Notes from the Coach
A Pair of New Years
Between now and my next note to you, we will have celebrated not one, but two New Year’s Days, one sacred, the other secular. All
of us know about January 1, a day famous for its hangovers, resolutions and football. January 1 has been New Year’s ever since the
ancient Romans began to count. The first month of the year was named for the god Janus, god of gateways, the hinge at the turning
of the times. The Janus gates in Rome were opened in times of war and closed during times of peace. Christians celebrate January 1
as the Feast of the Holy Name. Like all Jewish sons, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth and given his name. This
year it falls on a Sunday so we will celebrate the Feast of the naming of the child.
The other New Year, the sacred one, comes far more quietly and tentatively than January 1. For the church, the New Year begins on
the first Sunday of Advent, a time of darkness, emptiness and expectation. We spend the last weeks of autumn steeped in the myster-
ies of the coming of God, in the blazing leaf brilliance of our bustle and our haste, and then it all comes crashing to a close. Just as
high school football and soccer are coming to an end, we light the first candle on the Advent Wreath and await the coming of the sea-
son, not of basketball, but the coming of the Christ Child.
The liturgy changes at Advent. We put the Alleluia away for four Sundays. We sing simple songs full of hope. At Kids’ Church,
we’ll be doing a four part series called “Road to Bethlehem.” It’s beautiful and simple and fun. We build a creche as we gather all
the characters who need to be on hand so that Jesus can be born. I’ll be teaching you a fun new song, “Sheep sheep dontcha know the
road.” (Hogwarts alums will remember it.) Do bring your friends and share with them all the mystery and the merriment of the sea-
son.
Although the Episcopal Church suggests that we don’t sing Christmas carols until Advent is done, we also need to get into voice for
Christmas. Therefore, the first three Thursdays in December will be singing Thursdays. We’ll spend a half hour on the Bishop
Search Curriculum and an hour rehearsing Christmas music. You’ll find more information within.
Christmas Eve is on Saturday night this year and we’re doing a super new pageant! We need young actors and singers. Christmas
Day will be a single service at 10 a.m. Come in robes and jammies and I promise you another memorable story like “Jesus’ Puppy”
which we heard last year.
And finally, Annual Meeting comes round on January 29th. We’ll be well into the New Year by then, but that, too, will be new. After
our Bishop’s Committee and Electing Delegate elections, we’re going to have a Dream Session, to dream dreams of where we would
like Redeemer to be during the next five years. A Labyrinth for meditation, a healing room for prayer, a place to teach, rest, nurture,
worship, play and grow in the gifts that God has so generously bestowed upon us all. Happy New Years.
Love,
The Coach
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES AND SPECIAL EVENTS:
December 11th 4-8: Ardeo Aura Youth Service
December 22nd 6:30: Family Christmas Caroling Party
December 24th 5:00: Christmas Pageant and Family Service
December 25th 10:00: Single Service for Christmas Day
January 1st: Feast of the Holy Name
January 29th 10:00 Single Service Followed by Brunch and Annual Meeting
December 2005 —
January 2006
Church of the
Redeemer
Redeemer Review
From the Vicar
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