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December 2011
FROM THE INTERIM PASTOR Dear Friends, Each Advent we return to the beginning of our church year, preparing to welcome Christ into our hearts, again, anew, and afresh. We also acknowledge that we Christians are by nature a “waiting” people, a people who don’t just remember that we once welcomed Emmanuel, God-with-us, but that we await Christ’s coming again one day. What an amazing thing to know that God has already come and dwelt among us, that Jesus lived and breathed and walked the earth, teaching and preaching, healing and loving. How special it is to remember that miracle that occurred over 2,000 years ago in a stable. It is worth stopping and realizing how awesome, how breathtaking it is that God gave himself to us; it is so amazing that we must stop every year to commemorate and celebrate that fact, not just on the day itself, but in the four weeks leading up to the day and during the twelve days of Christmas. From the first day of Advent this year on November 27 through the last day of Christmas on January 5, 2012 we will spend six weeks, a little over ten percent of our year preparing for, meditating on, and celebrating the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. As always, there will be much competition for your attention in the next few weeks as the world leaps over Advent and directly into Christmas. Of course we should enjoy all that the secular world has to offer during this season--decorating and carols, parties and presents; all of that enriches our lives, bringing joy to the darkening days. But we should also set aside time in our own prayer and worship to ponder in our hearts, like Mary, all the mystery of this season. During this season, I hope you will make time to come to church services each week, watching as the light of the Advent wreath grows; rejoicing on Gaudete Sunday (Advent III) when the church is clothed in rose; listening to the story of the Annunciation on Advent IV, staying to help green the church, and then coming out for our beautiful service of Lessons and Carols at 4 PM at the Old School Baptist Meeting House. We will of course have our usual Christmas Eve services at 7:30 PM and 10 PM; our later service will feature the wonderful sound of our choir. We will continue the tradition of having one simple Eucharist at 10 AM on Christmas Day itself. These are holy days, friends, I wish you peace and blessings as the days darken but the light of Christ grows. Faithfully, Mother Suzanne +
CHRISTMAS ALTAR FLOWERS You may purchase Christmas altar flowers in memory of, or thanksgiving for, the ones you love. Envelopes to order flowers can be found in the church pews. Suggested donation is $25. ALTAR GUILD REMINDER The 4th Quarter Altar Guild Meeting and Annual Christmas Cleaning (this includes all teams) will be on Saturday, December 17 at 9:00 AM. GREENING OF THE CHURCH Join in the fun of readying our worship space for the Christmas holiday. Your help is needed after our 11:00 AM service on Sunday, December 18 to hang wreaths, wrap garlands and in every other way "green" the church with the traditional signs of the season. See you then! FESTIVAL OF LESSONS & CAROLS Our annual celebration of the traditional King's College Festival of Lessons & Carols will be held on Sunday, December 18 at 4:00 PM. We'll worship again this year at the historic Old School Baptist Meeting House on the village green across from the Warwick Village Hall (between High and Church Streets.) The choirs of Christ Church and Jubilate will lead us in song! Good-will donations for the Town of Warwick Historical Society will be welcomed. Please join us.
UPDATE ON THE TRANSITION After six arduous weeks of vetting thirty very viable candidates for our Search Committee, the Vestry and I have concluded this most difficult task with the election of nine committee members. They are: Edda Agosto, Fred Brohm, Paul Graf, Lisa Laico, Alice Meade, John Metzger, Ed Sattler, Ivy Tulin, and David Vogt. I strongly feel this group truly represents every crucial aspect of our parish. Please keep this committee in your prayers in the months ahead, as they embark on the very important assignment of finding and recommending our next Rector. Please keep in mind too, that this committee will be open at all times to the suggestions and input of every member of this congregation. Peace to all! Matthew Mumford Search Committee Chairman BUILDINGS & GROUNDS CLEAN UP — PART II On Saturday, December 10 we will host our BIG fall clean-up and inspect in and around the buildings for any items that need attention. Church members of ALL AGES are encouraged to come out and help button things down for the winter. We will rake the remaining leaves, clean gutters, haul trash, and have a great time working together. Please bring rakes and other yard tools if you have them. We’ll work from about 8 AM to Noon. We hope to see you there! A MESSAGE FROM THE ALTAR GUILD ON FLOWERS AND PRAYERS Included in this month’s issue of the Chi Rho is a chart for the upcoming year for flower and prayer lamp requests. Please consider this for your use. In the pews are envelopes to use for this purpose as well. The only way the Altar Guild gets any financial help for the flowers and supplies each week is through your generous donations. This is a great way to remember a birthday, a memorial, an anniversary or special occasion in your life. We deeply appreciate your help. Thank you. NEW YEAR’S DAY BRUNCH On Sunday, January 1, 2012, we will hold two services at 7:45 and 10:00 AM. We will celebrate the New Year with a brunch following the 10:00 service in the Parish Hall. The church will provide some breakfast items. Please feel free to bring some goodies and/or holiday leftovers to share. We hope you can join us!
