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pastor  dan's weekly  memo  for  December 31, 2014

12/31/2014

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It’s the last Memo of 2014. I was deciding whether to talk about the year that has past or the year that is upon us; Tuesday was my last full day in the office in 2014, when something of an omen for the direction of this memo revealed itself. I was rearranging some books on my shelf thinking maybe I should start the New Year by making my office look a little neater when…I bumped my coffee mug off the shelf and chipped it.

Now this is no ordinary coffee mug.  I’ve told several of you about it; someone in my   very first church gave this coffee mug to me as a Christmas gift in 1984.  It has survived for 30 years and I’ve used it most days I’ve been in my office.  I think the handle where I’ve held it and the rim from which I have drunk have conformed to my grip and lips.  It has held some very good coffee and some very bad coffee, I’ve eaten soup out of it, drank just about everything you can imagine I’d have in my office to drink out of it. I’ve even served communion using it.  And now, now it has been rendered unusable, another relic to sit on my shelf and admire.

I feel a bit silly, that I see this broken coffee mug as some sort of loss when there are plenty more important things to grieve in my life and in our world today, but I do.  Sometimes these sorts of things draw our attention to what is important. You see as mundane as it may sound; I’m concerned that I am going to have to decide which coffee cup will now take the place of my old, comfortable, form fitting, my name on the side of it so everyone knows it’s mine…coffee cup. And I’m going to have to do that starting the first day back in the office in 2015. 

This got me to thinking of course of the other things that have been chipped or that I have discovered are broken or that are no longer useable within me that I need to leave behind in 2014.  Some of these are much harder to let go of, there are a lot of things I’m trying to hold onto, and like my chipped cup… they could still work…for a while.  But sooner or later I’m going to forget about that chip and I’m going to cut my lip on it.  Maybe it would last another year before it started to crack down the side and leak but I doubt it, the chip is more than Rick can glue back on. 

So I’m letting my mug of 30 years go and along with it I hope a few other things that have served me very well.  The only option I can think of is to quit drinking coffee. And even though that may be a choice many would advise, I’m going to take it one thing at time.  I’ve already chosen a replacement, which is itself a story for another day.

Happy New Year!

Pastor Dan

 


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pastor  dan's  weekly  memo for  December 23, 2014

12/23/2014

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Please come and join us for Christmas Eve Services on Wednesday, December 24.  Have a Blessed Christmas! Pastor Dan and EPUMC Staff

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Christmas Eve Services

4:00 p.m.: “It Was Not a Silent Night”

Family Centered - Candlelight Worship Service


10:00 p.m.:
“A Service of Lessons & Carols”

Communion and Candlelight Service

Music: Chancel Choir

9:40 pm: Pre-Service Concert

Advent and Christmas Anthems

Presented by the Chancel Choir

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Pastor dan's weekly memo - December 18, 2014

12/18/2014

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The weather people tell us that in order for Christmas to be white there needs to be at least one inch of snow on the ground.   The weather people also say that something like 75% of our Christmases are white, but that this year we are at a risk of having…well I don’t know what to call it.  Is it a “non-white Christmas?”  Is it a “brown Christmas?”   Last week when it was raining I saw several places that would have to call it a “green Christmas.”

Whatever you call it… Christmas without snow to a lot of us who have spent all or most of our lives in the Snow Belt just doesn’t seem right. So now I’m wondering what are some of the other things that like a white Christmas, we have our hearts set on.  There is Christmas music of many different varieties.  I mean who doesn’t listen to Nat King Cole and Burl Ives at Christmas.  For one thing you can’t help it… walk into any mall and it’s been on since Halloween.  Or what about the real Christmas Tree verses the artificial Christmas Tree.  Our young adult children who have different traditions about everything else in life, think we have given up on Christmas because a couple of years ago, with both of them living elsewhere we put up an artificial tree.

Whatever else you need to feel right about Christmas I hope that on the top of your list is going to church on Christmas Eve.  Our services are at 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.  Our four o’clock service will have our children reenacting the Christmas story.  We’ll have small props for them to wear and come forward at the right time depending on if they are an angel, a star or a shepherd.   At the ten o’clock service we’re a bit more formal with the Chancel Choir singing and Holy Communion.  At both services we will do something that makes Christmas for a lot of us.  After hearing the Christmas story we’ll sing “Silent Night,” turn down the lights and light individual candles. 

There is something about candlelight that makes Christmas for most of us. Perhaps it is the softness of the light in an often-harsh world that moves us.  From my viewpoint up in front, it is the glow that our separate candles combine to create.  I can also see individual faces in that common light.  And what gets to me in those moments, in the glow of that light, is how it is that God came to be one of us, for each of us and for all of us. 

