“Joy to the World, the Lord has Come….”
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
Fruitland Park, FL
www.holytrinityfp.com
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December 2008
December 2008
December 2008
December 2008
Don’t Miss Advent in Rush Toward Christmas
I love the season of Advent. In fact
it is my favorite time in the church
year. Advent is for me a time of
quiet, and planning. It is a season
of darkness. We are waiting for the
light of the baby Jesus to come to
us. One thing Advent is not, is
Christmas. The world begins
Christmas around Halloween. What
a mistake, if we rush Christmas and
miss the holy time of preparing that
Advent gives to us. The hymns of
Advent prepare us for the birth of
Jesus. These hymns have a very special significance as we
prepare for Christmas, listen to their words carefully. Carry
these words in your heart, they will refresh your soul and
prepare you in a deeply spiritual way for Christmas.
Have a blessed Advent Season.
Michael Rowell
Priest in charge
Dickens Dinner - Sun, December 7th at 5:30pm
Tickets are now on sale for a traditional English “Dick ens
Dinner” to be enjoyed in the Parish House on Sunday Dec
7th. The sit-down meal will include a complete roast beef
dinner, including popovers, roasted potatoes, green beans,
squash casserole, cranberry compote, plum pudding,
complimentary wine and more.
Tickets are $12 per person, and seating is limited to
100 people. HTES students are serving the meal, and there
will be live musical entertainment, as well as traditional
caroling.
And oh yes, volunteers are needed to help
decorate, prepare the meal and to help clean up!
The Fellowship Folkes hope that this quieter
environment, following on the success of the Taizé service,
will help prepare us for Advent and the soon to be coming
Feast of Christmas.
Purchase tickets on Sundays from Hank or Rob, or
call Rob at 750-0246, or at
ptownrob@comcast.net
for
reservations.
Taizé Worship Service Sunday, Dec. 1 at 6 pm
Parishioners and friends are invited to
participate in what has become an annual Holy Trinity
Advent Tradition- the Taizé service. The evening begins
at 6pm with a “drop-in” for wine & cheese at the Parish
Hall. The Service itself begins at 7 pm (in our newly
renovated Church), with dessert to follow.
Music Director Sharon Redding will lead the
congregation in the beautiful Taizé service of hymns,
psalms, prayers and reflective silence. The service itself
comes to us from the Intentional Spiritual Community at
Taizé, France. This service is one way we prepare for the
birth of our Lord.
In the words of philosopher Paul Ricśur, “What I need
to verify is that however radical evil may be, it is not as deep
as goodness.
“Now here in Taizé I see goodness breaking through, in the
community life of the brothers, in their calm and discreet
hospitality, and in the prayer. And for me, the liturgy is not
simply action; it is a form of thought. There is a hidden,
discreet theology in the liturgy that can be summed up in the
idea that “the law of prayer is the law of faith.” The Taizé
service at Holy Trinity is a spiritually moving and beautiful
experience. As Sharon puts it so well, “Advent is a perfect
time to refuel, to nourish yourself, and go out and mak e a
difference in the world. Isn't that what the Christian gospel is
all about?”
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to enter
into the Christmas season with a sense of
peace and a spirit of anticipation.
Advent- Christmas Worship Schedule
Please check your weekly bulletin.
The Taizé Service
:
Sunday, November 30th 6pm
wine & cheese; Service at 7pm, with dessert to follow.
Christmas Eve:
Early Carols & Eucharist service
will begin at 5 pm.
The late evening Carols & Eucharist, with the full
choir, will begin at 10:30pm
There will be no Services on Christmas Day, or any
special service for New Year’s Day.
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IT’S TIME TO ORDER POINSETTIAS
As is custom every year, the Altar
Guild is having its annual poinsettia
fundraiser. Beautiful plants are only $12
each, and will decorate the sanctuary
through Christmas.
Parishioners can then pick up their plants anytime
Sunday, December 28th. All of us warm to the rich glow of
the Church being covered in these beautiful plants during
our Christmas worship.
The best part of this? You get to take the poinsettias &
lilies home after the holiday. Both of these plants do very
well outdoors in our climate.
