Dear Friends,

Though there’s still a week of Advent left, our thoughts are turning towards Christmas!

This weekend is filled with activities, a blending of Advent waiting and longing and Christmas joy and celebration. Tonight, we are the starting point for the Ravenswood Light Up Nights: join us between 6:00-7:00pm for some music, a visit from Alderman Matt Martin, lighting of the Christmas tree, and a few Christmas carols before heading out to see the neighborhood lights. Tree lighting will happen at about 6:30pm.

Then on Sunday, clear your schedule! For the 9:00 and 11:00am services, come to church where we will begin in Advent but transition quickly to the back-in-person Christmas Pageant: “Sunday Morning Live”! This is the All Saints “must-see” event of the year! After services, please stay to help Green the Church to make it festive for the 12 days of Christmas. This is joyful work, but it requires many hands; we’ll play Christmas music and order pizza to sustain us in our decorating. Finally, our Advent Lessons and Carols is at 6:30pm with beautiful anthems and hymns, scripture and poetry; afterwards, stop by the rectory for a nibble and a glass of something nice!

Beloved, I know we all feel stretched by the busyness of the season, by the sadness of the world, but in a dangerous, sad, hurting world, in lives that feel stretched and pulled, what is more important than nurturing community, relishing joy, and deepening faith? This is the season when we pay special attention to God’s dreams of peace: a time when the lion lies down with the lamb, when an infant changes the world, siblings live in unity, and swords are beaten into plowshares. For only when we enter those dreams can we begin to live them into reality.

See you in church!

Faithfully, Suzanne+

Upcoming events at All Saints…

Friday, December 16 (TONIGHT!)

Light Up Nights in Ravenswood Kick-Off (6:30pm)

Wednesdays in Advent, December 21

Lectio Divina (7:00pm)

Sunday, December 18 - Advent IV

Christmas Pageant (9:00 and 11:00am)

Greening (12:15pm)

Lessons and Carols/Rectory Open House (6:30pm)

THIS SUNDAY:

The Return of the All Saints Christmas Pageant!

Rehearsals for the Fabulous “Sunday Morning Live” All Saints Christmas pageant

are currently underway and the cast is really excited to return to live performances even though the donkey baristas are striking over the unfair labor practices of their multinational conglomerate. How are Elizabeth and Mary supposed get their decaf lattes?

Don't miss your chance to be in the audience on December 18 at either the 9:00 or 11:00am service to see who unexpectedly steps in to help out!

Lessons & Carols & Rectory Open House Sunday, December 18 at 6:30 pm

At this service, we borrow from the great Festival of Lessons & Carols at King’s College, Cambridge, though we put our own All Saints spin on it as as we read lessons from scripture but also from poetry and hear and sing the great music of Advent and Christmas. If you can't join us in person, you can still experience it on our live stream.

This year, we'll follow our service with a Rectory Christmas Open House. Enter through the reading room and enjoy a drink and some light bites while sharing Christmas cheer with the All Saints community.

Greening the Church

Stick around after our 11:00am service on December 18 or just come over at 12:15 to help us green the church! Over a light lunch, we'll "spruce" up the place for the season!

TONIGHT!

From our friends at the Ravenswood Neighborhood Association:

Ravenswood Light Up Nights runs from Friday, December 16 through Sunday, December 18. It's the third annual free walking event for neighbors and visitors alike to enjoy our neighborhood and take in the beautiful decorations. Opening ceremonies at All Saints will include an official tree lighting, caroling, and an art project for kids on Friday, December 16 starting at 6:30pm.

Local establishments will be providing warming stations with cocoa and activities for kids and adults, and our business sponsors will be providing prizes to the winners of "Best in Glow" Anyone who decorates and gets on the map is eligible to enter.

Quiet your soul and deepen your understanding of the scripture we read in Advent as we gather to read and meditate on the promises of a coming Savior. Learn how to read scripture prayerfully—lectio divina means “sacred reading”—and connect with others in this season of waiting and preparation. 

We will gather one last time on December 21 at 7:00pm in the Parish Hall.

RSVP for the Lectio Divina series HERE.

