December 3, 2020 Dear Friends in Christ: Like many of you, I follow closely the Governor's weekly updates and the color-coded system. Since I send these weekly emails in the morning, they go out prior to his Thursday press conferences (when the map is updated each week). Stark County, along with 11 other counties, reached the metrics for turning purple this week, if things did not improve. Since all indicators are that conditions have in fact worsened in Stark County, it seems likely we will turn purple this afternoon. If this does happen, we will suspend all in-person activities until our area returns to red or lower. (You can find more information at this LINK.) Should we need to close the building to in-person activities, I will send a follow-up email this afternoon. On to the updates . . .

WORSHIP Next week, we have five services--or three services, depending upon what happens at 2pm today. You can find this week's bulletin insert HERE. Sunday Services 12/6 Special Guest Appearance! 8:00am Holy Eucharist Rite I, including distribution of bread, for those who wish to partake. Please remember: everyone  must  wear a mask, so please bring your own. All must enter through the parking lot doors, and provide contact information. 10:00 am During the Advent season, we will stream a Rite II service of Holy Eucharist, using Choirmaster Andrew Bolden's "Third Street Mass," which can be found HERE. This week's service outline is HERE, and hymns are HERE. This service will only be available online, due to restrictions against singing together in person. Tuesday 12/8 7pm:  We will stream The Great Litany and sung Compline at 7pm, on Facebook and at our website. You can find those programs HERE and HERE. Wednesday 12/9 12:30pm: Rite II Holy Eucharist. Though we are unable to offer anointing for healing due to social distance restrictions, we will have distribution of bread for those who wish to partake. (Restrictions and guidelines are the same as Sunday 8am service.) Thursday 12/10 7pm: Our weekly service, based on the Taize' model. You can tune in at 7pm, on Facebook and at our website. You can find an outline of the service HERE. More information on all our services can be found at the Calendar page of our website, and all streamed services are then uploaded to our youtube  page.

CHRISTMAS OUTREACH We get a lot of calls from people asking if we can help them with Christmas gifts for their kids. We always tell them that we only sponsor people through the Salvation Army (which ensures that everything is on the up and up). And this year, thanks to Ann Higgins, we have arranged to sponsor five families. Ann has the list of what to buy for each child, and I hope you will consider pitching in with some safe shopping to bring some Christmas joy to our neighbors. Also, we still have a few half-hour slots available for bell ringing at Buehler's on the west side. Please give Ann a call to find out more. If you don't have her number, call the church office and we can hook you up.

OFFERING ENVELOPES Our new offering envelopes arrived last week. We have done away with numbers on the envelopes, because we used to have to order twice as many as we actually needed, and the numbers aren't really useful anymore. We can mail envelopes out to those who would like them, or you can stop by church and pick them up. To have us mail them to you, please drop an e-mail to Candy by clicking HERE.

RESERVATIONS FOR CHRISTMAS EVE & ORGAN RECITALS Provided we can safely gather in person, you can make reservations for our Christmas Eve 7pm service, and our weekly Advent Organ Recitals at THIS LINK. (Or, you can call the church office and we can reserve seats for you.) We won't turn you away as long as we have room, but those making reservations will get top priority, given our limited seating. Our guest performers for the organ recitals will be 12/9 Mr. Jay Spencer, 12/16 Mr. Loren Veigel, and 12/23 Mr. Levi Muriuki. Again, reservations can be made HERE. You can see Dr. Bob Morrison's recital from yesterday at our youtube channel HERE.

BIRTHDAYS and ANNIVERSARIES Celebrating birthdays this week are Debbie Coltrin (12/6), Paul Doxsee (12/7), and Sarah Douglas (12/11). No anniversaries this week that I am aware of. Be sure to send happy thoughts and good wishes to all who celebrate this week!

CHRISTMAS POINSETTIAS The ECW is once again offering the opportunity for you to purchase poinsettias during the Christmas season (which you'll recall begins at sundown on Dec. 24th and lasts for 12 days). If you would like to purchase any as memorials or dedications, you can find the order form by clicking HERE. Or, you can call the office and we can take you order over the phone.

WEEKLY PUZZLE One of the goals of these weekly puzzles is for you to have some experience of being inside the building during times when we can't gather as we usually do. With that in mind, I send you this.  You will find the puzzle by clicking HERE. You can choose your background color, number of puzzle pieces, and even set it to display just the edge pieces. Plus, you get a very affirming crowd reaction once you have completed it!

PRAYERS REQUESTED Please keep these friends and parishioners in your prayers. David Wigginton, Rachel Sanchez, Anne Smith, Bob Meyer, Chris Lane, Judy Wigginton, Priya Kurian, Chuck Tilley, Michael Flamm, Bob Long, Chester Brumbaugh, Stormi, Jeff Frank, Eve, Shari, JoAnn Ely, Rick & Etta Trimpi, Charlene Lochland, Dan, and all those affected by COVID 19. And we pray for the repose of the soul of Don Merrill

ONWARD This has been a l-o-n-g year. We've missed a lot of milestones in people's lives. We've missed our weekly gatherings here at church. We've lost some parishioners and been unable to celebrate their lives the way we wanted to. And still, it all just keeps going. I hope that you are able to keep your chin up, and to find glimpses of love and beauty in your daily routines. Please remember, God loves you and will never forsake you. And your church family loves you, and looks forward to hugging you, and sharing a meal together. Till then, be safe, know you are loved, and enjoy this wonderful drawing from our very own Mackenzie! Faithfully, Fr. George