THIS WEEK…
Advent Thursday Supper: You’re invited to gather for a simple meal at 5:30pm on Thursday, December 20. We’ll conclude with simple evening prayers. Soup and bread/crackers provided. All are welcome!
Christmas Flower Dedications: Bring Christmas Cheer to St. Dunstan’s! Celebrate what’s important to you with a gift that helps us decorate for Christmas and honors a loved one or a special event. Please see the Christmas Flowers sign-up sheets in the Gathering Area. Write “Christmas Flowers” on the memo line of your check or on the envelope containing cash. Suggested donation is $25.
Guest Preacher, Sunday at 10am: We welcome Hal Edmonson as our guest preacher this Sunday. Hal was raised in Madison, a stone’s throw from St. Dunstan’s, and is a postulant for holy orders in the Diocese of Massachusetts.
The Longest Night: A Liturgy of Light in Darkness, Thursday, December 20, 7:00PM: We will gather together out of the darkness of the season for a quiet, meditative worship service. Feel free to invite friends who might appreciate this time set apart to name the darkness in the world and in our lives, and prepare our hearts for the coming of the light of Christ. Contact Rev. Miranda with any questions. There will be an Advent Dinner at 5:30pm this evening; those who come for dinner are invited to assist with preparing for the liturgy as a practice of prayerful hospitality.
Lighted Labyrinth: A Lighted Labyrinth will be available in the Meeting Room from 4pm till 9pm on Thursday the 20th. Come after work, or before or after the Longest Night service, for a practice of meditative walking.
Caroling, Saturday, December 22: In recent years, a group of singers from St. Dunstan’s has enjoyed visiting a few of our members and singing Christmas carols. We’d like to do the same this year. All ages are welcome to participate. We are still working on the details, but if you would like to help make music OR would appreciate a visit by our carolers, please call 238-2781 or email Rev. Miranda.
Welcome, Hope! The Van Landingham family recently welcomed baby Hope to their family, and they could use some meals during the month of January as they make the transition to their new family life. To help with this , go to the St. Dunstan’s website, click on the “Fellowship and Learning” tab, and then click on the the drop down “Sharing Meals”. This will take you the sign up page. Questions? Contact Shirley Laedlein.
Vestry nominations are open! Would you be interested in serving on our vestry, our church’s governing body? Is there someone else you think would be a great candidate? Job descriptions and a box for nominations are in the Gathering Area. Open nominations will run throughout December. We will be electing two new vestry members in January 2019. Wardens and Diocesan Convention deputies must be elected every year, so candidates for Junior and Senior Warden may also be nominated.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Worship
Christmas Service with Pageant, Monday, December 24, 3pm
Festal Eucharist, Monday, December 24, 9pm
Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25, 10am
THE WEEKS AHEAD…
Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, December 28, 6pm: Come join us for good food and good conversation among women of all ages from St. Dunstan’s. This month we will meet at Taigu, 7610 Elmwood Avenue, in downtown Middleton. Please contact Kathy Whitt for more information or to RSVP.
You are Invited! December 29th from 1-4pm for a celebration of the 50th wedding anniversary of John and Rose Rasmus. Please no gifts – your participation is gift enough!
Epiphany Service of Light, Sunday, January 6, 6pm: Join us as we share the story of the Wise Men who came to honor the infant Jesus, and of how the light of Christ has spread through time and space all the way to here and now! All are welcome. Talk to Rev. Miranda or Sharon Henes if you’d like to be a reader for this service. Afterwards, we’ll share dessert and some saint-related brainstorming; if you loved SaintFest or have a favorite saint (or five), come join the conversation!
Epiphany Home Blessings (Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh, Hot Chocolate, Cookies…): ‘Immanuel’ (God with us) means that God’s presence and joy can shine in every home. During the Epiphany Season (in 2019, January 6 – March 5) we celebrate this with home blessings. You can mark your own door with blessed chalk, or one of our clergy can visit to do a simple house blessing. If you’d like, you could invite other parishioners, or neighbors and friends, to join you, and make it a seasonal party! Dates when Rev. Miranda, Father Tom or Father John could visit are available below the big calendar in the Gathering Area. Use your imagination; prayerfully discern how you might share the joy, this Epiphany!
Call for Annual Reports: Every year in December/January, we invite our ministry leaders to submit a paragraph or two about what their ministry is and what they’ve done in the past year. We then compile those reports into an Annual Report, and share it with the congregation in advance of our parish Annual Meeting (9am on Sunday, January 20). If you have something you’d like to share, as a special moment, thanksgiving, or success to share, whether from a particular ministry of just something from the life of this household of faith, you’re welcome to submit it to . The deadline for all Annual Report materials is Monday, January 14.
Madison-Area Julian Gathering, Wednesday, January 9, 1:00pm: St. Julian’s era was one of turmoil and crisis. Contemporary reports indicate that at least half the population of Norwich died from the Plague; the clergy and undertakers could not keep up with the dead bodies. Meanwhile, disease killed the cattle, and harvests failed. In 1381, when Julian was thirty-nine, people became so desperate they rose up in a revolt, looting the churches and monasteries. In the midst of all this, Julian came to believe unshakably that “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” Please join us for contemplative prayer and discussion of Julian’s optimistic theology! For more information, contact Susan Fiore, ObJN.
Men’s Book Club, January 12that 10am: Bring your favorite short story! A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a “single effect” or mood.
Epiphany Pageant, Sunday, January 27: The children of St. Dunstan’s will present a pageant telling the story of Jesus’ birth and the visit of the Wise Men on Sunday, January 28. There will be a rehearsal after church on Sunday, January 21. All kids are welcome to participate!
Taking Communion to the Homebound or Ill: If you or a loved one are unable to get to church and would like someone to visit and bring Communion, contact the office at 238-2781 or and we will ask one of our Lay Eucharistic Visitors to plan a visit.