Weekly Update 5 December 2025

Reflection

The Second Sunday of Advent

…and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6)

The following Imaginative Prayer Exercise is taken from Arts & Faith: Advent, IgnatianSpirituality.com

Preparation
As we begin this time of quiet prayer, I invite you to find a comfortable place to sit with your back straight and your legs planted on the ground. Allow yourself to notice your breathing as you breathe normally. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Take a few moments and close your eyes, preparing yourself to listen to what God may be saying to you during this prayer. As you sit with your eyes closed, use these or similar words: “Here I am, Lord. Here I am.” When you are ready, open your eyes and pray.

What is Impossible is Possible
Imagine you are walking along a path in a park. It is a beautiful day. The sun is shining in a clear, blue sky. The air is crisp and cool. It is fragrant with the smell of evergreens that are in clusters along the path. You stop to look and listen to what is around you. You hear the sound of the wind as it whispers through the trees. You notice a squirrel as it runs left then right then left, looking for something to take to his nest. You smile. All is good. All is full of life. You feel a part of all that is.

You make your way home and make a cup of tea. Sitting by the fire you think over your morning walk and you pray: My God, thank you for all that surrounds me. I know your presence embraces me, helping me to know you are here. Thank you. You sit in the quiet and begin to doze off. Resting your head on a pillow you fall asleep and dream. In your dream, you are lying under a large tree. Its trunk is enormous and leads up to branches that spread out over a great distance. You look up and begin to see the faces of those you love sitting on the branches of the tree. Who do you see in the tree? Do they see you? What are they doing? Why are they here?

You hear some movement near you. You raise your head and see coming towards you a small child. He is smiling, perhaps laughing. He comes up to you with open arms and wraps them around your neck. “Let’s play,” he says. “I will run and you try to catch me.” His joy makes you laugh. You wonder where this child has come from. Why is he here? You ask him, “But what about all these people in the tree? I don’t want to leave them.” He looks at you with such joy. “It’s OK. They’ll be happy because you’re happy.” As you stand up, he runs off giggling and laughing. You pretend not to be able to catch him. He suddenly stops and jumps into your arms. He kisses your neck and says, “Look. Everyone is laughing so hard the tree is shaking.” You look into his eyes and are overwhelmed with such peace and love that your eyes are brimming with tears. You think, Why am I feeling this way about this little child? He jumps down from your arms and walks towards the tree. You follow him and sit with him under the tree still shaking with laughter. “I love you,” he says. “I’ve always loved you. You are a part of who I am.” He then begins to climb the tree. As he climbs, he greets each person with joy and laughter. He climbs all the way to the top of the tree and stands on the furthest branch. You see standing beside him a wolf and a lamb. Who is this small child? What do you want to say to him as he stands on the top of the tree?

As you look up to him, his words come back to you: You are a part of who I am. What does this mean to you? What does it mean to all those you love who are there with you?

Who are the children in your life that have shown you the face of God? How has God helped to make what you thought impossible, possible? (Is. 11:6)

Concluding Prayer
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Sunday Service

Sunday, 7 December 2025
The Second Sunday of Advent
Year A

Holy Eucharist

10:30 am
Christ Church Sanctuary
1216 Seventh Street, Anacortes
The service is also available on YouTube.

Servers
Presider: The Rev. Jonathan Weldon*
Deacon: The Rev. Eric Johnson
Homilist: MJ Barrett
Altar Guild: Mary Gronholt
Eucharistic Minister: Shirley Barrett
Bread Ministry: Jim Minton
Readers: Jason Wells, Judy McClelland
Ushers: Jerlyn Caba, Geoff Holmes
Eucharistic Visitor: June Cook
Organist: Lynne Berg
Coffee Hour Host: James
*Updated - The Rev. Jonathan Weldon, retired priest from St. Paul’s Church Bellingham, will be with us this Sunday in place of The Rev. Courtney Jones.

Readings
Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
Readings may be found in the Episcopal Lectionary.

Hymns
H 65 - Prepare the Way, O Zion
H 59 - Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding
H 616 - Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
H 75 - There’s a Voice in the Wilderness Crying
H 542 - Christ is the World’s True Light

Bulletin Link: 7 December 2025
YouTube Sunday Service Link

Coffee Hour & Presentation
Coffee Hour & Presentation follow the service.
All are welcome.

Announcements

A Joyful Noise December 2025

Find all the December news at A Joyful Noise December 2025.

One Parish One Prisoner Ministry

This Sunday, December 7, Christ Church will officially enter into a new ministry, One Parish One Prisoner. This program pairs a church with a soon to be released prisoner to help them make a successful transition back into society.
Alvin Shim, Program Manager for One Parish One Prisoner (OPOP), will make a short presentation to the congregation at Coffee Hour.