New Neighbors in Need

Chicago is a destination for refugees from all over the world, especially Afghanistan, Ukraine, and now Venezuela by way of Texas. All of these folks are now are neighbors; in fact, the immigrants sent here from Texas as part of a political stunt were recently being housed in the Leone Field House in Rogers Park.

While the US State Department provides some assistance, most of it is provided by volunteers. Exodus World Service has asked All Saints to help our new neighbors get settled. Please go here to sign up to contribute.

All items should be new, so keep your eye out for great bargains as you do your holiday shopping. (Regifting is okay, as long as you didn't use the item first!) Annie Logue will set up a bin by the back stairs, or you can have items shipped to the church c/o Annie Logue. We're looking to have it all together by the middle of December. You can email her at [email protected] or text at 773-835-1059.

Basic Christianity:

Wednesdays, January 11, 18, 25, and February 1 at 7:00pm

Following Christ is about trusting in God’s presence in the world and in our lives in amazing ways. This class will look at the basic concepts of Christianity and what they mean for our lives: Creation, Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Life in Christ, and the end times. The Body of Christ. $20 for refreshments and materials. Scholarships available; talk to Suzanne.

Sign up HERE.

Read about all of the courses HERE.

Back to Basics is a series of courses that give us a foundation for the faith we live together at All Saints. It’s not indoctrination, but a chance to roll up our sleeves, learn, discuss, and apply the core pieces of who we are as Christians and Episcopalians. Classes are offered Wednesday evenings in the Parish Hall with light refreshments. There is a fee of $20 per person for each class to cover refreshments and class materials.

Considering Baptism, Re-affirming your Baptismal Vows, or Confirmation? These classes are for you!

These classes are important and as such we ask that you commit to attend all the sessions offered within each module. If you are unable to attend, you’ll have a chance again, as the courses will be offered in an ongoing rotation. 

We'll offer Basic Christianity in January, Basic Discipleship during Lent, Basic Anglicanism in Eastertide, and Basic Bible in the fall.

All Saints Book Club

The All Saints Book Club continues to meet on the second Thursday of the month at 7:30 PM on Zoom. If you are not a regular attendee, email Mike Burke at [email protected] for a meeting invite.

In addition, we are now supporting the book sanctuary initiative. We'll include at least one banned book each year in our reading plan starting in 2023. 

Our current schedule moving forward is:

January 12, 2023:

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson

Please consider hosting Coffee Hour!

Coffee Hour has settled into a rhythm again with all the incredible hosts we've had over the past several weeks. Thank you all! 

If you're interested in hosting, we've got a coffee hour guide to make your job easier. For the foreseeable future, we're unable to use the sanitizer, but have kept waste low by bringing tumblers from home and using compostable coffee cups.

Please click here to access the sign-up to host coffee hour during the months of January, February, and March. The clipboard will also be circulated this weekend.

Thank you all for making Coffee Hour more sustainable!

Children's Epiphany Celebration

Saturday, January 7

from 2:30-5:30pm 

Children ages 6-12 are invited to a celebration of Epiphany, the day when we remember the arrival of the Magi.

Beginning in the parish hall at 2:30, the afternoon will include reflections on prophecies of the coming Messiah as well as Gospel readings telling of the birth of Christ, with candle decorating, singing, and simple crafts to reflect on the season.  

During our time together, older children (9-12 years old) will spend time preparing for the celebration by creating a candlelit labyrinth of greenery on the parish hall floor to represent the journey of the Magi to Bethlehem.

Parents and others interested are invited to join the children at 4:45pm to take part in this celebration of the end of the Christmas season.

If your child would like to attend or participate, RSVP to Polly Tangora (773-878-7118 or [email protected]) by Wednesday, January 4 so that we can plan for materials.   We may not be able to accept reservations for more than 20 children, so please call to reserve as soon as possible. Friends and neighbors are welcome to join us. 

Pledges and giving

Thank you for your generosity to All Saints this year! In order for a gift to be credited to 2022, we need to receive it no later than end of day on Saturday, December 31. 

Questions? Contact Edward.

Please note that the All Saints office will be closed the week after Christmas. We'll all be back at our desks on Tuesday, January 3.

If you have a pastoral emergency, such as a death or hospitalization, contact Courtney at 312-318-3652.

Questions about your giving? Contact Edward.