Prepare.

Get out the decorations, find the cookie recipes, buy the cards, make the lists.

Prepare.

Hit the stores, order online, count the dollars, listen to Christmas Muzak.

Prepare.

Worry about spending, yearn for what is out of reach.

Prepare.

Struggle with family, feel alone.

Prepare.

Pray. Worship. Listen to music that includes something about Jesus.

Prepare.

Do whatever leads you to wonder, to joy, to connection with others, to hope.

Prepare.

Give what you can when you can to those in need. Tell a child you know why.

Prepare.

Trust that the God who came is still and always here, the God for whom you do not

have to wait. The God who waits for you and yearns to love you.

Blessings to you as you prepare to celebrate love. Shelly

From the Pastor’s Desk

Special points of interest:

Generosity Campaign, p. 2

Advent Pageant, p. 6

Coffee Hour Sign-ups, p. 7

Poverty Simulation, p. 7

New Group!, p. 9

Advent Devotionals, p. 9

Inside this issue:

Advent Worship 2

Christmas Eve 2

Children’s Faith Formation 3

Adult Faith Formation 4

Missions Team 6

Poinsettias 10

Schedule of Events 11

December 2014

REDEEMER NEWS The Church of the Redeemer

December 7:

Second Advent, Baptism of Nathan Brown,

Sacrament of Holy Communion, Cookie

Potluck after worship along with Alternative

Gift Fair

December 14:

Third Advent, Lessons and Carols for Advent,

Sister City Gift Fair

December 21:

Sunday School Advent Pageant!

December 28:

Guest preacher, Daniel Schlorff, Carol sing

To date, the Generosity Ministry Team has received 89 pledges

for a total of $189,046. So very close to the amount pledged for

2014. We wish to thank all for their continued generosity. We

once again prove we are a “mighty little church” seeking to live

out our mission to our community be it local or global. If you have

not yet made your pledge for 2015, you may still do so by contact-

ing Debra in the church office, redeemer@snet.net or (203) 787-

5711.

The Generosity Ministry Team

Page 2

Christmas Eve Worship 2014

Advent Worship Events

Generosity Campaign Update

Redeemer’s service begins with special music from Larry and

others at 5:15. Lessons and Carols, Candlelighting, Completion

of our crèche, and a meditation on the Star as well as more

special music from our choirs and soloists and musicians will fill

our service with wonder!

At 10:00 p.m., join UCC folk from United, Center, Redeemer and

Shalom for a quieter service of Holy Communion at United Church

on the Green (the one on the right hand side as you face the

three churches). Marilyn and Shelly and possibly others from

Redeemer will participate. This is a new service this year as our

congregations begin to work more closely together!

December 2014

Invite a friend or family

member to Redeemer!

Sunday School in Advent

Expectant waiting is what Advent is all about and we have begun that process of waiting in Sunday School. On the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, we will look at Isaiah 64:1 – 9. This passage from ISAIAH is part of a communal lament. In it, the Hebrew people plead with God to intervene in human history to redeem those who walk in God’s way. This passage embodies the central themes on which Advent is based: the sense of a need for redemption, the feeling of unworthiness, the longing for God to act, and the conviction that God will act lovingly to save us.

Our Sunday School Schedule for December November 30: First Sunday of Advent - Hymn of the Month, O Come, O Come Emmanuel December 7: Holy Communion – Family Sunday December 14: Advent Pageant Rehearsal in Sunday School December 21: The Advent Pageant – The Sunday School provides our worship message December 28: Family Sunday – No Sunday School

Calling All Kids – Pageant Time!

On Sunday, December 21, the children of Redeemer will present our annual Advent Pageant. If you know a child or teen who would like to be in the pageant, come to the rehearsal on Sunday, December 14th during our regular Sunday School time when Shelly will prepare the actors for their roles. A full dress rehearsal will take place on Saturday, December 20 at 10 am.

ADULT FAITH FORMATION DECEMBER 14: ANIMATE FAITH – SESSION # 2: RELIGION

Spirituality is not enough | Lillian Daniel What does it mean to be spiritual? Is it the same as being religious? Lillian Daniel pushes back at this question that has been stirring up the cultural conversation for a while now. She asks us to consider how the seeds of faith take root and thrive. What role does organized religion play in helping—or hindering—growth? If religion is the problem, why has it held fast for thousands of years? In this age of religious pluralism, is it possible or even desirable to stick with our age-old traditions? WHY CHURCH? On Sunday, November 9th, I preached a sermon on Why Church. My one line answer was, “The counter-cultural church, at its best, invites us to live in alignment with God.” I asked folks in the congregation that day to write their answer to ‘Why Church’ and here is what Redeemer wrote: Prayer, Peace, music, a chance that this sinner’s soul might be saved A place of focus and realization that I am not alone. My language of peace and hope To please God To pause and connect with God and community To be challenged To share “It takes a village…” Positive vibes Music2 Praising God with song To remember to always walk in love Centering on faith Renewal For peace and music Tradition To find peace with God Renewal A way of centering and preparing for the week Faith support Gemenskap (Swedish) Karlek till livet (Swedish)

