Worship with us in-person or via livestream on Sundays at 10:00 a.m.

On Mondays at 9:00am, Megan Bartlett will lead a ten minute prayer, following the Morning Devotion service in the Book of Common Prayer. We lift up to God our personal and parish needs, as we search for a new Rector. 

Click here to join the Zoom meeting.

or use:

Meeting ID: 909 012 0129
Passcode: 1U029q 

If you have the BCP,  turn to page 137.

If you don't have a paper copy, this is the link to Morning Devotion as a PDF.. 

Lucia Fest is a colorful, musical pageant, featuring singers, a procession of children, and live candles representative of St. Lucia, the bearer of light during the dark Swedish winters. It is a unique opportunity to witness this authentic holiday tradition, performed in a 300-year-old church built by Swedish settlers. 

A Scandinavian Christmas bazaar - St. Eric's Fair - will be open before and after each showtime, with imported goods available for purchase.

BUY TICKETS HERE

PLEASE NOTE: No tickets will be mailed. Your email confirmation is your ticket. You may bring a print-out, or simply show the email on your phone at the door. There will be limited tickets available for cash purchase at the door for each show (if not sold out).

Join us for a refreshed version of our popular service. Don't worry, it isn't entirely different! Paul Fejko will still be performing on our beautiful Hook & Hastings organ. Keep an eye out for some interesting guest guitarists, a drum circle, poems, and discussions that we hope will inspire you throughout the rest of the week. The program will be led by our sextons, Jim & Paula Minacci, who want to create a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere that everyone will enjoy. 

PLEASE NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO EVENSONG ON
DEC 27 OR JAN 3

The Christmas offering envelopes are on the table in the back of the church. Feel free to take one to donate towards the Christmas flowers, and remember a loved one, or give thanksgiving. The envelopes should be placed in the offering baskets during the service. You may also donate online on our website under the heading “give”. Please label your donation as “Christmas offering” and list any names in the memo.

Click here to donate online.

Countdown the days to the birth of our Lord by taking a few minutes to read along with our daily Advent reflections. Thank you to all of our parishioners who contributed, and a big thank you to Jill Duink for all of your hard work putting the calendar together. 

December 4

• Isaiah 11:1-10
• Romans 15:4-13
• Matthew 3:1-12
• Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Collect: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

December 11

• Isaiah 35:1-10
• James 5:7-10
• Matthew 11:2-11
• Psalm 146:4-9

Collect: Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

December 18

• Isaiah 7:10-16
• Romans 1:1-7
• Matthew 1:18-25
• Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

Collect: Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

December 24

• Isaiah 9:2-7
• Titus 2:11-14
• Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
• Psalm 96

Collect: O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year. It is a season that invites us to slow down, to practice waiting with hope, peace, joy, and love in our hearts as we anticipate the birth of Jesus, just as Mary and Joseph did all those years ago. It is a kind of beginning that stands in complete contrast to the parties and fireworks we typically associate with the start of a new calendar year. And, I find Advent's invitation to stillness a welcome one, in the midst of all the preparing I am doing for Christmas and New Year. 

This month, I invite you to engage in some quieter prayer practices. Perhaps you choose to spend a few moments a day in stillness, just noticing what you see or hear. Maybe you close your eyes and practice following your breath as it flows in and out, a reminder of God's Spirit (in Greek, "pneuma", or "breath") with us. Or maybe you pause to read the excerpt from the Gloria Dei Advent Calendar booklet that is available at the back of the church. The Episcopal Church also has an Advent Calendar online at https://www.episcopalchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/Advent-2022-Calendar-English.pdf

Whatever your prayer practice this season, may it incorporate stillness, rest, and waiting with the hopeful expectation of Emmanuel, God With Us.

Peace,

Megan Bartlett
Prayer Ministry Coordinator

Join us again this year for the popular Sexton Sideshow's tribute to O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Doors open at 7:00pm, show begins at 8:00pm. Tickets $20.

Tickets will be available beginning December 5th on our website and on Instagram/sextonsideshow.

Would you like to make a child extra happy this Christmas?

Please consider selecting a child’s name from our angel tree and buying a special Christmas gift.

All of the children are from families in need at
Snyder Avenue Congregational church.

֍     Please select a name(s) from our tree
֍     Claim your child on the sign-up sheet
֍     Purchase and wrap a gift ($20-$25 suggested)
֍     Attach a card with your child’s name and your Christmas wishes
֍     Bring to the church on or before Sunday, December 18
֍     If you would like me to purchase your gift, please select a name and donate on or before Sunday, December 17

Ho Ho Ho    Santa Claus is coming to town!

The opening for a full-time rector is being advertised on both the DIOPA website as well as our own Gloria Dei website. 

These ads have gotten a lot of attention….several hundred people have seen them.  However, since we are approaching Advent, we are not anticipating any real response until after the first of the new year.  

Most rectors who are currently serving parishes but are contemplating a move in the future will not leave their congregation during this holy season but will wait until the beginning of next year to start their search.

Please keep praying that God will touch the heart of the best candidate for our new rector and direct their footsteps to Gloria Dei!

We will continue to keep you posted!

 7:00pm

Click here to join the Zoom

OR use:  Meeting ID: 856 1499 7430

                Passcode: 706722

OR cut and paste into browser:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85614997430?pwd=aXlCYUhieXRxeDYvNHRZZzBPeVNpZz09

OR dial in:  1 929 205 6099 

All the 2023 information can be found at this link:

Pilgrimage

Led by the Rt. Rev. Daniel Gutiérrez this pilgrimage through the Holy Land will encounter the Gospel in stone and flesh, visiting the sights that mark the story of our faith and the people who keep that faith alive in the Holy Land today, with special emphasis on the people and institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, with whom we have a covenant relationship.  You will come home changed, restored, and renewed in your faith.

You are invited to consider whether God is calling you on this journey.  The pilgrimage is $3,700 plus airfare, insurance, and incidentals.  Registration is now open, and our 35 slots are filling up.

To register, please contact the Rev. Canon Matthew Dayton-Welch, Canon for the Holy Land, at rector@stalbansnewtownsquare.org or via phone at (610) 356-0459.

Thank you all SO MUCH for donating food at Thanksgiving!
Our donations were given to Snyder Avenue Congregational Church.
We received a thank-you note:

Dear Friends,

We truly appreciate your kind generosity in providing food for the food pantry that serves South Philadelphia. Each week we serve about 180 people, many of whom are immigrants and refugees. Your gifts help us to continue to decrease the food insecurity of our neighbors. Thank you, friends at Gloria Dei!   

Sincerely, Lisa Grainge

Come find out which foods were hot … and which were not … at America’s first official World’s Fair held right here in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park in 1876.

Join us as author, lecturer and History-Making Productions’ popular guest Stephen Nepa, Ph.D., dishes on foods introduced at the fair.

He’ll begin 7 p.m., Thursday, January 12 at Historic Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church, 916 S. Swanson Street in the Queen Village section of Philadelphia.

Admission is $10, which includes a drink ticket for a beverage of your choice (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). Advance registration is required.

This program, will take place inside the church sanctuary, followed by a reception in Riverside Hall. For a modest donation, you can taste delicious gourmet desserts paired with wine, coffee or tea. 

You’ll discover what new products were introduced at this extraordinary fair held in Philadelphia, what people liked and what they didn’t, and which of those foods are still favorites today.

If you like food, you’ll love this very special program.

This program is hosted by the Historic Gloria Dei Preservation Corporation. 100% of the funds that we raise from this event will go toward the preservation of Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church and its graveyard.

Click here to buy tickets.