 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Tuesday, December 6, 2022 St Nicholas How many are there???  Share Your Christmas as a way of being Nicholas Anybody can be. And everyone is invited to be. There are a whole lots of ways – but here is one. There are still some Angels for 10-12 year olds on the WalMart tree by customer service. If you haven’t and are able to stop by and pick one up, that would be great. Mother Cathy will be at church all day tomorrow, Wednesday, in case you want to drop off your gift. Be sure to leave the angel attached to it. The box in the back of the Church is beginning to fil up, too. This Sunday, December 11, Debra Beal will be with us to set up the 113 bags we will need to fill. After Eucharist anyone who is able is invited to stay and staple labels on the bags, fill the ones for which we already have gifts, and add the hygiene products. On Monday and Tuesday more gifts purchased by other shoppers will arrive, and will need to be put into the proper bags. PLEASE sign up on the sheets in the parish hall if you can help either of these days OR during the distribution days at First Assembly, on Wednesday and Thursday. next week. Prayer Book/Hymnals The last few books have arrived, and been imprinted with names of the confirmands and those who were received. a fellow clergy person remarked that that is an expensive gift to give,, and we agree. But the commitment they make deserves to be recognized with the tangible symbol of our life as Episcopalians. In January we will have an adult class or two to explore what is really in those books — a whole lot more than the few pages you need for the Sunday Eucharist and the hymns! We put them down in the pews where you usually sit. If you sit somewhere else on Sunday, look around to find yours! In January we will have a couple of Adult classes to explore what is actually in those books – a whole lot more than you usually use on Sunday mornings!   So how many St Nicholases are there? A many as dare to be. And not just on his feast day, either. It is good to celebrate the seasonal days, because they remind us of what we want to be every day. We have been using Gertrud Nelson’s wonderful book, To Dance With God here at St Alban’s and in my family for years. When we can recognize time as sacred – all of it – and live through it year by year, children really do begin to understand the story of our salvation and their place in it – in their bones, even before they grasp it with their minds. Five years ago Xavier was 8. He made St Nicholas cookies and delivered them with Elijah. They also decided to make round ones, coins, to illustrate the money Nicholas gave to provide dowries for young women, and to provide for the relief of the poor. On Sunday, almost 14 year old Xavier was confirmed by Bishop Diane – What we do when they are young, what we allow them to experience, matters later. Yes. It really does.    |
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