George 10:30 a.m. Nancy Smith Stuart Bale Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 The Third Sunday of Advent December 17 8:00 a.m. Dan Berger 10:30 a.m. Brian Gluntz Jean Benning Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11 Psalm Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8,19-28 The Fourth Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve December 24 8:00 a.m. Trischa Goodwin 10:30 a.m. Steve Belknap Becca McLaughlin 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16 Psalm 89:1-4,19-26 Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38 Christmas Day Christmas Service The First Sunday after Christmas December 31 8:00 a.m. Earl Edmonds 10:30 a.m. Dana Davis Nancy Smith Isaiah 61:10 62:3 Psalm 147:13-21 Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 John 1:1-18 The First Sunday after the Epiphany January 7 8:00 a.m. Pat George 10:30 a.m. Jean Benning Brian Gluntz Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11

4 December 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 9:30 a.m. Silent Saturday :00 p.m. Homework Club 5 6 6:00 p.m. Men s Dinner 7 Nicholas Ferrar Charles de Foucauld 8 Channing Moore Williams 9 Francis Xavier Karl Barth Thomas Merton William Lloyd Garrison and Maria Stewart 24 9:00 a.m. Eucharist 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Ser. 10:00 p.m. Candlelight Serv. John of Damascus 10:00 a.m. Christmas Serv Clement of Alexandria 12 4:00 p.m. Homework Club Lillian Trasher Nicholas Lucy (Lucia) Ambrose Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross) Saint Thomas the Apostle Richard Baxter John Horden Robert McDonald Henry Budd Charlotte Diggs (Lottie) Moon 16 Ralph Adams Cram, Richard Upjohn and John LaFarge 23 Christmas Eve The Nativity of our Lord Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist The Holy Innocents Thomas Becket Frances Joseph Gaudet 10:30 Eucharist Samuel Ajayi Crowther

5 MEN S DINNER The Men s dinner group will have some change. We will meet in December at the Black Horse Tavern at the rear of the Golden Lamb. This will be their Beer and Burger night. We have reservations arranged by Dan Berger; our table will be along the line between the Tavern and the main restaurant where it should be relatively quiet. Plan to join us; all are welcome. As usual we meet the first Thursday of the month, December 7 at 6:00. Looking ahead, we usually do not meet in January because of the busy holiday schedule. We will resume meeting in February. Tom Campbell RITE 13-J2A ANNUAL COAT DRIVE The red barrel is out again, and we are collecting coats for needy people in the Lebanon area. The coats are being taken over to Interfaith Hospitality who will give them out to anyone who needs one this winter. Our Youth Group has made this an annual project, and we greatly appreciate the great support that we have received from our church families. Gloves and scarves are also very appreciated as well. Thank you to all who have made this such a successful project for our Youth Group. We will collect coats thru December 31st. RITE 13-J2A CHRISTMAS FAMILIES Each year our Youth Group adopts three or four families for Christmas, and each year some of our congregation has helped us with this endeavor. We can once again use your help, as this year we will have at least three families with numerous children. These are families who are involved with Interfaith Hospitality along with the possibility of adding a couple of other needy families in Lebanon. Again, your support is greatly appreciated, and if you would like to help provide a nice Christmas for these families, please contact Earl Edmonds. In the past, this has been a great project for our church and our Youth Group. Earl and Carlotta Channing Moore Williams Missionary Bishop in China and Japan, 1910 Bishop Williams, a farmer s son, was born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 18, 1829, and brought up in straitened circumstances by his widowed mother. He attended the College of William and Mary and the Virginia Theological Seminary. Ordained deacon in 1855, he offered himself for work in China, where he was ordained priest in Two years later, he was sent to Japan and opened work in Nagasaki. His first convert was baptized in 1866, the year he was chosen bishop for both China and Japan. After 1868, he decided to concentrate all his work in Japan, following the revolution that opened the country to renewed contact with the western world. Relieved of his responsibility for China in 1874, Williams made his base at Yedo (now Tokyo), where he founded a divinity school, later to become St. Paul s University. At a synod in 1887 he helped bring together the English and American missions to form the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Holy Catholic Church of Japan, when the Church there numbered fewer than a thousand communicants. Williams translated parts of the Prayer Book into Japanese; and he was a close friend and warm supporter of Bishop Schereschewsky, his successor in China, in the latter s arduous work of translating the Bible into Chinese. After resigning his jurisdiction in 1889, Bishop Williams stayed in Japan to help his successor there, Bishop John McKim, who was consecrated in Williams lived in Kyoto and continued to work in the opening of new mission stations until his return to America in He died in Richmond, Virginia, on December 2, Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Channing Moore Williams, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the people of China and Japan. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints) IN-REACH MINISTRY Do you need help or know of other church members who need temporary assistance with transportation, meals, child care, yard work, household chores, etc? If so, please contact Theresa Norris, December In-Reach Ministry coordinator. Her contact information can be found in the Church Directory or by calling St. Patrick s.