ADVENT WREATH MAKING

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 24

After the 10am service

Advent wreath frames will be available. If you already have a wreath frame and want to join in decorating, please bring your wreath frame to church with you.

A little note about Advent wreathes: Advent wreaths are circular, representing God’s infinite love, and are usually made of evergreen leaves, which “represent the hope of eternal life brought by Jesus Christ.” Within the Advent wreath are candles that generally represent the four weeks of the Advent season as well as the light of God coming into the world through the birth of Jesus Christ; although each of the candles has its own significance as well.

Individually, the candles specifically symbolize the Christian concepts of Hope (week one), Peace (week two), Joy (week three) and Love (week four)  Many Advent wreaths also have a white candle in the centre to symbolize the arrival of Christmastide, sometimes known as the Christ candle. It is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The Christ candle is white because this is the traditional festal color in the Western Church.

The four surrounding Advent candles are violet and rose, corresponding with the colors of the liturgical vestments for the Sundays of Advent. Violet is the traditional color of penitential seasons. (Blue is also a popular alternative color for both Advent vestments and Advent candles) One interpretation holds that blue means hope and waiting, which aligns with the seasonal meaning of Advent. Rose is the liturgical color for the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word meaning “to rejoice”—also from the first line of the traditional entrance prayer (called the Introit) for the third Sunday of Advent; it is a pause from the penitential spirit of Advent. As such, the third candle, representing joy, is often a different color from the other three.

The Search Committee, appointed by the Vestry, is composed of a representative group of Parishioners of varying ages, with different gifts, and skills.

The Search Committee has primary responsibility for guiding the Parish through a process of prayerful reflection on the Parish Mission and its hopes for this next stage of its life; for consulting broadly during this process; for composing a realistic and clear Parish Profile; and for conducting the search itself – in all its stages, except the final step – once the Parish Profile and other elements of the Rector position description have been posted.

According to the Canons of the Episcopal Church and the practices of our Diocese, no Clergy may serve on the Search Committee, and the Wardens are not allowed to serve, since their energies are devoted to keeping the church going during the interim period.

One or two members of the Vestry serve on the Search Committee, and serve as a liaison to the Vestry. In the very final step, the Search Committee presents their chosen Candidate to the Vestry, which, with the approval of the Bishop, issues the call to that person on behalf of the parish.

The Search Committee is to be fully transparent and communicate clearly and regularly with the Parish at large, and with the Interim in all the stages up to the posting of the Rector position description. From then onward, the Search Committee is to observe full confidentiality, as the search itself proceeds.

The Rector search process, while carefully organized and attentive to many organizational details, differs from a corporate search process in that it is conducted at all times in a spirit of prayer and in the perspective of the question “What is God’s call to us as a Parish, at this time, in this place?” It is also meant to be a time of spiritual and communal growth for us, as a Congregation and a chance for us to strengthen the Laity of the parish.

We are deeply grateful to the nine people who have agreed to serve on the Search Committee. You will be hearing from them in the coming weeks and months in more detail, step by step.

by Alice Krapf

I wasn’t surprised that a reflection on light, on grace and blessings and my life at St John’s led me to music.  Here are a few stories. 

In the early 90’s, I was at a parents’ potluck at my son’s child care center when one of the mothers came by to chat.  She had seen my photo in the Patriot’s display from a St John’s Harvest Fair.  “Do you go to that church?”  Yes.  “Do they have a choir?”  Well, they could!  I had just met Louise Ambler Osborn.  With a few more wonderful voices, and the hiring of Douglas Witte, St John’s current choir was formed.

One day in the late 90’s, David Hermanns, who sang in the choir, and Jim Quale (at some point, a Senior Warden, who didn’t sing but loved music) asked me whether they could start a capital campaign to buy a new organ for St John’s.  I can’t remember why they asked me: I might have been on the Vestry, or maybe it was just that I was the main layperson worrying about the lake that appeared in the middle aisle just under the gallery every time it rained.  We hadn’t quite come up with a plan to deal with that at the time, but I think David and Jim were worried that fund raising for an organ might seem frivolous in the face of a major breach in the roof.  As a trained budget analyst, I certainly should have discouraged them.  But these two guys had a plan and an abundance of enthusiasm and the Spirit was with them.  So the answer was obvious.  Go for it.

