From the Rector...
A Brunch, a Fulfillment, and a Beginning
The Advent Sunday brunch in the Parish Hall was a true joy and the fulfillment of years of prayer, hope, planning, and labor. For the first time in a year we were gathered together for fellowship, food, and seasonal activities in a space able to seat everyone present. These last twelve months have been a heroic time of successful improvisation and flexibility, but Sunday's brunch reintroduced us to the special quality a large gathering space affords, especially the ability to eat and converse together.
There were at one point eight people working comfortably in the kitchen--about 6 more than could have been possible a year ago. While we are still moving in to the facility and learning how all the new features work, the sense of potential for future fellowship and mission events was palpable. People were saying how much they look forward to using this facility and being involved in working at future events--new language, in my experience. Over and over again, I kept thinking of the Psalm verse "When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream." (Ps. 126:1)
St. Timothy's has been dreaming about a new Parish Hall since the 1970s. This Sunday saw that dream come true. This brunch and the Healthy Hoover Kids food distribution the prior week are only the first steps in a year of discernment and experimentation in its use, but I will long remember the profound satisfaction and joy in seeing parishioners---longtime, new, older, younger---eating, working, talking, and serving together in a beautiful, functional. and efficient space. Truly: it was a new chapter in this parish's life and witness to the Gospel. Whatever regret I may have had about missing the dedication was completely washed away in Sunday's worship services and fellowship. Thanks to all who worked to make it possible, and thanks be to God for this fulfillment and new beginning!
Second Sunday of Advent: The Beauty of Repentance
The second Sunday of this season focuses on St. John the Baptist and repentance as preparation for the coming of the Messiah, showing that Advent is a penitential season--but with a difference from Lent.
The Eucharist will begin with the Advent Prose in slow procession, one of the most beautiful texts of the season and a moving meditation on our need for forgiveness and renewal. This is followed by confession, absolution, and the asperges or sprinkling with holy water as a physical reminder of our baptismal identity and the new life in Christ we are to live. For catholic Christians, repentance is a beautiful thing and a true gift of God and Advent has its own special way of speaking about and encouraging it.
If the general confession and absolution in the liturgy is not sufficient for your preparation for the Eucharist and for Christmas, the Church offers auricular or sacramental confession. This is either made by appointment with the priest or by coming to the church on Saturday, December 20th from 2-4 PM, where you can make a confession in the chapel. If you are wanting guidance in making a confession, you may read the service in the BCP (called "The Reconciliation of a Penitent") or you may read my blog posting on this subject. You may also chat with me after the liturgy on Sunday.
Advent Lessons and Carols, Sunday at 6 PM
Next Sunday's special Advent Lessons and Carols service includes beautiful music, stirring prayers, and the telling of the sacred story of our creation and fall, God's search for us as lost children, culminating in our being united with Him in the Incarnation. But this service also contains these words in the Bidding Prayer:
"And because [Christ] particularly loves them, let us remember in his name the poor and helpless, the cold, the hungry and the oppressed..."
As we observe Advent it is imperative that we don't turn inward, forgetting the very message of generosity and concern which marks the season. There is so much poverty, hunger, and oppression; it can seem utterly overwhelming and hopeless.
When we gather for this service and experience the darkened church being flooded with light, I pray you will be reminded of Christ's promise never to abandon us, and that by turning to the Lord in faith we will be shown the path of prayer and service which will overcome the evils of this current era.
In Advent we recall our Christian hope--and how we are involved in sharing New Life in Christ. Let this Lessons & Carols service nourish you in hope as well as beauty--and, bring a friend to share in this story of hope. There are so many who need to hear it...
Faithfully in Christ,
Brandon+
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The Week Ahead...
Thursday, December 4: John of Damascus, Priest and Theologian, c. 760
- Women's Bible Study on Zoom
Friday, December 5: Clement of Alexandria, Priest and Theologian, c. 210
Saturday, December 6: Nicholas of Myra, Bishop, c. 342
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+ 8 AM: Holy Eucharist (said). In-person.
+ 9:50 AM: Godly Play and Nursery open
+ 10 AM: Holy Eucharist (sung).
In person and online.
Following the 10 AM Liturgy:
+ Coffee Hour in the narthex
+ Packing for Nutrition Buddies in the vestry room
+ 6 PM: Advent Lessons and Carols
We will have a small appetizer / dessert reception in the narthex following the service. If you are able, please bring a plated, ready-to-serve dish with you to share.
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Monday, December 8:
- The parish office is closed on Monday
Tuesday, December 9:
Wednesday, December 10:
- Family Promise Host Night (more info)
- 10 AM: Rite I Holy Eucharist in the Chapel, with tea and conversation following
- 7 PM: Catechumenate
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Prayer Requests from this Parish: Liz McClure, Margaret McMurren+, Melinda Filbert, Juanita Rivera, Scott Kohl, Caroline Gilbert, the Teeters family, Jim Whitney, Rorey DeWitt, Stephen Harrison, Adair Heard, Skip Padrick, Rich Zorko, Family Promise, Salem for Refugees, Mending Wings Youth Ministries. For peace and the many innocent souls caught up in armed conflict. For justice, mercy, and the governance of our passions in the nation, politics, and civil discourse.
