STAYING CONNECTED TO YOUR CHURCH COMMUNITY
Thursday, December 23, 2021
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ATTEND WORSHIP IF YOU ARE:
- FEELING WELL
- VACCINATED & BOOSTED
- WEARING A MASK
- SOCIALLY DISTANCED
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CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES
December 24, 2021
Outdoor Family Worship at 3:30 pm
There will be one interactive family pageant service at 3:30 pm on Christmas Eve which will be held outdoors, around the Christmas Tree near the Chapel. John Finney will play the organ, there will be hot chocolate, special candles and more! Even though the service will be outdoors, please mask! This service will have American sign language.
Candlelight Worship at 6:00 & 8:30 pm
Handbells will play at the 6:00 pm service only.
Worship Leaders:
Rev. Dr. Jill Edens, Rev. Richard Edens, Rev. Judy Swahnberg
Rev. Anne Marie Holloway, John Finney, Director of Music
Sally Tomasetti, Children's Ministry Director
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A “PAUSE” IN RE-OPENING:
VIRTUAL WORSHIP ONLY
December 26 and January 2
The Hills Church will “pause” our reopening and worship by holding virtual services on the two Sundays after Christmas (December 26 and January 2). The pause will give our church leadership time to assess the risk posed by the omicron variant. If all is well, we will resume in-person worship and church school on January 9. If the variant is still spiking, we will have time to make alternate plans. Please check your Events e-newsletters as we enter 2022 for updates.
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Our Christmas story is about hope spoken to silenced people. As Hope arrives in the Flesh, silenced people are no longer discounted and alone.
When the darkness becomes overwhelming, and silence becomes deafening: Have faith! Have trust! This is the moment, we trust, when the Word takes flesh, when God will be born like a child to migrants in a stable. Have hope!
As recipients of hope, we are called to be hope. Our giving reflects the image of God speaking into the silence and to the silenced, “I am with you always.”
This Christmas, the Christian Service Support Board of the Hills Church has designated the Christmas Offering for Honduras Hope. Honduras Hope’s mission is to empower people silenced economically and politically in rural Honduras to create stronger and more self-sufficient communities with educational opportunities. Unfortunately, Honduras is one of the poorest and most violent societies in the Americas. Climate change has adversely affected many small coffee growers, which in turn has deepened its economic distress.
Please write your check to Hills Church (or WHCC) with “Christmas Offering” on the memo line.
The Hills Church has worked with Honduras Hope in the past and has sent people to serve alongside Hondurans. Currently we are advised against travelling to Honduras, but with partners already in Honduras, we can send our gifts breaking the silence and equipping the silenced of Honduras with “the dawn of redeeming grace.”
Please join us in singing Silent Night and may the Hope become flesh in your life this Christmas.
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Christmas Offering: Honduras Hope
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A Thank You Note from Honduras Hope:
Dear Wellesley Hills Christian Support Board and Dr. Wilkinson,
How wonderful of you to donate $7,000 to Honduras Hope. We appreciate all of your members' support in so many ways. Our programs are progressing well. We have a very competent in-country co-ordinator, Cesar Rivas. Thank you for giving so many folks hope out of their despair.
Blessings Always, Bill Briggs, Coordinator
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Assistance Through the UCC to Those affected by the Tornados
Last week's tornadoes were devastating. You can contribute towards recovery through the Severe Storms 2021 Fund at UCC Disaster Relief. You may contribute online by clicking on Donate now! If you send a check: make it to the United Church of Christ and write Severe Storms 2021 in the memo line. It may be mailed to United Church of Christ Disaster Relief, PO BOX 71957, Cleveland, Ohio 44194.
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TRACES OF THE TRADE: A Story from the Deep North
A Sacred Conversation on Race
Wednesday, January 19, 7:00 pm (Zoom)
Talking about race in this country can be difficult as conversations on race are dynamic and always changing. The conversation in 1954 with Brown vs the Board of Education is a different conversation from the one during the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the election of the first Black President in 2008 or the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 or the killing of George Floyd in 2020 or the stalled John Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2021. Our purpose with this conversation on Wednesday evening, January 19, is to better equip ourselves for engaging in these larger conversations.
Slavery has been described as our country’s “origin sin,” so to have a dialogue seeking reconciliation and healing will inevitably journey through the legacy of slavery and the traces of that heritage to this day.
We will watch and discuss the PBS documentary, Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North as it explores the legacy of the DeWolf family, a prominent slave trading family in Rhode Island from 1769 to 1820 and follows 10 family members as they retrace the triangle trade from Bristol, RI, to sugar plantations in Cuba, to Ghana where enslaved people were bought. Thus, the viewer sees both the history of this nation’s complicity in enslaving people and the pain of talking within a family of the slave traders’ descendants about its implications.
Our plan is to watch the one-hour documentary together on a Zoom shared screen beginning at 7pm and then engage in a conversation beginning at 8pm. James DeWolf Perry will join in our 8pm conversation. We will conclude before 9pm.
James DeWolf Perry was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as the principal historical consultant for this documentary. After the release of the film, James cofounded the Tracing Center and served for several years as its executive director. He now leads many public programs on racial healing and equity, as well as professional workshops for educators and public history professionals. James is also the co-editor of Interpreting Slavery at Museums and Historic Sites which is aimed at improving the interpretation of slavery and race in our nation’s history. He serves on the board of directors of the Center for Reconciliation in Providence, RI.
Our goal is to learn more about our own history and how to have a purposeful conversation for racial justice, healing, and reconciliation. For more information, contact the church office or call 781-235-4424, or Rev. Richard Edens, Interim Co-Senior Minister.
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“As people of faith and followers of Jesus, filled with love, we seek a just world for all.”
Racial Justice Working Group Mission Statement
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Prayer for Justice
Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it:
a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor;
a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them;
a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect;
a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
Give us the inspiration and courage to build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Author Unknown
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Hills Church Weekly Calendar |
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December 23
10:00 am
5:30 pm
December 24
3:30 pm
6:00 pm
7:30 pm
8:30 pm
December 25
December 26
10:00 am
11:30 am
4:00 pm
6:30 pm
6:30 pm
7:00 pm
7:30 pm
December 27
2:00 pm
December 28
1:45 pm
December 29
1:00 pm
2:00 pm
8:00 pm
December 30
10:00 am
5:30 pm
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THURSDAY
Staff Meeting (Reception Room)
New Beginnings (AR, K, RR, L)
FRIDAY - Christmas Eve
Family Service w/ASL (outdoors by the tree)
Christmas Lessons & Carols (Sanctuary)
AA (Upper Room)
Christmas Lessons & Carols (Sanctuary)
SATURDAY - Christmas Day - Church Closed
SUNDAY - Epiphany - LIVESTREAM ONLY
Worship Service (Sanctuary)
Baptism (Sanctuary)
Handbell Practice (Bell Room)
Boy Scouts (Assembly Room)
Youth Cafe (Upper Room)
Youth Conversation Circles (Upper Room)
AA Meeting (Board Room)
MONDAY
Food Pantry (onsite)
TUESDAY
Food Pantry (Pantry)
WEDNESDAY
Food Pantry (pantry)
Confirmation Class (Upper Room)
Chancel Choir (Sanctuary)
THURSDAY
Staff Meeting (Reception Room)
New Beginnings (AR, K, RR, L)
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"Events at the Hills" Newsletter Publications
Need to spread the word about an activity or event?
ARTICLES DUE MONDAY BY 5:00 PM
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