Sunday Club Newsletter December 2012

Newsletter:  December 2012

And unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6. 

Dear Saint Anne’s families,

I have a new favorite Christmas song and I can’t get enough of it.  I set my iPod to repeat and listen to it over and over, until the kids beg for something different.  It’s DaveMatthews’ Christmas Song: 

She was his girl; he was her boyfriend
She’d be his wife; take him as her husband
A surprise on the way, any day, any day
One healthy little giggling dribbling baby boy

 

One healthy little giggling dribbling baby boy…  Just this fills me with Christmasy warmth.    

Though, of course, as every parent knows, the story neither begins nor ends with a baby in our arms.

Sometimes the journey to the baby is long and rocky, filled with pain and uncertainty.  For some, the uncertainty and fear begins when the baby arrives – things may not be as we had anticipated in any number of ways.  And then begins the actual parenting.   There is much joy and laughter (and much dribbling!).  But there is also sacrifice that can deplete us.  There can be struggle to provide and protect.  Sometimes there is loss and pain and grief so inky and deep it engulfs and consumes us.  We have no way of knowing, before we start out, just where the road will lead.  

We are told Advent is about making room in our hearts for Christ to be born into us.  But the story of Jesus is a human one, and the full human experience is a true pilgrimage – adventurous and exhilarating, challenging and difficult.  It is no simple matter to embrace the whole of it.  

As we settle into the darkness of another Advent and look toward the light of another Christmas, we have the opportunity, once again, to make peace with these tensions.  This peace is offered freely in the hope and in the promise of our Christmas story, where in the celebrations of our joys and in the depths of our pain, we are not alone.  Where not only God, but the whole of creation meets us:  angels and shepherds and stars in the night sky shining down on our so-excited-for-Christmas-that-they-can’t-stand-it children.  And there we are in the middle of the story, loving with our whole hearts, with everything we are and everything we have to offer, the bundle that divine grace places into our arms.  Christmas is where we gratefully embrace this giggling dribbling life; all that is and all that is to come, whatever that might be. 

The wise men came - three made their way
To shower him with love while he lay in the hay
Shower him with love love love
Love love love
Love love is all around

Merry, merry Christmas, 
 Jennifer

Sunday Club date for the calendar in December and January:

During Advent:  Mary and Joseph’s Big Advent Journey

Sunday Club hour during December and first week of January:  Epiphany pageant rehearsals

December 6^th:  High School Youth White Elephant Gift Exchange & Party

December 8^th:  A Celtic Christmas Concert held at St. Anne’s. 
“Tunes, Carols, Stories for the entire family”.  Adults $10, children & students, free

December 9^th:  Winterlights Tour at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  1:00 pm, led by Colleen Watson

December 15^th:  Children’s Christmas Boutique at St. Anne’s 9:00 am – 11:00 am

December 21^st:  Winter Solstice Service & Bonfire  7:00 pm

December 23^rd:  All-Parish Christmas Caroling at Southview Acres Care Center 12:15 pm

December 24^th”:  Christmas Eve Eucharist at 4:00 pm – with a visit from St. Nicholas!

                                                  Christmas Eve Eucharist at 10:00 pm  

December 25^th:  Christmas Morning Eucharist 10:30 am

January 6^th:  Epiphany Pageant during 10:30 worship

January 18^th:  Feed My Starving Children

Halloween Parade at Southview Acres

Halloween Parade!

Newsletter: October 2012

“There are two ways to see the world:  one is as if nothing is a miracle. 
The other is as if everything is a miracle.”

                                                                                - Albert Einstein                                                                     

Dear Saint Anne’s families,

This summer, when NASA touched down on Mars during the same week that news of the Chik-Fil-A controversy was also unavoidable, I received a “joke” card via email from a friend of mine.  The card depicted a photo of the Mars landing and text over the top of the photo in the form of a mock letter that read, “Dear Religion, while you were busy arguing over a chicken sandwich, I landed on Mars.  Sincerely, Science.”