TOY COLLECTION FOR THE WARWICK VALLEY ECUMENICAL COUNCIL’S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM This year we will have a toy collection on each of the Sundays in December. These new, unwrapped toys (please, NO BOOKS OR STUFFED ANIMALS) will be collected and delivered to the Ecumenical Council Toy Shop at the Warwick United Methodist Church. On December 22 when families go there to pick up their Christmas Dinner baskets, those with young children will be given coupons to use in the toy store. The parents get to ‘shop’ for their own children’s toys, paying $1-2 per item. We should donate toys that cost $10-20 retail. Katharine Caufield, Program Chair, can be reached at 845.986.0945 or kathcauf@warwick.net to answer any questions. Thank you! CHOIR MEMBERS SOUGHT We are very pleased to announce that Olivia Oleck, Emily Thompson, and Mike Weidbrauk have joined our choir. There are always openings for good voices. Contact director David Crone to set up an audition: see him in the choir loftthe 11am service, call 845.987.6729, or email dtcrone@optonline.net. NOTES FROM THE CHURCH HISTORIAN The preliminary clean-out work on the Dekay Cemetery is now completed. Liam Brown, Eagle Scout–in–Charge is now arranging for a retired stone mason to come in and give advice about the resetting of the stones at the corners of the walls and at the entrance. We did unearth the iron hinge to the gate, but so far, have not found the gate. Four more graves were discovered after the debris was cleared away. Their existence was hidden under piles of field stones and rubble. Research continues on the site’s people and history. Before the winter sets in, I would like to secure the site by having a team of us go out and mark the less easily identified graves with flags and literally poke holes around the site to discern if other graves are discernible. I anticipate this taking about an hour. Can anyone spare some time, perhaps on a Saturday? Please call the office at 845.986.3440 if you are interested and we’ll set a date. Even kids can do this work. Thanks in advance! Ivy Tulin
Christmas, John Betjeman The bells of waiting Advent ring, The Tortoise stove is lit again And lamp-oil light across the night Has caught the streaks of winter rain In many a stained-glass window sheen From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green. The holly in the windy hedge And round the Manor House the yew Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge, The altar, font and arch and pew, So that the villagers can say 'The church looks nice' on Christmas Day. Provincial Public Houses blaze, Corporation tramcars clang, On lighted tenements I gaze, Where paper decorations hang, And bunting in the red Town Hall Says 'Merry Christmas to you all'. And London shops on Christmas Eve Are strung with silver bells and flowers As hurrying clerks the City leave To pigeon-haunted classic towers, And marbled clouds go scudding by The many-steepled London sky. And girls in slacks remember Dad, And oafish louts remember Mum, And sleepless children's hearts are glad. And Christmas-morning bells say 'Come!' Even to shining ones who dwell Safe in the Dorchester Hotel. And is it true, This most tremendous tale of all, Seen in a stained-glass window's hue, A Baby in an ox's stall? The Maker of the stars and sea Become a Child on earth for me? And is it true? For if it is, No loving fingers tying strings Around those tissued fripperies, The sweet and silly Christmas things, Bath salts and inexpensive scent And hideous tie so kindly meant, No love that in a family dwells, No carolling in frosty air, Nor all the steeple-shaking bells Can with this single Truth compare - That God was man in Palestine And lives today in Bread and Wine. The origin of the candy cane goes back over 350 years, when candy-makers both professional and amateur were making hard sugar sticks. The original candy was straight and completely white in color. BIRTH OF THE CANDY CANE Around the seventeenth century, European Christians began to adopt the use of Christmas trees as part of their Christmas celebrations. They made special decorations for their trees from foods like cookies and sugar-stick candy. The first historical reference to the familiar cane shape goes back to 1670, when the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, bent the sugar-sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff. The all-white candy canes were given out to children during the long-winded nativity services. The clergymen's custom of handing out candy canes during Christmas services spread throughout Europe and later to America. The canes were still white, but sometimes the candy-makers would add sugar-roses to decorate the canes further. The first historical reference to the candy cane being in America goes back to 1847, when a German immigrant called August Imgard decorated the Christmas tree in his Wooster, Ohio home with candy canes. THE STRIPES About fifty years later the first red-and-white striped candy canes appeared. No one knows who exactly invented the stripes, but Christmas cards prior to the year 1900 showed only all-white candy canes. Christmas cards after 1900 showed illustrations of striped candy canes. Around the same time, candy-makers added peppermint and wintergreen flavors to their candy canes and those flavors then became the traditional favorites. SWEET SECRETS OF THE CANDY CANE There are many other legends and beliefs surrounding the humble candy cane. Many of them depict the candy cane as a secret symbol for Christianity used during the times when Christian were living under more oppressive circumstances. It was said that the cane was shaped like a "J" for Jesus. The red-and-white stripes represented Christ's blood and purity. The three red stripes symbolized the Holy Trinity. The hardness of the candy represented the Church's foundation on solid rock and the peppermint flavor represented the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament. There is no historical evidence to support these claims, quite the contrary, but they are lovely thoughts. Submitted by Priscilla Caskey Note: This column welcomes submissionsour readers. Please email Mark Arnowitz for details at arno485@gmail.com.
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