Support each other – community of faith Worship God with good friends and music For fellowship, peace and love It is a place where we practice being disciples Church centers me back on God Worship together Shared prayers Family Connections with Christians in other times and places Parental coercion Love of God’s people Coming together as family Worship & others Try to connect with infinite (God) To be fed spiritually To meet God Relationship with God as community To praise God Open up the sacred Faith in action Community God The beauty of holiness

Place of peace Strength in numbers Connect to the Divine A soul feeding place A place of belong(ing) Sacrament Because Christ is Risen! To be blessed and be a blessing to others Belonging to something outside of myself Spiritual healing Elevate us into close community with constant Christ-like consciousness The quiet moment in the week to hear God and each other Draw closer to God A long tradition of faith To receive the fellowship of the church To still a too busy mind Relief Church – it gets me through the week To find meaning in spiritual life Show God your love Be reconciled to God and receive the Spirit to live as God’s child

HAPPY NEW (Church)YEAR! The Church calendar begins with the first Sunday of Advent, which this year was November 30. And so, we start once again with Advent. I think at this start of the year, it would be a good time to look at the entire church year as a whole.

Advent starts on Reign of Christ Sunday – 4 Sundays before Christmas November 30, this year. Advent is a time of hope and expectation. We prepare for Jesus’ birth and our own renewal.

Christmas starts on December 25. At Christmas, we celebrate the joy of Jesus’ birth once again – of “God with us.”

Epiphany happens on the 12th day after Christmas, January 6. Through the Season after Epiphany we read of Jesus’ Baptism, his calling of the disciples, and his ministry of teaching and healing. It is a time of growth as the good news spreads.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter (February 18th). The Season of Lent is a time of penitence and preparation – a time of decision and commitment. We are reminded that many turned away from Jesus and even the disciples fled when he was arrested. We are encouraged to face those times when we have let Jesus down and fled from issues demanding our presence and support—times when we may have allowed crucifixions to happen.

Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, this year April 5th. The Season of Easter is also known as “The Great Fifty Days” from Easter Day to Pentecost.

Pentecost is the high point of the Christian Year and occurs this year on May 24th. It is a season to celebrate the resurrection appearances and the birth of the Christian church. We see Jesus’ power being passed on to the disciples.

The Season after Pentecost is the longest season of the year. It extends from Pentecost Sunday ending on the first Sunday in Advent. In it, we look at what it means to be the church – Christ’s hands and feet – carrying on his work in the world.

AdventChristmas

Season

after

Epiphany

Lent

Easter

Season

after

Pentecost

Seasons of the Church Year

Our pageant this year is entitled “Preparing for Jesus.” Our

children and teens will lead us on a journey (literally) to see how

four groups of people prepared for the coming of Jesus: Mary and

Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, the Magi, and the Shepherds

and their animals. Children will rehearse in Sunday School on

December 14 and also on Saturday morning, December 20, at 10

AM! The congregation is needed to be the crowd in our scenes,

so you are important, too! This is one you won’t want to miss;

invited friends and neighbors and their children to come, too!

Page 6

From the Missions Team

Advent Pageant 2014

we’ve been working with for the past several years which

provides assistance and support to children in Connecticut

who are neglected, abused, or at-risk. The money will buy

Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and gifts for the chil-

dren.

The annual mitten and hat Christmas tree will be going up in

early December, ready for you to decorate with mittens,

gloves, and hats to be donated to Christian Community

Action. It will also have mittens for you to take—paper

mittens, that is, with the name, age, and requested gift for a

child through Covenant to Care. Gifts should be delivered to

the church by Sunday, December 14.

We will be giving a donation to Citizens to Drive Out Ebola, a

local committee which was formed to supply New Haven’s

sister city, Freetown, Sierra Leone, with vans stocked with

medical supplies to serve as ambulances. The vans were

requested by Sierra Leone’s ambassador in a recent visit to

New Haven.

On the horizon: we will be participating in Abraham’s Tent the last

week of February. The Church of the Redeemer will house a

dozen homeless men from Columbus House each night that

week. As in past years, we will need people to bring dinner and

breakfast, to visit with the men during the evening, and to stay

overnight.