To purchase these plants, see your bulletin, or call Carol
Regna at 352-751-4088 or catch up with any of the members
at Church.
Altar Guild’s Hard Work Behind the Scenes
Sometimes, the most beautiful acts are those we
may not immediately notice. Such is the work of our
Altar Guild, which keeps our worship space in top shape
throughout the year. The Guild meets monthly at the
Church every 1st Saturday of the month at 9:30 am, with
a regular rotating schedule for preparing the Church
every Saturday morning.
Every week these women set the altar & worship space,
clean linens and ensure that all supplies are adequate and
up to date.
On Sat morning the team that is on duty sets the
altar. This consists of putting the right color vestments on,
filling the wine & water, counting out the correct amount of
wafers and preparing the Altar for the Eucharist. On Sunday
that team clears the altar, washes the utensils and soiled
linens are taken home to wash, iron and return the next
week. The Guild has 3 teams with a total of 14 members.
At
Easter, they weave the palms fronds into crosses and sell
lilies to help defray the cost of supplies. At Christmas the
Guild sells Poinsettias to decorate the church, also to help
pay for the cost of annual supplies.
On February 21st, the Guild will attend the annual
Central District Altar Guild meeting in Orlando, where Bishop
Howe will preside over the Eucharist. This is both an
informative and social get together.
The Guild would be happy to have new members. If
you’re interested in joining the Altar Guild, call Carol Regna
at 352-751-4088 or catch up with any of the members at
Church.
Dec. 13th Golf Scramble!
December’s Golf Scramble will
be held at Pennbrooke Fairways in
Leesburg. Tee-time will be at 9 am.
The greens fee is a bargain and
lunch is always fun! Sign
up Sunday on the bulletin
board in the Parish Hall. For more info & to
sign-up,
call Pat at
751-6487.
Donate Old Blankets to Help Shelter Animals
Wondering what to do with those old towels,
blankets and throw rugs? How about donating them to
local animal shelters? Just bring them to the Church &
place them in the marked bin in the Parish Hall. For
more information or to drop off large donations, call
Janet Dearcopp at 751-0239
Christmas Cards for Wounded Soldiers
When doing your Christmas cards this year, why
not take one and send it to a hospitalized soldier at
Walter Reed Hospital at the address below. This is part
of a nationwide effort; so if each of us sends one card,
think of how many cards these special people, who
have sacrificed so much, would receive!
A Recovering American Soldier
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001
Heritage Fund Completes One More Project!
Sunday November 29 marks the return of the
Congregation to the newly renovated floors in our
worship space. After emptying the church of the altar,
books, instruments and seating several weeks ago,
crafts-people got to
work stripping the old
growth pine floors,
inserting matching
lumber where needed,
and then sealing the
floor with several coats
of sealant.
Meanwhile, our
exterior painters are in
the process of
meticulously restoring
the church building,
including re-glazing the
many small stained
glass panes in the
windows.
The final colors will
reflect a more architectural flair. While the Church will
of course remain white, moldings and flourishes will be
painted a slate gray, while the windowpanes will be
painted white. The front door to the Church will be
painted a “crimson” red- reflecting the traditional
concept that a church is both a spiritual and physical
sanctuary under God’s protection.
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Parishioners Enjoy Weekend Workshop in NC
A group of Holy Trinity parishioners, including
Father Michael, attended the 2008 Lansing Lee
Conference at the Kanuga Conference Center in
Hendersonville, NC. The Conference sponsors had
promised the offerings to be stimulating and
challenging, and it proved to be exactly that.
The Conference, entitled “The Stories of Jesus’
Birth: Then and Now,” drew more than 240 people who
heard Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan discuss
their book, “The First Christmas,”
At the first lecture participants were privileged to
witness the world premiere of “Phos Hilaron: O
Resplendent Light”, a multimedia performance piece
featuring the Georgia Tech Chamber Choir, local
musicians, and readings from Borg and Crossan’s
book.
The second lecture dealt with the Christmas story
as told in the Gospel of Matthew and the third was
concerned with the story as told in the Gospel of Luke.
It was interesting and enlightening to hear these
writings compared with similar stories found in the
Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament.