For Those with Birthdays Next Week: Bryant Bechtold+, Mark Greenhalgh-Johnson, Gail Steck, Judy Hooper, Tara Lee
In the Diocese of Oregon: St. Francis of Assisi, Wilsonville
In the Anglican Communion: The Church of Bangladesh
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Zoom Recording of Last Sunday's Sermon
Sunday, November 30
Passcode: .xHDcK01
Links will be valid for two weeks.
The Lectionary Readings for this past Sunday can be found here.
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Advent at St Timothy's
Advent Outreach
 Toy Drive: This year we are supporting families living at Church at the Park’s Family Shelter. We will be donating gifts for their Christmas Gift Pod—a festive on-site “shop” where parents and children can choose gifts for one another. You will find a list of gift recommendations in the narthex. There will be a collection box for unwrapped gifts in the narthex. We will have a blessing of gifts on December 14th during the 10 AM liturgy. Please plan to bring all gifts by December 14.
 St Nicholas Sunday
Sunday December 14th
At the 10 AM Liturgy there will be a special visit to the Parish from the Wonderworker! This is also when we will receive and bless the gifts collected for families experiencing homelessness.
Pre-Christmas Sacramental Confessions
Saturday, December 20, 2-4 PM in the Chapel
Known officially as "The Reconciliation of a Penitent" (BCP pp. 447-451) but popularly called "Confession," this sacramental rite is part of the healing ministry of the Church and restores us to right relationship with God after making a personal confession of sin, receiving counsel, and having God's forgiveness declared to us with laying on of hands.
This is a valuable way to prepare for major Holy Days, clear our conscience, to be heard before God, and to deal with complex, often painful matters in the context of complete confidentiality.
If this is your first confession, just ask for some quick guidance from the priest. All baptized persons are welcome.
 "Greening of the Church"
We will decorate the sanctuary following the 10 AM Eucharist on December 21. Please stay around to help if you are able.
Advent Hymns
Listening to Advent music can be a way of experiencing the riches of this season. As shared last year, this site has a list of Hymns/Carols for each day of Advent.
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Nutrition Buddies
Feeding the children with greatest need at Hoover Elementary School
We will be packing for Nutrition Buddies on December 7th, immediately following the 10 AM liturgy, in the Vestry Room. We welcome donations of clean brown paper grocery bags, and also cash donations to help fund this effort.
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After Ten Forum
Sunday, December 14 in the Parish Hall
Topic: The Book of Common Prayer and our personal devotional life.
A conversational sharing time to hear from others how the BCP guides, shapes and informs their personal devotional life.
This is an opportunity to share your personal experience with the BCP to encourage others and to learn as well. If you have never used the BCP in your personal devotional life or been frustrated feeling that you aren’t doing it “right” come and hear the experience of others and be encouraged to find a way that works for you.
Everyone is invited to join the conversation.
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Thank a Teacher!
 We are planning a small way to bless the teachers and staff at Hoover Elementary school as the term draws to a close.
As at many schools, the teachers go far beyond their "job descriptions" to educate and nurture the children in their care. After meeting with the Principal and Community Outreach Coordinator, it became apparent that there is a very limited budget with which to show appreciation to their staff, and little outside support.
This is an opportunity for us to let them know they are thought of and appreciated by their neighbors at St Timothy's. We will be providing various treats and goodies (cookies, chocolates etc.) in their staff room on the last day of term (Dec. 19) and plan to write Christmas cards to each teacher to thank them personally. If you would like to donate towards "teacher-treats" you may place something in the plate marked for "Hoover School teachers". If you're interested in helping write some greeting cards, or have other ideas / suggestions, please contact the Parish Office!
This is part of our ongoing partnership with Hoover Elementary School, who we support through various ministries. We'll have more information in the new year about some other opportunities to support our local community / neighbors through the school.
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 Family Promise
Our next Family Promise rotation is the second week of December. St. Timothy’s is responsible for providing meals, evening hosts and overnight hosts on Tuesday December 9th and Wednesday December 10th. There is a signup sheet is in the narthex. Please contact Steve Cowgill if you have any questions or would like to learn more about this ministry.
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Christmas Services
Christmas is one of the Seven Principal Feasts of the Church Year, when all Episcopalians who are able to do so are to share in worship together.
