Longest Night Service
The annual Longest Night Service took place on December 17th this year.

Advent Services featured lighting of candles in the Advent Wreath, as well as the traditional dolls representing prophets and the Nativity scene.

About 40 people of all ages enjoyed making Advent crafts and eating pizza at the annual Advent Craft Night on 12/9.

The Sunday forum and book group combined in December to read What Does God Think? Transgender People and The Bible, led by Plymouth's own Kris Campbell. (Photo from 11/26 intro forum.)

At the Get-A-Grip Christmas Party on 12/10, 22 people enjoyed a potluck supper and a gift exchange.

I know that art is perhaps the strongest means we have to recall the moment of God's touch, and to affirm the profound, private message of faith we are given when we touch God. I believe it is the artist's job to make pieces that are vehicles for the "moment of the touch."
- Composer Libby Larsen in her forward to the choral anthem “Lord, Before This Fleeting Season”

Last Thursday I presented a program on carols to the First Name Club following their monthly luncheon. It included select examples from both the Advent and Christmas seasons (yes, carols aren’t always about Christmas!) which we engaged in with stories of their creation, listened to, and even sung for good measure. What I came to viscerally be reminded of was the value of ritual for humanity. Specifically, the need of a song for every season.

Whether it be carols sung in December, Christmas music delivered through grocery store speakers while shopping, or the often impromptu performance of “Happy Birthday” to an unsuspecting recipient, we not only have a song for just about any season but we tend to insist upon its use. But sometimes, songs with messages that challenge us can be greeted hesitantly. Once we allow them in though, we can be changed. We can gain new perspective. We can even potentially have that "moment of the touch" in the realm of God.

I leave you with an encore sharing of the following Advent poem text set by composer Libby Larsen in her sublime anthem “Lord, Before This Fleeting Season.” It reminds us beautifully of perhaps what we don’t especially wish to hear this busy time of the year —the message of Advent. To slow down. To prepare our hearts for transformation in God. To embrace the promise of hope, peace, joy, and love. And perhaps even to have “a leaning to hear carols.”

Lord, before this fleeting season is upon us,
Let me remember to walk slowly.
Lord, bless my heart with Love and with quiet.
Give my heart a leaning to hear carols.
Grace our family with contentment,
And the peace that comes only from You.
Lord, help us to do less this busy season;
Go less; stay closer to home; kneel more.
May our hearts be Your heart.
May we simply, peacefully, celebrate You.*

-Mark

*“Simply Celebrate You — an Advent poem” by Mary Ann Jindra, Permission to print: Christian Copyright Solutions #11133

Advent is a glorious time of year when we anticipate the birth of Christ within us all by celebrating Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. And ironically, it has become a time within our congregation when we seem to get stuck in a December rut each year, trying to create a budget and realizing that we still have a sizable number of members who haven’t pledged. A number of folks in our congregation sense fear, anxiety, and doubt about our finances, and their angst can become contagious.  
 
We need a new advent, a new approach, a new calling, at Plymouth that will help us to appreciate the abundance God has entrusted to us. We need a new pattern for sharing God’s wealth that doesn’t give way to scarcity thinking and scrambling to gather late pledges and cobble a budget together.
 
Advent is a season of spiritual transformation. Two beloved stories of the season involve profound changes of heart that turn into action. After visits from three Christmas ghosts, Ebenezer Scrooge has a miraculous change. Scrooge is reborn as a kind, generous man. “His own heart laughed; and that was quite enough for him.”
 
In a more recent story of December transformation, Dr. Suess writes, “And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day.” Both Scrooge and the Grinch become happier in their transformed lives, and everyone around them is warmed by their newfound joy. That can happen for us, too!
 
Transformation is at the heart of the Christian journey. This is metanoia, a Greek word that Marcus Borg says means to “go beyond your own mind and your own heart.”
 
There is so much to celebrate about Plymouth. So many lives are touched every day by the mission and ministries of your church. Your giving means that pastoral visits happen, little kids have an amazing education program, teen programs are growing, worship on Sunday inspires not only those in the sanctuary, but those in our “virtual balcony” as well. It also means that you support UCC seminaries, homelessness prevention, lobbying for LGBTQ rights in Washington.
 
Our church community of faith needs our hands and hearts, and that means giving our time and our gifts. May each of us sense our hearts grow in this season, and may we as a congregation continue to be a blessing not only to ourselves, but to neighbors near and far.
 
Advent blessings!