I have to admit, the card stung.  I know it was meant to be a joke.  But still, it stung.  It stung, I think, because it is still a common misperception in certain circles, that science and intellect are on one side of the coin and faith on the other.  That religious people must suspend thought and reason when they enter the doors of a church.  It stung, I think, because in certain circles, religion is still scorned in the name of science.  And because those “certain circles” are sometimes circles of my friends.   The card made me wonder if I need to do a better job of expressing more publically that religion and science are not in any way mutually exclusive in my view.  That for me, the more I learn from science, the more amazed I am at the complexity and intricacy of the world.  That in fact, science helps me to see the world as more sacred and more holy, not less.   The card made me want to invite my friend and her daughter to Sunday Club…

As we study Creation in Sunday Club this month with focus on the Creation stories in Genesis, we don’t ask our children to leave their bright minds, their wonderings and questions, and their understandings of science at home.  Our children stand proudly and correctly on the side of science.  In Sunday Club, we bring our knowledge of a living, loving, creative God with us as we travel to Mars.  What we hear in the Creation stories is this:  God was there, and is still here.  This is still the day of Creation.  And what science does is point to all of the miracles that continue to be.  That yes, even on Mars God sees that it is good.   

p e a c e,

Jennifer

Sunday Club dates to remember in November:

November 9 - 11^th:  Middle School Retreat: St. John’s in the Wilderness

November 17:  Youth Bell Choir performance at the Mall of America, 3:30 pm.

November 18^th:  Tween bowling (3^{rd -} 8^th grades) with St. Mary’s.  1:00 pm

November 25:  Advent Wreath Making during Sunday Club Hour

Bibles!

As we start a new Sunday Club year, children new to Sunday Club, and children moving up from one Sunday Club group to another will receive a Bible of their very own from Saint Anne's.  Lydia and the Sunday Club team have picked these as our favorites to give out, for now.  Please see Lydia's letter below about each Bible.  If you have another favorite, please share it with Lydia or one of the Sunday Club teachers.  It is always fun to explore a new Bible and find new favorites to share.

  - - 

Dear St. Anne’s Families,

We hope you like this new Bible, a gift from St. Anne’s Church.

We have chosen 4 age-appropriate Bibles, to help our young St. Annians learn to know the Bible stories, to grow in their appreciation of the Bible, and to expand their understanding of how the Bible is part of every Christian’s ongoing faith development.  Episcopalians hold that truth is revealed through scripture, tradition, and reason (the famous “3-legged stool” of Anglicanism). To keep the stool balanced, we need to understand our tradition, be willing to think critically (bringing our experience and observations into the conversation), and also be biblically literate. 

Spark Story Bible

For our youngest members, as they enter Sunday Club (age 3 through Kindergarten)

Published by Augsburg Fortress, Spark Story Bible has short, clear narratives and whimsical illustrations that help the stories come alive for young children. At the end of each story are questions that help children think about the story more deeply, and apply some part of the story in their own lives. For example, “The Israelites were scared. Have you even been scared? When? What did you do?”  “Make up a dance that Mary might have done after she heard the good news.” Spark Story Bible is perfect for parents and children to read at bedtime, one chapter at a time.

International Children’s Bible

For Sunday Club kids who are in grades 1-4; honoring the transition from Kindergarten and becoming a reader

This translation is intended for a 3^rd grade reading level. The back of the Bible says: “The International Children’s Bible is the Bible children can read and understand. Most children’t don’t understand adult words like ‘atonement,’ ‘redeem,’ or ‘oracle.’ And dozens of such difficult words are commonly found in the modern versions of the Bible. In this proven translation of the complete Bible, the words have been carefully selected just for children.”  This Bible includes:

•    Children’s dictionary/index, with more than 200 entries, explaining difficult words and phrases.

•    Simplified footnotes explaining Bible names, customs, and phrases

•    Colorful maps, showing key cities and lands.

The International Children’s Bible is a great Bible for parents and kids to read together, and for kids to begin to read on their own.

The Daily Message: Through the Bible in One Year

For Sunday Club kids as they move into Middle School, grades 5-8

The Message is a modern translation by Eugene Peterson, a renowned scholar and pastor. It was written to be “a reading Bible -- one that communicates the timeless truths of Scripture in contemporary language.” The Message is set out in paragraphs, and uses 21^st century language and imagery. In this particular version, Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms are interwoven and arranged for daily reading. Each day’s reading includes questions for reflection, for example: Do you believe everything you just read? Why or why not? or 1. What would be your reaction if God asked you to live by the standards presented in this passage? 2. Imagine you are God. How would you respond to the psalmist’s plea?  This is a great Bible for people of any age who want to get a sense of the Bible as a whole, in contemporary language that connects with our times.

The Harper Collins Study Bible

For students in 9^th-12^th grades

This is the Bible used in many seminaries for serious, scholarly Bible study. St. Anne’s has presented this Bible to our confirmation students for the past several years, for use during their 2-year confirmation preparation. It is the translation recommended for worship in the Episcopal Church -- the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).  The Harper Collins Study Bible is the full Bible with Apocrypha, concordance, maps, footnotes, and introductions to each book and section. Beginning this year we will present it as a mark of passage into High School. It will be useful during confirmation preparation and beyond.

Enjoy!

Faithfully,
Lydia + 

 and the Sunday Club team