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Carols & Midnight Mass
Wednesday December 24th
Carols in the Nave, 10:30 PM
Midnight Mass, 11 PM
[Note: There will be no Wednesday morning service on this day]
Christmas Day Eucharist
Thursday December 25th, 11 AM
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| Christmas Eve will be a special celebration. You might think of inviting someone you know who would like to experience something new at Christmas this year, or begin making Christmas Eve a part of your observance if you have not done so before. All ages (we do mean all) are invited. |
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Salem for Refugees Season of Giving
As part of this year’s Season of Giving, Salem For Refugees (SFR) is highlighting several urgent ways we can support new neighbors. Due to recent changes in SNAP eligibility (based on the new requirement that individuals must have a green-card to qualify for SNAP, a process which can only begin after residing in the US for a full year) many newly arrived families have lost access to food benefits and are facing significant gaps in their monthly budgets.
To help meet these needs, SFR is partnering with Feed Salem - this food pantry is located across the street from Salem For Refugees’ office. There are many ways to get involved and give but please consider donating these items:
Food items can be dropped off at the following locations:
- Salem Alliance Church - 555 Gaines St NE Salem 97301
- Salem For Refugees - 1400 Broadway St NE Salem 97301
- Morning Star Community Church - 4775 27th Ave SE Salem 97302
Gifts made before the upcoming distribution day—December 13—will be especially impactful.
Rental Assistance
Community members can also support the Season of Giving through financial gifts to SFR’s Rental Assistance Fund, which helps families stabilize while navigating these changes. SFR anticipates a record number of Rental Assistance requests in the coming weeks as families try to understand these changes to their SNAP food benefits.
Donate to the Rental Assistance Fund HERE.
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Thank you for the ways you bless new neighbors by meeting their practical needs during Season of Giving and throughout the year. We really appreciate your help and your deep care for refugees in Salem.
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Laurel Rightmer
Director of Operations and Development
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From Your Parish Librarian
:: Celts to the Creche, Week IV ::
God be with us at each stop and each sea;
At each lying down and each rising up;
In the trough of the waves;
On the crest of the billows;
Each step of the journey we take.
- - - - -
“St Winifred and the Holy Well”
The title tells it all: A well with healing waters sprang up from where St Winifred lay, wounded. Here are the details . . . .
St Winifred of Wales’ parents supported and encouraged her intent to devote her life in service to God from the time she was a small child. In spite of her intended calling, a local chieftain fell in love with the beautiful Winifred and proposed she marry him. When she refused, he became enraged and hacked her throat with his sword and killed her. Some say the chieftain beheaded her, but read on:
This occurred on the Church grounds where Winifred’s Uncle Beuno was the priest, and where he watched the event happen. He noticed the chieftain standing insolently nearby and cursed him, thereupon—it is told—the earth opened up and swallowed the chieftain. Uncle Beuno prayed over Winifred and her throat was restored except for a scar she carried the rest of her life which was another 15 years before she died for real.
On that spot, a well sprang forth, gushing 24 tons of water every minute and continuing still today; a Holy Well that became the place name, Holywell; still used today in the name of the nearby train station, in the name of the parish in Cambridgeshire where Oliver Cromwell was born, and in the name of a village that claims to have one of the oldest pubs in England, as well as being known as the Lourdes of Wales—more about this three paragraphs down, but first here’s more about Winifred:
Winifred established a convent at Holywell where she was Abbess for eight years before she set off on pilgrimage to seek a place of rest. After wandering a few years, she entered her Aunt Theonia’s double monastery (of both monks and nuns) at Gwytherin in Wales (the village has won the “Best Kept Village” award on four occasions). Winifred became Abbess at Gwytherin after her aunt died and remained there until her own death. The monastery was rebuilt as a church in the 19th century, but a Celtic grave slab inscribed with a cross is set into the chancel steps as a reminder of what it once was.
The story of her relics being removed to Shrewsbury Abbey was incorporated into the first volume, “A Morbid Taste for Bones,” of the “Caedfael Chronicles,” a historical-novel series popular among Anglicans that tells the experiences of a 12-century monk who served as the herbalist of a monastery and also solved crimes.
Kind-of-like, Murder the Monk Wrote. No, unfortunately, the St Timothy’s Parish Library does not have any of the Caedfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters.
Winifred’s Uncle Beuno sat upon a stone near Winifred’s Holy Well and promised in prayer “that whoever on that spot should ask three times for a benefit from God in the name of St Winifred, would obtain the grace they asked if it were for the good of their soul.”
Pilgrims have been coming continuously for 1,400 years to bathe in the waters of Holywell. Many claim to find cures. Crutches are left behind in a small museum that stands before the entrance to the well area. Tradition is that people seeking healing come down the three steps into the pool and walk or be carried across the pool three times.
The number three is spiritually significant in Celtic Christianity. You can see it in the three loops of the traditional Celtic knot or trinity knot, and in the triple couplets of Celtic poetry and in St Patrick’s Breastplate (see Pg 370 of The Hymnal 1982 for one version or here). The number three, of course, refers to the Trinity and in Celtic Christianity it can also represent earth, sea and sky.
Isaiah 38:16 comes to mind that records the words of Hezekiah when he spoke in praise of God after he was healed: “You recover me and make me to live.”
—Bonnie Bonham—Parish Librarian—
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The Collect for the First Week of Advent
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.
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