"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
St. Luke 21:27
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Fr. Paul led both our Holy Communion Service and our beautiful Lessons and Carols Service this past Sunday. Thank you Anderson and Fr. Mike for serving with Fr. Paul.
Please find Fr. Paul's sermon "The Son of Man comes in Power and Glory on a Cloud" at the following link:
The Holy Communion Service was followed by The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols which tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ through nine scripture readings interspersed with traditional hymns and carols of the Christmas Season. First used in England to start the healing process after the horrors of WWI, the Festival is Anglican in origin but now used by many churches. Thank you to all our readers including:
Fr. Paul, Hutch, and Lin
Phil, Benita, and Misty
Michele, Carol, and Rosalind!
After the Lessons and Carols Service, we went downstairs for lunch which included pot luck finger food, desserts, and Holiday Chicken & Corn Chowder! Thank you to everyone for all the delicious food!
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Lunch at Chop House and By the Fireside: Symphony of the Mountains Holiday Concert this past Saturday
This past Saturday St. Peter's members enjoyed lunch at The Chop House followed by The Symphony of the Mountains 'By The Fireside' Christmas Concert at the Toy F. Reid Eastman Employee Center in Kingsport. What a fantastic way to spend an afternoon with wonderful company, delicious food, and joyful music!
Pictures from The Chop House:
Pictures from the Concert:
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We will resume Morning Prayer next Sunday at 10:15 am with Fr. Mike leading the service!
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Fr. Paul will continue our Christian Education classes which focus on the weekly lessons and how they tie together next Sunday at 9:15. Please join us - a pot of coffee will be on!
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Our Choir is holding rehearsals at 10 am on Thursday upstairs in the sanctuary under Rose Marie's direction. All are welcome to join! Please see Fr. Paul or Rose Marie for more information.
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Fr. Paul and Benita cordially invite everyone to a Christmas Open House at their new home! Please join them for this time of fellowship, celebration, and fun on Saturday, December 21 starting at 2 pm. There will be light snacks, beverages, decorations, and of course, Christmas music! Please let Fr. Paul, Benita, or me know if you plan to come.
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Jessica is planning to meet with the Constable family late this week. We are helping in their recovery from Hurricane Helene. They lived beside the Nolichucky River in Chucky, TN. Hurrican Helene washed away everything including their home, cars, and possessions. They were recently gifted a used car from other sources.
This past Sunday we collected money to purchase a gift card for them to use for gas. Jessica plans to give that to the family during their meeting later this week.
For Christmas we are stuffing Stockings for the family! There is a sign up sheet downstairs if you would like to buy things to go in the stockings. Sign up for one family member and coordinate with the other parishioners who’ve signed up for that same person to fill the stocking. There are a couple of “likes" for each person to help give you ideas of things to purchase. Jessica shared this list of ideas for the stocking stuffers:
deoderant, socks, chapstick, books, nail polish, cotton balls, nail polish remover, shaving cream, razor, shower steamers, nail/manicure kit (nail clippers, file, tweezers, etc.), hand warmers, card games, pocket knife, multi-tool, snacks, lotion, face wash, body wash, loofah, hair brush, comb, flashlight, markers, sunglasses, jewelry, jewelry organizer, back scratcher
Please have all of your gifts at the church no later than Sunday December 22 so that Jessica has time to deliver them.
Thank you, Jessica for all your work and to everyone for your generous help to this family! _____________________
Many thanks to everyone who has volunteered to usher, work with the altar guild, serve at the altar, sing in the choir, and read Morning Prayer lessons! Also, an extra special thanks to Keith for agreeing to become our dispersing treasurer starting in 2025!
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APA News:
I have received the following information from the office of Bishop Jones:
Thank you so much for your prayers for Bishop Grundorf and Mary. Bishop Grundorf completed the first 2 rounds of chemotherapy and has his third round today, Friday, December 6. We ask that you please keep him in your prayers, especially during treatment days, which will continue every 3 weeks from today. He has tolerated the treatments well thus far, praise the Lord! Treatment effects, both positive and negative, are accumulative so we appreciate your continued prayers that all treatments go smoothly, are extremely effective, and that side effects are minor. We will keep you posted of any changes. We are looking forward to February when his last treatment is scheduled!
This is a reminder to please have your church treasurer send all monies collected for the India Students Scholarships to our APA Treasurer, Mr. Dan Wilder, no later than Monday, December 16. The mailing address is below or you can donate through our website under the donations tab and select “APA-Dalit Children.”
Although we collect monies throughout the year, we send all scholarship contributions annually each December, so any monies received after our donations are sent to India will be rolled over until the following December. Therefore, we appreciate everyone compiling their final collections and sending the monies right away. Details are attached in the letter from our Missionary Bishop for Global Partnerships, the Right Reverend David Haines. Global-Partnerships---Dalit-Children-Sponsorships-2024-w-newsletter-12-4-2024-8-34-45.pdf
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The upcoming food schedule is as follows:
Dec 15 Team 2
Dec 22 Team 3
Dec 29 Team 4
Jan. 5 Team 5
Jan. 12 potluck
Jan. 19 Team 1
Jan. 26 Team 2
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December Activities
Thur., Dec. 12 10 am Choir Practice
11 am Bible Study, Fr. Paul
Sun., Dec. 15 9:15 am Christian Education
10:15 am Morning Prayer
11 am Holy Communion
Fr. Paul, Fr. Mike, Anderson
Discretionary Fund
12:30 Team 2
Thur., Dec. 19 10 am Choir Practice
11 am Bible Study, Fr. Paul
Sun., Dec. 22 9:15 am Christian Education
10:15 am Morning Prayer
11 am Holy Communion
Fr. Paul, Fr. Mike, Mike, Levi
12:30 Team 3
Tues., Dec. 24 7 pm Christmas Eve Mass
Fr. Paul, Fr. Mike, Levi
Wed., Dec. 25 10 am Christmas Day Mass
Fr. Paul, Fr. Mike, Hutch
Thur., Dec. 26 10 am Choir Practice - cancelled
11 am Bible Study, Fr. Paul - cancelled
Sun., Dec. 29 9:15 am Christian Education
10:15 am Morning Prayer
11 am Holy Communion
Fr. Paul, Fr. Mike
12:30 Team 4