Christmas draweth nigh!

Dear Friends,

Christmas draweth nigh! And as one of the catalogs that came to me in the mail announced on its cover, “If there was ever a year that needed Christmas, it's 2020.” This has been a year like no other. There has been so much suffering, turmoil and dis-ease, so this year we welcome Christmas with a very particular joy, a joy that comes into the darkness and gladens our hearts with the light of Christ. Isaiah’s ancient prophecy rings out to us across the ages,

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness---on them light has shined."

Isaiah 9:2

Christmas is different this year, but no less joyful. We will have our normal services, but experience them in a different way, on-line. Our 4 pm Christmas pageant is very sweet and poignant with our children bringing us the message of Jesus’ birth through their eyes. Our 6 and 10 p.m. services will be a traditional Festival Holy Eucharist with choir, carols and even a virtual candle-lighting.

I hope that you will watch both services since each brings the nativity to life in a different way. I pray that whether you are alone, with family, in Arlington or away, you will feel surrounded by our community joined together in prayer on-line and know at the very center of your being that God is with you.

Christmas blessings,

Shearon+