Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent
Please join us on Sunday, for Holy Eucharist Rite II at 9:30 AM Services are also available online at Live Stream
ST. PETE’S WEEKLY
Welcome! Whatever your religious background, and however you have come to be here, we’re glad to have you join in our praises of God today. We hope you will feel comfortable here and fulfilled and strengthened spiritually to meet the challenges of your daily life.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FOLLOWING:
- For Mark, our Bishop
- For Tom, our Rector
- In our Parish Cycle of Prayer, we pray for our Sunday School Teachers
- In the Anglican Communion Cycle of Prayer, we pray for The Anglican Church of Tanzania
- In the Diocesan Cycle of prayer, we pray for Christ Church, Gordonsville; Grace Church, Bremo Bluff; and La Iglesia Santa Maria, Falls Church
- For Persecuted Christians in Vietnam
- For our President, Joe, Congress, and Judges
- For our Governor, Glenn
- In our Community Cycle of Prayer, we pray for our Fire Fighters and Auxiliaries
- For U.S. troops throughout the world, our foreign service personnel, and contractors
- For those who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflicts and are suffering from posttraumatic stress
- For our Federal, State, & Local Police Officers and Loudoun Valley fire and Rescue Departments
- For the special needs and concerns of this congregation, especially Stuart Auld;; Carrie Marie Burden; Gary Cogle; Pepper Darlington; Alison Davis; Nancy Dillon; Ken Foreman; Bill Geiger; Jennifer House; Gail Hunt; Jo May Ives; Ted & Hollie Kambrod; Steve Koss; Becky Loker; Winifred Love; Grace O’Hara; Phelan & Smith Family; Captain Dale Reed; Lovette Sie; Richard Simonson; Jim Smith; Randy Stoutenburgh; Margaret Thomas; George Thompson; The Bomar Family; The Stiles Family; Sarah & Dick Webster; Ken & Carol; Kevin; Jackie; Sean & Libby; and Vanessa, and all those who suffer from any grief or trouble.
PRAYER NEEDS: Individuals and families may choose to have their names placed on the public and/or private prayer lists. The names on the public prayer list are included during the Prayers of the People during worship on Sunday and in the bulletin. St. Peter’s Prayer Quilt members spquilt@stpetes.net pray for the people on the private list. Names are listed for four weeks. If you would like someone to remain on our list, please send us an update every 4 weeks.
NEW WAYS TO PRAY! We have been doing a lot of praying in new ways this year. Consider joining us or making use of any, or all, of the opportunities below –
- Sweet Hour of Prayer every Wednesday at 10:30 with seven of us regularly gathering.
- Using our new Prayer Cards on the first Sunday during prayers of the people.
- Turning the altar in the Chapel into our Prayer Altar, covered with new prayer requests.
- The Vestry is incorporating praying together into our Strategic Plan and into Vestry meetings.
- And the latest: Gathering an intercessor team to pray for people in-person after church on Sundays. Once the crowd has left the Nave, they’d be happy to meet with you discreetly one-on-one to pray with you.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BULLETIN DEADLINE – Please submit all announcements for the Sunday Bulletin by noon on Wednesday to ensure inclusion in the upcoming bulletin. Send announcements to office@stpetes.net.
2025 PLEDGE CARDS – If you haven’t yet completed a pledge card for 2025, there are some in the narthex. Drop your completed card in the collection plate, put it in the Bookkeeper’s drawer upstairs or mail it to the church.
ADVENT & CHRISTMAS CALENDAR
- Blue Christmas (A Service of Healing & Hope ) – Dec. 19, 7:00 pm
- Christmas Youth Event – Dec. 21, 3:00 pm
- Family Christmas Eve – Dec. 24, 5:00 pm
- Festival Prelude Music – Dec. 24, 10:30 pm
- Candlelight Holy Eucharist – Dec. 24, 11:00 pm
- Christmas Day Eucharist – Dec. 25, 11:00 am
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY CALENDAR
- Pageant Rehearsal during class on December 15th and 22nd.
- Dress Rehearsal on Monday, December 23rd from 4:30 – 5:30 PM. (At this rehearsal, kids will have their costumes and we will run through the Pageant in the Sanctuary.)
- Children should arrive by 4:30 PM on Christmas Eve. The Christmas Pageant will take place on Christmas Eve at the 5:00 PM Family Service.
- NO Sunday School on December 29th and January 5th.
- The Nursery will be available onDecember 22nd, January 5th, and January 19th. (More dates to follow.)
