A Message from a Parishioner:
Looking for Love Underneath the Mistletoe
The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people.
Book of Common Prayer, The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage on page 423
It is almost time for a McConnell Family Tradition: Potato Man Bingo.
In our household we love us a silly Christmas romance movie, and even though it’s not even Advent, we’re looking forward to the first one of the season. But let’s be honest – the messages in these movies about love, families, and how we are supposed to form relationships can be kind of problematic. Bringing up girls, I sometimes worry about what the world is telling my daughters about who and how they must be as they (eventually and a long time away from now) grow into their own romantic relationships.
Many years ago a friend sent me a funny blog post about “Guidelines for Female Protagonists in Christmas Romance Movies” that included a generic outline for the plot. Our female protagonist is as follows:
- She must be a high-powered career woman living in a major metropolitan area.
- She must go home for Christmas and throw that high-powered career in the garbage.
- She has to have a serendipitous encounter with a generically good-looking young man from her past, who has the charisma of a potato in a Fair Isle sweater. We will call him Potato Man.
- The family farm/business must be failing.
- She needs to participate in a local holiday tradition.
- The oversimplified plan to save the family farm/business must involve her Potato Man.
- The plan must fail, and she must blame her strapping young Potato.
- Any new plans to save the family business must involve a call back to the aforementioned local holiday tradition.
- She must make a public apology to her Potato Man.
- She is required to wear a full-length gown to the Christmas ball. It will make no sense, but will be pretty.
- She leaves the entire successful life she’s built for herself and finds meaning in the family farm/business and her handsome Potato Man.
This is obviously a snarky parody of a Christmas romance movie, but there is a kernel of truth in it as well. To unveil any messages my kids might want to question for themselves, we started making up a game. Together, we named some of the funny tropes within Christmas romance movies and turned it into a bingo game. After many years, it includes things such as “Snow as Plot,” “Pretty Dress Moment,” “Parent is Dead,” and a personal favorite “Kooky but Wise Relative/Elder/Friend/Stranger.”
Love adorns our lives. It comes to us in friendships, in communities, in families of origin and families of creation, and in our romantic partnerships. It lights us up, it blings our darkness, and reminds us where we have been and who we want to be next. And within each of those ways in which we find love, we can find an image of God. Our loving, liberating, life-giving God, who is with us in the wrangling, in the hurts, the fights, and in the dizzying highs of confessing your love to your sweetheart alike.
As we strive to build happy and healthy relationships, let us remember that both love and God don’t always come to us in the big movie ways. There is no chance I will be wearing a floor-length ball gown this year! But God does not need love to be the grand gesture, the perfect gift, or the “Pretty Dress Moment.” God is not always in the winds that will split mountains, the earthquake or the lightning strike, but in the still, small voice, the little gestures, of our every day lives.
God and love adorn our lives in all the ways in which we express it to one another, in word, thought, and deed. So, look for love this season! Look with laughter and criticism! Look with expectations that will be thwarted and undermined! Because everywhere you look, God’s love is present in our lives now and forever.
Meghan McConnell
Connect With Us
Rector’s Office Drop-In Time
Rev. Jen has set her office drop-in day as Wednesday of each week from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for anyone who would like to stop in and visit. You are always invited to make an appointment for a time convenient for you. Mondays are her Sabbath day.
The First Sunday of Advent
In-Person Sunday Morning Worship Service, November 30, led by the Rev. Dr. Jennifer Oldstone-Moore,10:15 a.m. The altar flowers today are given by Joanne Kissinger to the glory of God and in honor of her daughter, Lisa Kissinger Kaplan.
You can stream the service via St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Greencastle, Indiana Facebook Page. Click on this link to view the Live Stream. We will start the Live Stream 5 minutes prior to the start of the service.
Click here for the service booklet for November 30.
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CCLI License #22315781
GIVING TREE
It is hard to believe that the holidays are here once again. As in years past St. Andrew’s will participate in the Giving Tree. Your generosity throughout the years has been outstanding. Putnam County children continue to benefit from your kind hearts. Each child receives three-four gifts; this includes toys and clothing.
Gifts should not be wrapped. The Giving Tree program provides the gifts to the parent/guardian so that he/she can gift them to the children. Wrapping paper and tape are also given to the families so that they can wrap the gifts at home.
The deadline to return gifts to me is December 7th. My hope is that as soon as you have your gifts, please call me to plan a drop-off at 709 Toddson Drive, Cell Phone: 765-720-0105 and Home Phone: 765-653-6734 or the gifts can be brought to church.
If you do not wish to shop, we are happy to shop for you. You can send your checks to me or send them to the church and Renee will reimburse me.
Use this link from Sign Up Genius. It will take you to St. Andrew’s page to sign up for a child and a gift you can choose to shop for this season.
Thank you for your open hearts.
Gwen Morris
The Latest Updates
CHRISTMAS FLOWER REMEMBRANCES
Flower forms will be included in your service sheet this Sunday. Please complete and return to the church office by Sunday, December 14. The greening of the church will take place on Sunday, December 21.
STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN
Our Stewardship Campaign is underway. While we look around us and think about why we love St. Andrews and the people here, let’s pray for our church, our rector, each other, and how we can support St. Andrew’s financially. Last year we had a wonderful campaign that was able to pay off our deficit; this year we are asking parishioners to raise their pledges for cost of living expenses that will help us meet our salary and maintenance needs. Pledge cards were due back November 25. As always, thank you so much for everything you do for our St. Andrew’s family!
ALTAR FLOWERS
The beautiful altar flowers today were given by Joanne Kissinger to the glory of God and in honor of her daughter, Lisa Kissinger Kaplan.
HEALING PRAYER
Most Sundays our intern Meghan will be offering anointing and healing prayer at Sunday services during communion. Meghan will set up a station in the narthex; meet there for general or specific prayers for healing.
TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY
The Book and Bible Group has begun again, meeting at 4:30 p.m. most Tuesday afternoons with Evening Prayer celebrated at 4:00 p.m. The next one will be Tuesday, December 2 at 4:30 p.m. You will find the Gospel passages and links to these commentaries on the St. Andrew’s website, last selection under the Connect tab entitled “Book and Bible Group”. All are welcome.
ALTAR FLOWER CALENDAR
An altar flower calendar is posted in Hamilton Hall. Sign up to sponsor the altar flowers to commemorate a birthday or anniversary, remember a loved one, or in thanksgiving for an important event. We ask a donation to help offset the cost of the altar flowers and other worship expenses. Be sure to tell the office your dedication so that it can be printed in the bulletin. Please make checks payable to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and in the memo field please put this information: Altar Flowers, person’s name, occasion, Sunday date you’d like for the flowers to be on the altar.
VESTRY MEETING MINUTES
If any of you are interested in what your Vestry is doing, there are two copies of each month’s minutes on the music stand in Hamilton Hall. Feel free to read and return!
SHOPPING LIST FOR NON-FOOD PANTRY
Please add razors, shaving cream, laundry detergent, spray cleaner, and toilet bowl cleaner to your shopping list for the NFP for the month of December. Meals and conversation in Hamilton Hall are going well. Patrons are now able to pick out items they most need. Your contributions help our budget go farther in helping meet the needs of those in Putnam County. The next Non-Food Pantry will be Saturday, December 20 from noon – 2:00 p.m. If you can help with this ministry in any way, please contact Harriet Moore or Carl Huffman.
KROGER COUPONS
If you have any unwanted Kroger coupons, please bring them to Hamilton Hall and place in the window ledge near the “Little Library”. We would like to make them available to our Non-Food Pantry recipients so that they might be able to take advantage of them to help extend their food budget. Thanks in advance!
FREE DAILY DEVOTIONAL
We have some large print Day by Day daily devotionals in the sanctuary that you are free to take home for your personal devotions–and if we know that people would like copies, we can order the right amount. Many of you may also appreciate the on-line version of Day to Day. Click here.
ON-GOING COVID PROTOCOL
We continue to respond to both our county’s current CDC designation and to the current variant. Masking is optional. Decisions on COVID policy have moved from the Reconvening Committee to Rev. Jen and the Wardens.
Prayers and Reflections for This Week
We have heard that the daily reflections and scripture readings provided during Lent were appreciated. The meditations are written by persons from Gobin UMC and Beech Grove UMC. They will be in the newsletter each week. Whether you enjoy these every day or as the Spirit moves you, may this resource continue to bring you spiritual food for the journey. Blessings!
Click here to view the readings and accompanying links.
Non-Food Pantry Latest
Saturday, December 20
• Noon to 2:00 p.m.
There will be a distribution in Hamilton Hall and light lunches will be served inside. We are grateful for all those who have worked so hard to obtain supplies for the Non-Food Pantry. Items are having to be purchased from a variety of sources making it much more expensive. Donations to help offset this extra cost will be gratefully accepted!
Top 3 Needed Items
Your prayers are asked for:
Haile Bane, grandson of Joanne Haymaker
Beth Benedix, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Jennifer Clarke, friend of Patti Harmless
Diane
Angela Evans
Katie Gleichman, relative of Jim & Cathryn Ensley
Tom Kaiser, friend of Jen+ & Chris
Lynda, friend of Sarah Finlay-Black
Warren Macy
Hansford Mann, friend of Joanne Haymaker
Teresa Masten, friend of Karen & Jim Mannon
Sally Motsch, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Mary Mountz
The family of Tom Mullen, father of Patti Harmless
Elizabeth & Natalie Sheffler, daughter & granddaughter of Page & Narda Cotton
Deloris Smith, friend of Emily Knuth
Skip Sutton
Sydney, friend of Joanne Haymaker
Larry Taylor, former member of St. Andrew’s
Donald Voermans, father of Nick Voermans
Dwight Ziegler, uncle of Stephanie Gurnon
Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: St. Timothy’s, Indianapolis: Mr. Tim Nickson, Sr. Warden.
Our companion dioceses: The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil: The Most Rev. Mauricio Jose Araujo De Andrade, Primate of Brazil and Bishop of Brasilia. The people and Diocese of Haiti and Saint Andre’s Parish and school in Mithon.
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Anglican Church of Australia.
Birthdays: Stanley Morris, December 2.
Anniversaries: None.
Special Events and Services