The drive from The Villages ended in fog and rain,
but the following days offered clear skies, bright
sunshine and brisk, cold wind, so that participants
treasured the opportunities to sit in front of a blazing
fireplace, available in many of the buildings and cabins.
Fellowship is always enhanced during meal
times, and the group
enjoyed family style dining at
tables of eight. Some of the group met up with
individuals they had known in the past, and were glad
of an opportunity to do some catching up.
Contributed by Carol Wang
Parish to Investigate an Inter-Faith Alliance
Father Michael and the Vestry have agreed to
enter into an exploratory dialogue with other local
congregations to form an inter-faith alliance whose
main purpose is to present stimulating presentations
regarding issues of faith and community.
Members of Temple Shalom, The United Church of
Christ, Pilgrim’s Church, the Unitarian-Universalist
Fellowship and Lady Lake Presbyterian Church have
all expressed interest in the project.
Past presentations have included panels on
“Immigration Issues,” “The First Amendment,” “Racial
Relations in the U.S.” and “The Status of Women’s
Rights.” The churches act as sponsors for the space,
but individuals drive the topics and secure speakers.
Look for more information dealing with this stimulating
project!
The Nativity May Not Be All That Simple!
The entry of the Church into the season of
Advent and Christmas represents the annual,
millenniums old anchor of the expectation and birth of
God become human. But much scholarly studies are
fairly consistent in acknowledging that the stories of the
Virgin Birth may be later additions to the narrative of
the life of Christ Jesus, or even taken from earlier
religious myths.
The nativity narratives are found only in the
Gospels of Matthew and Luke- and even they differ
quite strongly in both the actual story narrative and also
in their theologies. Our culture, seemingly, has
embraced the Nativity of Luke as our preferred “stage”
for the Savior’s Birth, throwing in Matthew’s Magi for
good measure. We aren’t really interested in long
genealogies, or scriptural prophecies so much as we
find great “comfort and joy” in the miraculous story of
the humble birth of the King of Kings.
Mark, the earliest Gospel, does not even mention
the birth of Jesus or his formative years. In his earlier,
less developed theology, Mark begins his Gospel with
the story of Jesus’ adult ministry leading to His
crucifixion and resurrection.
John, the last written of the four Gospels, dates the
existence of Jesus back to the beginning of all creation,
one that has always been in Being with the Father.. In
John, Jesus is the LOGOS- the Word, existing for all
time as The Light, long before there was any human
interaction involved.
That leaves us with the Nativity narratives of
Matthew and Luke, and they are very different telling of
the story. Matthew was writing to better-educated
listeners. For him, it is important to give his listeners a
genealogical accounting of Jesus’ pedigree as a direct
descendent of Abraham, the Exodus, and King David.
Matthew also includes a story of the Holy Family’s
exodus into Egypt and their return to Israel, which
parallels the Hebrews exodus under Moses, but has no
basis in fact. Matthew includes the three Magi, giving
the infant Jesus “lordship” over earthly kingdoms as
was prophesized in the scriptures.
Luke the physician, on the other hand, is speaking
to the plain folks of the areas surrounding Jerusalem.
Luke has humble shepherds watching the Virgin birth,
rather than royal pilgrims. Luke’s nativity described
Jesus’’ birth through God and the angels who work
significant wonders and signs with Elizabeth and
elderly Zechariah, parents of John the Baptist, as well
as with Mary and Joseph, and Simeon.
Which ever way we view the Nativity narratives as
historical truth or as deep symbols of a transcendent
Truth, the arrival of the season, shining like a constant
star in the long darkness, can not only comfort us, but
also spur us on to greater knowledge of
the Gospel stories themselves.
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Around the Parish
Rev. E. Michael Rowell, Priest in Charge
352-288-3008
The Vestry
Donna Bott, Senior Warden 259 - 6087
Russell Casson, Junior Warden 787 - 0508
Hank Childs 430 – 1028
Frances Justison, Secretary 787 - 2186
Pauline Kepner 750 - 6160
Rob Michaels 750 - 0246
Don Pruitt 314 - 9895
Amy Rowell 288 – 3008
Jerry Wang 343 – 8874
Carol Wang, Treasurer 343 – 8874
Elaine Grae, Parish Administrator
Sharon Redding, Music Director
Bob Mower and David Snow, Sextons
Thomas Boyd, Headmaster, Holy Trinity School
Sunday Eucharist 8am & 10am
Sunday Forum at 9:15 a.m.