In order to learn more about our congregation, OPOP has asked that congregants complete a questionnaire, which may be accessed at the following link: Mugshot for Christ Episcopal Church Anacortes.

Handel’s Messiah Singalong

Sunday, December 13
6pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church
1300 Ninth Street, Anacortes

A note from Gillian Westerman, Director of Music, Worship, & Arts, Westminster Presbyterian Church:

Bring your score or borrow one of ours and come sing along with Handel's Messiah!  We will have areas reserved for those who want to sing, to sit with their section.  Not a singer?  Come and listen as part of the audience. 

This year's concert will once again feature your favorite choruses and wonderful local and Seattle based soloists, including Bass-Baritone Charles Robert Stephens, Tenor Daniel Markham, and Soprano Hannah Flournoy.  As always, our wonderful conductor Philip Tschopp will take the podium and direct the chamber orchestra and our ad hoc choir.

We hope you will join us for this wonderful musical celebration of God's love. It is sure to add joy to your Christmas season!  

This year’s Messiah Singalong was underwritten by area churches and donors, including Christ Episcopal Church.

Weekly Prayer Services

Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer will resume in the Spring.

Evening Prayer
Wednesday, December 10
Presider: Jim Minton
6:00 - 6:30 pm
All are welcome.

Men’s Group

The Men’s Group meets weekly on Fridays.
9:00 – 10:00 am
Parish Hall Gathering Room
Questions? Please contact The Rev. Eric Johnson.
All are welcome.

The Red Door Thrift Shop

Dawn Jex

Dawn Jex, Red Door Manager

Hello Everyone and Welcome to December,

If you have not been in to see our new space yet, you really should! It is looking fabulous and organized and clean in here! The new expanded retail space is looking great too! Wait till you see it!

As we are now working in our new building there will be a few growing pains as we figure out how to work the most efficiently in this new space and how things are going to be stored. 

A few notes: 
We cannot put anything near the electrical panel next to the back door. We must leave 36 inches of space or we can be fined by the fire department. So please do not put garbage, or boxes or signs or anything in that area. 

As the donation and pricing areas are now near each other this will make it easier to work as a team. If donation bins are full and ready, please ask the pricers if there is room for more bins. If the answer is no - there are two options: donation workers can help price and put items out on the floor, or donations folks can temporarily close donations until pricing gets caught up.  Working together will make the process quicker and smoother. 

In the Seasonal display area you will see that there are some milk crates stacked on top of the metal shelves. I have designated these crates for out of season clothing. We will transfer (for now) summer clothing up into those bins. This will allow for better air flow instead of the clothing being in plastic bags which can cause mildew and bad smells. 

For those of you who work in donations - please see the attached document for Christmas Inventory Procedures. I will print out a copy of this document and put it near the shelves so we can refer to it if needed. For the next few weeks all Christmas should get priced and put out on the floor. Then we will begin our new Inventory Control which has us pricing those items before we store them - so that next year we won't be rushed to get it all priced before we put it out. Hallelujah!

Also, today was Debbie's last day to clean The Red Door so until we get another cleaner on board I would love some help with the floors. If one of us can run the swiffer around the floor and vacuum the rugs at the end of each day that will help keep the dirt to a minimum. Debbie has already noticed some black tarry smudges on the new flooring so please be aware if you see where that might be coming from! 

I think that's everything for now. Thank you for your patience and all of your helpful input as we all work together to fit into our new digs.  

Happy Holidays,
Dawn

Christ Church’s Red Door Thrift Shop is located at 1019 Seventh Street in Anacortes.
Red Door Thrift Shop
360.202.9966

Red Door Shopping Hours:
Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday: 10am – 3pm

Red Door Donation Hours:
Monday & Wednesday: 10am – 1pm
Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday: 10am – 3pm

Profits generated at the Red Door Thrift Shop fund Christ Church’s Community Support program.
Shoppers, Volunteers, & Donations are always welcome!

Day by Day

Day by Day daily devotions may be accessed at the following link:
Day by Day Daily Devotion.

Prayer List

Pat, mother of Dan
Creamy & family
Jim, father of Stephanie
Gaylene
Veronica
Shelley
Mary
Diane
Rev. Rilla & family
Linda, sister-in-law of Lynne
Myrna
Arra, aunt of Carol
Sandy
Dale
Zoanne
Linda
Tom
Karen
Leslie
Diana
Val
John
Foundation for Academic Endeavors
Cedar, Pete & Charlene, and Brendan, family & friends of Mary