Join others around the world who are taking back the season of Advent — opting to give the gifts of time, talent, and treasure, not to fill the space below their Christmas trees, but to serve the poor and the needy and to work toward alleviating human suffering in our communities.

Kathleen Parker, a generally ‘conservative’-leaning columnist for the Orlando Sentinel, wrote an editorial piece yesterday that raises some very good questions about the future of conservative American evangelical political religion — and political religion in general.

Among other things, Parker notes that “armband religion is killing the Republican party… And shifting demographics suggest that the Republican party — and conservatives with it — eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one’s heart where it belongs.”

[ December 24, 2008; 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm. 10:30 pm; ] Join us for the 4pm service at Holy Trinity (immediately preceding the dinner table feast) and for the 10:30pm service at St. John’s Cathedral (12th & Grand on the south hill).

[ December 20, 2008; 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. ] Join us for a short evening of caroling in west central.  Gather in the holy trinity parish hall at 5:30pm for sweets and hot beverages, then join the procession into the streets to sing for an hour.  The evening will end with a candle-lit ’silent night’ in the holy trinity sanctuary.  All are welcome!

[ December 4, 2008; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. December 11, 2008; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. December 18, 2008; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Join us for a family-friendly Christmas movie in the holy trinity sanctuary on three consecutive thursdays in december — 12/4, 12/11, 12/18 — from 6-8pm.  Popcorn will be served during the movie and hot apple cider will be available during the intermission.  All are welcome!

[ December 2, 2008; 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm. December 9, 2008; 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm. December 16, 2008; 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm. ] Join others for soup supper, movie, and guided conversation about movies on three consecutive Tuesdays in December — 12/2, 12/9, 12/16 — from 5:30-9:30pm.  Leonard Oakland, from Whitworth, will be guiding the evenings.

During the season of Advent, Holy Trinity will be running two different movie series — one on tuesdays and one on thursdays.

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Matthew, 25th chapter

I can’t quite remember when I first saw that bumper sticker that seemed to take the world by storm: “practice random kindness & senseless acts of beauty.” I still get a warm feeling when I hear it.

As the ‘ordinary’ season comes to a slow close, the themes of readiness and attentiveness come to the fore — preparing the way into Advent, when we wait anxiously for the arrival of Immanuel.

We heard last week the warning to “keep awake,” to pay attention to the signs of the times and the presence of the Holy Spirit. And while we can all easily agree that “staying awake” seems like a good and reasonable thing to do, we might not all agree on what “staying awake” actually looks like.

Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.’

If I didn’t already know my propensity to sleepwalk through life, I’d probably take offense at Jesus’ suggestion that I’m apt to doze off and miss something important — something utterly life-changing.

But, perhaps like you, I do know all-to-well my tendency to overlook the subtleties of life — the simple pleasures that beg my thanksgiving, the delicate revelations that bid my attention, the gentle nudges of the Spirit that seek a willing response. How easy it is to sleep through it all!

The fall triduum of All Hallow’s Eve (10/31), All Saints’ Day (11/1), and All Souls’ Day (11/2) always brings to mind the incredible mystery of God’s love — a love that binds us together with a pretty motley crew through time and space — and that binds us to a God whose Will for the world is always at odds with our own.

When we remember the saints, we’re reminded that in every way they are just like us — ordinary human beings with extraordinary faith. But it’s those saints whose extraordinary faith led them to truly seek first the kingdom of God that we remember most fondly, if not also incompletely.

During his trip to Lambeth this past summer, Bishop Waggoner happened upon Canterbury Cathedral and a plaque displaying their mission statement. Now, for a very large, historic Cathedral, you’d have reasonable expectations that the actual mission of the place might be buried between and beneath years and years of insider language and theological jargon. Such was apparently Bishop Waggoner’s assumption when he arrived at the plaque and, so, you can imagine his surprise when he read the following mission statement for Canterbury Cathedral: “to show people Jesus.” That’s it, “to show people Jesus.”

[ October 8, 2008; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. October 22, 2008; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. November 12, 2008; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. November 26, 2008; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. December 10, 2008; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. December 24, 2008; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. January 14, 2009; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. January 28, 2009; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. ] west central healthy families ministry — gathering together, eating together, learning together, playing together.

[ October 7, 2008; 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. October 14, 2008; 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. October 21, 2008; 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. October 28, 2008; 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. November 4, 2008; 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. November 11, 2008; 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. November 18, 2008; 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. ] see post for more info or call the church office — 326.6471.

[ August 27, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. September 3, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. September 10, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. September 17, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. September 24, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. October 1, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. October 8, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. October 15, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. October 22, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. October 29, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. November 5, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. November 12, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. November 19, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. November 26, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. December 3, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. December 10, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. December 17, 2008; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. January 7, 2009; 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. ] Join others for a soup & salad lunch and bible-based conversation beginning at 12noon in the parish hall. Our conversations are always informal and generally seek to dig a bit deeper into the previous Sunday’s gospel. The gathering concludes with a 1pm eucharist in Lady’s Chapel — a simple, 30-minute service of word, [...]