As we move into

the holiday season,

the missions team

has many activities

including several

which can use your

participation:

The Alterna-

tive Gift Fair is

scheduled for

December 7 follow-

ing worship. This is

your chance to buy

handicrafts from

third world artisans

and gift cards from

organizations like the

Heifer Project.

The New Haven/Leon Sister City Project will once again be at

Redeemer with its selection of fair trade crafts, local and

statewide products and more. All of your purchases benefit

the work of the Project in Leon and in New Haven. The sale

will take place on December 14 after worship. Please plan

to do some of your Christmas shopping that day!

We are donating $700 for Thanksgiving and $700 for Christ-

mas to Covenant for Care for Children, an organization that

December 2014

Many opportunities to

give.

Advent Pageant, Dec. 21

It’s that exciting time when you get the opportunity to sign up to

help host coffee hour at Church of the Re-

deemer for the upcoming year! We know

you’ve been looking forward to this since last

November, so here are the details:

1. If you are able, please sign up for two

dates. You should be able to scroll

down the calendar and choose

practically any Sunday you want.

2. Most Sundays involve bringing food and

preparing/serving drinks, along with

clean up. If you are looking for some-

thing less involved, consider volunteer-

ing for summer duty when you simply

prepare drinks that are already provided

and clean up paper goods.

3. You will receive an email from Debra in

the church office a few weeks ahead of

your scheduled month just to give you a long range heads

up, and then an automated email from signupgenius.com 6

days prior to your scheduled date.

4. Instructions are always on the signupgenius.com website

and a hard copy is taped to the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Thank you so much in advance for helping out!

The Redeemer Hospitality Team

Send questions/complaints/joys/concerns/etc. to

redeemerhospitality@gmail.com.

To sign up, go to:

http://www.signupgenius.com/

go/10c0e4faba62aaafb6-hospitality

Christmas Cookie Potluck!

You are cordially invited to a Christmas cookie potluck following

worship on December 7. Plan to bring some of your favorite cook-

ies and we will sample the baking bounty!

RSVP because space is limited: krisafi@uwgnh.org. Shelly is

planning to attend so if you would like to come with her, let her

know.

The United Way invites people from faith communities in Greater

New Haven to join them for an exciting event on Wednesday,

January 14 from 5:30-8:30 (you can get there as late as 6:00 but

no later) at the JCC, 360 Amity Road, Woodbridge, for the Poverty

Simulation. Over the course of an evening, step into the shoes of

a family living at or near the poverty level. This participatory

event will challenge your assumptions and give you a deeper

awareness of the struggles many of our neighbors face on a daily

basis. Dinner and a facilitated discussion will conclude the event.

Teens and adults are welcome to this event, and you need to

Page 7

Hello, Redeemer Hospitality!

December 2014

Sign up to host coffee hour in 2015!

January Event for your Calendar

Redeemer News

Our December meeting will be on December 9 and

will take place at the home of Margaret Bixler with a

potluck lunch and our annual Yankee swap. RSVP

to Shelly.

Beginning in January, we will continue our discus-

sion of Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All

Things. If you have read the book, or are reading it

now, and are available on the second and fourth

Tuesdays of the month at NOON (note return to

usual time as Shelly’s class is done), bring your

lunch and join us at church.

On Sunday, December 21, we will expand our usual healing

prayer service into what is sometimes called a “Blue Christmas”

service. This service lifts up those who find celebrating anything

difficult because of depression, addictions, grief, infertility or

other illnesses, family struggles, unemployment, or for any other

reason. If you or someone you know experiences these issues,

please come and invite them to come. 6:30 p.m. in the chancel

of the sanctuary.

Page 8

Assorted Notes

Noon Book Group

Christmas Healing Prayer Service

Oratorio Concert at Redeemer

The New Haven Oratorio Choir, formerly the Redeemer Oratorio

Choir, is performing a concert “Songs of Hope” on Friday, Decem-

ber 12, at 8:00 at Redeemer. This is a program of inspirational

music for choir some of which is accompanied by piano and the

beautiful pipe organ. Tickets are for sale at the door; $20 adult

and $15 senior. For questions, email dfgh75@gmail.com. We

hope to see you there!

Congratulations to Victor Bolden on his confirmation by the

U.S. Senate as a Federal Judge! Fortunately, Victor will re-

main in New Haven at the Federal Court here.

Congratulations to Tom Caruso who has been called to be

pastor at the Elias UCC in Pennsylvania! We hope to

celebrate Tom’s ordination at Redeemer in early 2015.

