During our staff meeting this week, we read an excerpt from , "Mary Had a Baby-- An Advent Bible Study Based on African American Spirituals." It's a lovely little book that combines spirituals, scripture, history, questions, and more. Each section opens with an African American Spiritual. The section we read opens with a longtime favorite of mine, "Children, Go Where I Send Thee."  As we read it together as a staff, I realized that the song is not as familiar to everyone as I assumed. The opening lines go as follows:

Children, go where I send thee.
How shall I send thee?
I'm gonna send thee one by one.
One for the little bitty baby
who's born, born, born in Bethlehem.
I'm gonna send you two by two
Two for Joseph and Mary.
Three for the good, old wise men.
Four for the shepherds who knocked at the door.
Five for the animals in the stall.
Six for the stars that shone brightly.

I encourage you to take some time as you prepare for Christmas, maybe while you're wrapping gifts, cooking, or just spending time with family and friends, to listen to this song; for some of you it may also be a favorite, but for others it may be new. Perhaps even in time of prayer and meditation this week, press into the story of Jesus' birth and how, Mary and Joseph, listened to God, going where God sent them, when so much still felt uncertain. As Advent draws to a close and we head into Christmastide, I wonder where God is sending each of us? 

Celebrating the Incarnation. This weekend we are holding services on the 24th, 25th, and 26th.

• For Christmas Eve our service will be at 5pm. This will be a Eucharistic service with a kids choir offering, and will conclude outdoors with carols and candles. This is great night to invite a friend! Bring cookies or Christmas snacks to share!

  • The Garden - We will not have childcare/nursery. For any parents that would like the option, we will stream the service in the nursery so parents can watch and then join for communion and caroling.

• On Christmas we'll worship at 11am. This is a short service of Holy Communion, featuring a reading of the Christmas story. The service will be about 45 minutes. Feel free to come in something comfy (even pajamas!).

• The First Sunday of Christmastide at 10am. This is a traditional "Lesson & Carols" Service, guiding us through salvation history as we rejoice over Christ's coming.

  • The Garden - We will only have seeds/seedlings available. Older children will remain in service.

We loved having the children sing for us during service last week; what a gift! If you weren't able to be there or if you just want to listen again, here's the recording:part 1 andpart 2

The peace of Christ,
Kimberly+