Holy Eucharist and Healing Wed. at 10 am
Office hours Monday - Thursday 8:30am – 1 pm
Fax: 352-787-8063
htecns@aol.com
www.holytrinityfp.com
December Birthdays
Rod Jones 12/02
Mair Evans 12/04
Madge Brown 12/10
Lindsey Justison 12/11
Candy Storey 12/17
Ruth Hughston 12/20
Patsy Tyler 12/22
Charlotte Bauer 12/31
Robert Limberg 12/22
Mary Sligh 12/29
Michael Witt 12/29
Parish Members in our Prayers
Lee Shawcross
Mary Childs
Sherry Banks
Carol Turner
Terry Colla
Patty Taylor
Lu Michaels
Barbara Witt
Dottie Heckters
John & Mary Torrey
Margaret Piper
Norman Turner
Sally Dover
Pat Casson
Prayers for Friends & Relatives
PJ – Iraq: grandson-in law of John Falconer
Thomas Banks - Iraq: Son of Terry & Sherry Banks
Paul & Jean Schultz- Parents of Donna Bott
Lewis Herman – Husband of Sara Herman
Arleen - Relative of Sara Herman
Kortney Scruggs – HTEC School student
Carol Cohan - Friend of Donna Bott
Chester Morton - Brother of Pauline Kepner
Emma Jean Conover - Sister of Pauline Kepner
Bonnie Provenchur - Neighbor of Pauline Kepner
Cathy Erdelyi - daughter of Jan & Anthony Cannella
Kyle Wanningan- Iraq: Grandson of Bev & Emil
Pignetti
Jean Yasner - Friend of Diane Donovan
Sandy Torre - Granddaughter of Frances Justison
December Anniversaries
Robert & Marilyn Limberg 12/06/80
Ted & Judy Bedell 12/21/57
Ellwyn & Patricia Roth 12/22/56
Richard & Beverly Langs 12/27/56
Lee & Charlotte Shawcross 12/28/57
Rod & Kathy Jones 12/30/ ?
Parker & Charlotte Bauer 12/31/ ?
Have a Wonderful and Safe Christmas Everyone!!
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December 2008
Sunday Monday Tuesday
Weds. Thursday Friday Saturday
Nov. 30
1st Advent
8 & 10 am
Eucharist
9:15 am
Forum
6pm-Wine
& Cheese
7
pm TAIZÉ
SERVICE
1
2
10am Bible
study on the
Square
3
10 Eucharist &
Healing
7pm-Choir
4
5
6
8:30 am Men’s
Prayer Group
9:30 am
Altar Guild
7
2nd Advent
8 & 10 am
Eucharist
9:15am
Forum
Dickens
Christmas
Dinner 5:30
8
9
10am Bible
study on the
Square
10
10 Eucharist &
Healing
7pm-Choir
11
6:30
Vestry
Meeting
12
13
9 am Golf
Scramble at
Pennbrooke
Call Pat at
751-6487
to confirm time
sign-up
14
3rd Advent
8 & 10 am
Eucharist
9:15 Forum
15
16
10am Bible
study on the
Square
17
10 Eucharist &
Healing
7pm-Choir
18
19
20
21
4th Advent
8 & 10 am
Eucharist
9:15 Forum
22
23
10am Bible
study on the
Square
24
No
Morning
Eucharist
Christmas
Eve
5pm
-
Carols &
Eucharist
10:30pm
Carols
& Eucharist
(with choir)
25
Christmas
Day
(no services)
26
27
28
8 & 10 am
Eucharist
9:15 Forum
Pick-up
Poinsettias
29
30
10am Bible
study on the
Square
31
10 Eucharist &
Healing
7pm-Choir
(no services)
Jan. 1
2009!
(no services)
2
3
8:30 am Men’s
Prayer Group
9:30 am
Altar Guild