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.