They found an organ needing rehabilitation, which had been built around 1873, the time of the Victorian rehabilitation of St John’s.  At the big celebration upon the installation of the organ, the program noted that the organ fit into the alcove in the chancel with less than an inch clearance, and had clearly been made for St John’s.  It just spent the first 125 years of its life in Connecticut.

My own light? I am still amazed that I get to sing in the choir.  The first time I sung Tallis I walked on air with trepidation and joy from Thursday rehearsal to Sunday service.  I get to sing prayers and pray by singing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to study music, to develop what voice I have, to sing with others and to know that this music enhances our worship. 

These are small stories of grace and blessings that have occurred over my 30 plus years at St John’s.  From the chance meeting with a priest on a bicycle (who invited us to St John’s) to the day Lyn Brakeman broached the idea that I should think about EfM (Education for Ministry), I’ve come to expect that grace filled moments happen at St John’s. What very often seems to be an insurmountable problem or a loss, somehow gets turned into a blessing, perhaps many blessings.  Trust and hope flourish in this parish, and I am better able to trust and hope because of what I’ve experienced here.

Note:  Each week during our annual stewardship campaign, a parishioner will offer a reflection that will be printed and handed out on Sunday and reprinted in News and Notes for the following Thursday’s email.

Saint John’s Associate Music Director, Jane Struss, will be teaching a course about Advent hymns every Sunday beginning this coming Sunday, November 10th, and continuing through Sunday, December 1st. 

We will sing hymns and delve into the history and meaning of their texts.  The emphasis will be on the special spirituality of the Advent season, and looking at the way preparing for the birth of Christ is represented in hymns. 

Come after coffee hour and join Jane in the church!

All ministries other than those reserved to ordained leadership, (such as deciding liturgy, administering the sacraments, etc.). are understood as mutual ministries of the Laity of the parish and the Interim Priest. The Vestry shall lead the Laity to support and cooperate with the Interim Priest in pursuit of parish goals and in the performance of the focus point during the Interim Period.

The Vestry is legal agent for the parish in all matters concerning its corporate property and in its relationship with the Interim Priest. The Vestry will see that the Interim Priest is properly supported, personally and organizationally, as well as in the Vestry’s financial obligations to the Interim Priest.+

Responsibilities that move from the Rector to the Wardens in the Interim Period.

Canonically, (meaning by Church Law), a Rector has certain responsibilities; when a Rector leaves, some of those responsibilities then move to the Wardens of the Parish. A quick rule of thumb is that the Wardens have decision-making authority over those areas not reserved for ordained persons, and which have consequences which may continue after the Interim Period. When a new Rector is in place, these then become the province of the new Rector. Some examples include:

 1. Permission for use of the building 

 2. Leading and setting the agenda for the Vestry

 3. Hiring and firing of employees

The primary focus of the Interim Period.

The Interim Period is seen as prime time for renewal, re-energizing the parish in its life and mission. Beyond maintaining effective ministry during this period, the Vestry and the Interim Priest shall work together to prepare for healthy transition to the next Rectorship.

Specific tasks to be addressed include:

1) Heritage: Coming to terms with the history of the congregation and its relationships with previous clergy.

2) Mission: Discovering the congregation’s special identity and core values, what it dreams of being, and doing apart from previous clergy leadership; short-term tactical plans can be worked out here.

3) Leadership: Dealing with shifts in leadership roles that naturally evolve in times of transition, allowing new leaders to come to the fore constructively. New leaders might emerge, while seasoned ones may re-commit or decide to refocus their gifts.

4) Connections: Renewing and reworking relationships with the Diocese and the community, so that each may be a more effective resource and support to the other. Time to re-asses old links and to consider new ones.

5) Future: Building commitment to the leadership of the new rector in order to be prepared to move into the future with openness to new possibilities – developing congregational and Pastoral Profiles.+

Next week: The Role of the Search Committee in the Interim Period.

+From “Covenant of Ministry for Interim Priest – Letter of Agreement”

Diocese of Massachusetts, signed by Wardens and Priest, approved by Vestry