Dear People of Gloria Dei – Happy New Year’s Eve!

Before you worry that I overindulged during the Thanksgiving holiday, remember that we have come to the end of the Church year. This weekend, we will launch into a new year with the first Sunday of Advent, and in just a few short weeks we will be gathering to celebrate Christmas. As you’ll see in the newsletter below, these weeks leading up to Christmas will be full ones, with lots of opportunities to serve and to celebrate. But, amid all that busy-ness, we can sometimes find ourselves growing weary or disoriented.

This potential for weariness and disorientation is part of why I love the church year. It is a tool that helps us to orient ourselves to Scripture and to the world around us. Its patterns help us to remember the key elements of the Christian story, and to consider how they shape our lives today. By observing the church calendar, we are empowered to look beyond the normal confines of time – which makes relentless demands on our time and energy and resources – and to focus instead on God’s ultimate purpose for our lives and our world.

The season of Advent is particularly helpful in this regard, for it is a season of waiting and preparation. The word Advent means “arrival,” and during this season we prepare to celebrate the arrival of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. But we are not just remembering something that happened long ago. We are also preparing ourselves for the second arrival of Jesus, looking ahead to the day when he will return in glory to finish his work of healing and redemption. Advent helps us to remember that we live between these two arrivals, in a time when we can see the hope of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection, but when we are also waiting for that hope to be fully realized. Advent calls us to live with hope in a world that is sometimes dark, to trust that God is with us even in the difficult times.

So, I hope you will get involved in all the wonderful things going on at Gloria Dei throughout the month of December. The various programs and events are opportunities to practice hope, and to celebrate God’s presence with us. But, in the midst of all the good things that are going on, take time also for silence and wonder. Remember that you are wrapped up in the midst of God’s great story of redemption, and prepare yourself for the next arrival of Jesus.

The ordination of our new rector, Rev. Christopher Micklewright, will take place on Saturday, December 2. The service begins at 10:00am in the church, with a luncheon following in Riverside Hall.

Lucia Fest is a colorful, musical pageant, featuring singers and a procession of children wearing crowns of 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.

Shows are Saturday & Sunday 2:00, 3:30, 5:00.

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. 

Over the next several weeks, we will be collecting Christmas gifts for refugee children at the Snyder Avenue Baptist Church. There is a small Christmas tree in the back of the church, decorated with tags with children's names. You are invited to take a name and pick out an appropriate gift. Please return all gifts by Sunday, December 17. You can wrap your gift or join us in wrapping gifts together during fellowship on the 17th.

If you will not be at Gloria Dei in person, but would like to participate, you can send a check to the church office:
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church
916 S. Swanson Street
Philadelphia, PA  19147
or donate on the website (www.old-swedes.org) under the heading "Give". Please label your donation as "Angel Tree".

Sexton Sideshow presents a tribute to O Brother, Where Art Thou? This is the 5th year for this wildly popular show. Don't miss out!

Doors open at 7pm, show begins at 8pm.

Tickets $20 online until December 13th, then at the door only.

Every other Sunday, Rev. Chris Micklewright and Carol Jenkins will be leading an adventure on church grounds for kids of all ages. These adventures, which will include things like climbing the bell tower, and exploring the graveyard, are a chance to learn about the life of the church, to have some fun, and to talk about faith. Immediately following the service, kids are invited to grab a snack and gather in Riverside Hall while Rev. Chris gets ready, and we will plan to be back at Riverside Hall before noon. Parents are welcome to come along if that helps your kids feel more comfortable.

 7:00pm

Click here to join the Zoom

OR use:  Meeting ID: 856 1499 7430

                Passcode: 706722

OR dial in:  1 929 205 6099 

*** 10 Minutes of Prayer will have its last meeting on December 18th. Thank you, Megan, for your service. ***

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, and pray for our new rector, Dr. Christopher Micklewright.

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.. 

December 24 - 10:00am, Fourth Sunday of Advent.

December 24 - 5:00pm, Christmas Eve service with festal music & potluck following in the hall.

December 25 - No service, Christmas Day.

December 26 & January 2 - No Evensong.

Would you be interested in brainstorming, discussing, planning and participating in Gloria Dei missions?  

We plan to meet on the first Wednesday of every month at 9:00 on Zoom. 

If another day/time works better for you, or if you would like an email of the zoom link, please contact Jill Duink (jillddd@hotmail.com).  

Meeting ID: 897 2826 6283   Passcode: 098374 

Join Zoom Meeting: Click here to join the Zoom.

December 3 - First Sunday of Advent

• Isaiah 64:1-9
• 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
• Mark 13:24-37
• Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

Collect: Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

December 10 - Second Sunday of Advent

• Isaiah 40:1-11
• 2 Peter 3:8-15a
• Mark 1:1-8
• Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

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 17 - Third Sunday of Advent

• Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
• John 1:6-8,19-28
• Psalm 126

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 24 - Fourth Sunday of Advent - 10:00am service

• 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
• Romans 16:25-27
• Luke 1:26-38
• Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26

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 - Christmas Eve - 5:00pm service

• 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.

Our service is comprised of uplifting music, Episcopal worship and spiritual/biblical teachings. While we are always a work in progress, Gloria Dei strives to be a place where all will feel welcome in faith and spirit.