Healing Service, December 21, 2014

Hayli Kinney and Ophelia Hu invite Redeemer’s young adult crowd

(ages 21-35) to join them for Stop & Go: a time of weekly fellow-

ship and discussion. The group will meet at their home in New

Haven, just a short walk from Redeemer.

We’ll share food, drink, conversation, and friendship in a totally

relaxed setting. We know you’re busy, but that’s precisely why we

want to step back once a week and explore topics from spiritual-

ity to skepticism to social matters. Email Hayli at

haylikinney@gmail.com by December 7 if you’d like to attend or

for more information.

On December 21, we will receive the UCC All

Church Christmas Fund offering. This offering goes

to help support clergy who have retired without

adequate pensions (especially those who served

small membership churches for their whole career)

or who have large emergency expenses, and also

those retired clergy who need help affording health

insurance. Please give generously to help those

who have spent a lifetime in service to God and

the church.

Page 9

Advent Devotionals Available

New Group Forming!

Christmas Fund Offering

Christmas Fund Offering December 21, 2014

If you requested one of Quinn Caldwell’s Advent Devotionals, they

are waiting for you in the office: please pick them up soon so we

know how many extra we have. We have a few for anyone else.

They cost us $15, so if you’d like to donate that, we would happily

receive it, but if that is a problem, simply take one! Advent begins

Sunday, November 30.

December 2014

CHRISTMAS POINSETTIA PLANTS

This Christmas Season we will continue our tradition of decorating

our sanctuary with red poinsettias. Please help in adorning our altar with beauty and blessings of the season by ordering a plant in

honor/memory of a loved one. All orders must be received no later than Monday morning,

December 15, 2014.

Order forms with payment may be placed in the collection plate or left in the Church Office.

POINSETTIA ORDER FORM

From __________________________________________________

Phone _________________________

In memory of _____________________________________________

In honor of _______________________________________________

How many? _______________________

__________ I will pick up my flowers.

__________ Please have the Deacons give my flowers to a housebound

church member.

All plants are $12.00.

Remember to include your payment with this order form. Thank you for your generosity.

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185 Cold Spring Street

New Haven, CT 06511

(203) 787-5711

redeemer@snet.net

uccredeemer.org

The Church of the Redeemer

small glimmers will grow into expansive

radiance.

In a world darkened in too many corners

by hunger and war, by greed and exclu-

sion, let us remember the many Marys

who, by their courage, keep claiming life

and pointing us toward the light. Let us

rejoice in the One who came among us at

Christmas, setting the world ablaze: the

Price of Peace, the hope of the poor, the

Light of the World. Ours is a promise

birthed in a stable, and a tobacco barn:

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not”—and

will not—“overcome it” (John 1:5).

Rev. Joyce Hollyday

Circle of Mercy

Asheville, North Carolina

Several years ago, I joined a dozen other North American

Christians who traveled to Nicaragua to establish a peaceful and

prayerful presence in the war zones of that embattled country.

Just before Christmas we visited a refugee camp near the

Honduran border and met Martita, who was five days old. Her

mother, Rosa, had given birth to her in a tobacco barn, under

gunfire.

I thought immediately of Mary, who brought Jesus into the world

in a drafty stable and laid him in a feeding trough used by cattle,

the only crib available. What stunning courage had been required

for this woman, young and unwed and scared, when confronted

with a miraculous mission by the Holy Spirit, to offer herself with

these words: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me

according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

Back in that Nicaraguan tobacco barn, Rosa reminded me that

the Spanish phrase for “to give birth” is dar a luz--”to give to

light.” In the midst of the darkest of situations, Rosa and the

other mothers of Nicaragua claimed the power of life and kept

offering their children to the light. They did so with fear, but also

with profound hope and fervent prayers that their children would

grow up in peace.

On December 21st, the earth will cross an invisible cosmic plane,

tilting those of us in this part of the world toward the sun. By

barely noticeable increments, the days will begin growing longer.

The 21st is both the darkest day of the year, and the moment

when the light begins seeping back in. Before long, the day’s

Birthing a Promise

Rev. Dr. Rochelle A. Stackhouse, Senior Minister

rastackhouse@gmail.com

Rev. Marilyn Kendrix, Associate Minister for Faith

Formation

Cheryl Doss, Moderator of the Church

Henry Sykes, Treasurer

Charles McEnally, Clerk

Marguerite Brooks, Director of Music

Julia Blue Raspe, Chancel Choir Director

Paul Berry, Boys and Men’s Choir Director

Larry Bishop, Organist

Maeba Jonas, Youth Minister

Debra Tangarone, Office Administrator and Financial

Secretary

Geoffrey Johnson, Security

Lou and Valarie Fanelli, Sextons

The light shines in the darkness.