MUSIC DIRECTOR COMMITTEE SEARCH WEEKLY UPDATE – The Music Director Search Committee is excited to begin working on finding our next Director of Music! Be on the lookout for a survey designed to get your ideas for what you’d like to see/hear from our choir/music program. Check back here every week for updates on our progress!
REQUEST FOR SINGERS – Holiday Events & Sunday Mornings @ 8:30. Calling all singers who would like to join on Sundays, as well as for the Blue Christmas service and Christmas services at special service times. Please contact Judi Novak if interested.
WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP ORNAMENT EXCHANGE – Today, December 15th, 2024 immediately following coffee hour. We will gather (briefly) in McCray Hall for an ornament exchange. Bring one ornament, homemade or store bought, under $10. Please let Deana Czaban know via email (kelly_dscm@yahoo.com) if you’re planning to join in!
BLUE CHRISTMAS SERVICE – December 19th, 2024 @ 7:00 pm. After the service there will be a gathering in the parish hall for refreshments. If you would like to prepare some baked items, please add your name to the signup sheet on the bulletin board. Cookies, coffee cake, pies, or a treat of your choice would be greatly appreciated. For any additional information please call Justine Phelan 571-577-1749.
CHRISTMAS YOUTH EVENT – December 21st, 2024 @ 3:00 pm. Christmas Party! (Gingerbread house competition, cookie decorating, and white elephant gift exchange.)
LEARNING ABOUT OUR GUATEMALA MISSION TRIPS – January 5th, 2025 @ 4:00-5:30 pm in the Room #201 @ St. Pete’s. People who are interested in going this year, people who may have an interest in the future and any past team member who is willing to share their experiences are invited. Snacks and beverages will be provided. For additional information, contact Steve Schultz at 703-727-2939.
HOPE FOR HOME CHRISTMAS SPONSORSHIPS – Hope for Home is a collection of homes that provide care for and minister disabled children and adults in Guatemala and Liberia. St. Pete’s has been a critical part of their mission for several years. We sponsor two children every month and we also visit them during our mission trip in June. The need is great there and funds are limited. They need our help in making Christmas a special celebration this year. Please consider sponsoring a child throughout the year and/or making a special donation to help make their Christmas a little brighter. Donations can be made directly on their website (www.Hopeforhome.org) or make check payable to St. Peter’s and put “Hope for Home” in the memo line.
CHRISTMAS FLOWERS
We invite you to make a special offering toward flowers that will decorate the church during the Christmas season. Memorials are usually in the amount of $25.00, but any amount is acceptable. Checks should be made out to: St. Peter’s and indicate “Christmas Flowers” on the memo line. Contributions may be: (1) put into the offering plate, (2) put into Mel’s mail drawer (located in upstairs hallway), (3) dropped off or mailed to the church office.
TODAY, December 15, 2024. is the LAST SUNDAY to make donations. Please print your memorial below exactly the way you wish it to read. Print legibly, so names will be listed correctly in the bulletin.
Please check one of the dedications below:
- In thanksgiving for …
- In memory of…
- In honor of…
Name or occasion
Given by:
Daytime Phone:
| Thank you Father Tom, the Men’s Club, Mt. Calvary Women’s Guild and St. Peter’s parishioners for your support from the beginning to end of Mike’s passing. The loss of Mike is devastating, but all of you have brought order & light to a chaotic and dark time.
God bless you. Nancy
|
LEARNING
MASTERING THE BIBLE STUDY CLASS –We meet after the service in the Rector’s Office. Let’s master the bible together! Based on the book “Brief Insights on Mastering the Bible” by Michael S. Heiser.
GRACE THROUGH THE EYES OF JESUS BIBLE STUDY –Please join us at 11:15 on Sunday mornings for this SeeJesus interactive Bible study based on stories from the Gospel of Luke. This study “…allows participants to absorb the Scriptures through engaging questions, theological insights, useful charts, and interesting historical backgrounds centered around the truth of the gospel. There is no more practical way to be transformed by the doctrine of grace than to learn it from our Redeemer, Jesus.” Contact Maggie Snyder at maggiesnyder77@gmail.com.
ADULT FORMATION: FIGHT FOR SOULS – Share a meal, share the gospel. If you desire to do what Jesus says, consider joining the Fight for Souls group!
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matt. 9:13
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying His voice? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” –1 Sam. 15:22
“I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes. I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.” -Ps. 119: 58-60
“God is God, and since He is God, He is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere else but in His will, and that will is necessarily, infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.” -Elizabeth Elliot