Each of us needs something a little different for Christmas to become real for us.  God knows this.  And into each of our lives, to each one of our needs God sends God’s-self.  “Christ the Savior is Born…” is how we say this when we hold our candles and sing.  And perhaps it is in the soft light of candles and the almost breathless repeating of that phrase on Christmas Eve that we begin to believe it.

Have a Blessed Christmas…

Pastor Dan

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pastor dan's weekly memo - December 11, 2014

12/11/2014

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It is only three days before the Choir’s annual Cantata and I’m looking out my office window at a less-than-white landscape wondering “where’s our white Christmas?”  By the way, this is Don Prestly, Dir. of Worship and Music, writing this week’s Memo. Pastor Dan is away on a retreat for a few days. Do you remember him asking you for topic or subject ideas you would like for him to preach on? Well, he is off by himself planning the worship service themes for next year – that’s right, for all of 2015! Keep him in your prayers over the next couple of days as he works on this challenging, but very important project. Now, back to the Cantata.

This Sunday the Chancel Cantata Choir and Orchestra will present “Love Came Down at Christmas” by Joel Raney during worship. This work is a wonderful mix of many familiar carols, along with new songs written by Joel. We also have a Guest Soloist this year. Our own Téa Sopoci-Hardin will join the choir on “Grant Us Peace”.  I had the privilege of attending a music reading workshop this past July where Joel Raney was the Guest Clinician. These annual workshops, sponsored by J.W. Pepper Music and where I purchase most of our choir and handbell music, are a gathering of music directors and choir directors from around the area and southern Minnesota. And what goes on at these workshops? All of us “directors” sit together and sing through about 50 or more new anthems. It’s a great time!  I had already identified “Love Came Down….” as a strong candidate as this year’s cantata, so I was really looking forward to the workshop after I saw that Joel was this year’s clinician.  After spending some time with Joel talking about his cantata, as well as our music programs and our wonderful Chancel Choir, I knew that this was the piece for us!

The Choir has been working hard since October and the orchestra and choir came together last night for the one and only choir/orchestra rehearsal before Sunday’s performance.  I’m always impressed by how quickly and how well the two groups come together with their one rehearsal. Our orchestra is made up of string, woodwind and brass players from the Twin Cities area. I’ve been very fortunate to have been working with many of the same musicians for several years. In fact, this is the 8th year that our string group has been with us, all thanks to our 2nd Violinist, Karen Moon. Karen heads up the String Education program at the MacPhail Center for Music. All of this year’s string players are teachers at MacPhail.  Many of our woodwind and brass players have also been with us for several years. It’s a real gift to have such a strong and wide pool of musicians to draw from. Give them a “thank you” on Sunday, if you get the chance.

And let’s not forget about our wonderful choir!  The Chancel Choir, along with additional folks who join them to be part of the Cantata Choir, is a very talented group who gather each Wednesday evening for 90 minutes starting in September. The glorious sounds you’ll hear on Sunday, along with the other Sunday’s when the choir sings throughout the year, is because they work hard, they love to sing and they love our church and our church family. As I said, they work hard every week! Their director (that’d be me!) works them hard, but what they accomplish at rehearsals and then bring to you on Sunday mornings is nothing short of fantastic. I am blessed and grateful to have the privilege to lead this great group of singers and I am very much looking forward this Sunday’s presentation. I know you’ll enjoy it, too.

The weather (predicted highs in the 40s!) will make getting to church this year seem like a breeze compared to the past few years on Cantata Sunday. So, invite your family, friends and neighbors and let’s “fill the Sanctuary” as the Chancel Cantata Choir and Orchestra present “Love Came Down at Christmas”.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Don Prestly
Director of Worship and Music



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pastor dan's  weekly  memo  for  December 4, 2014

12/4/2014

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It’s the first full week of December when all of us are making plans for the Holiday season.  Without trying to make your life even more hectic, here are a few things so you know about all your options here at EPUMC this Christmas Season.  We may not have any sales going on or reindeer for the kids, but there are some special events worth knowing about.  Also, if you’re here at the right time there are deer that mosey through our parking lot.

First, Worship during this season is what we call Advent.  It is at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings.  Think of coming to worship in December as preparation for coming to church on Christmas Eve. The more you show up the deeper the experience is; which so many of us long for in the middle of the hurrying and scurrying of this season in our culture.

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This Sunday, December 7th at 4:30-6:30 p.m. it is the Advent Celebration! Everyone is invited to join in the fun.  Our evening begins with several crafts to make, continues with a pizza supper, and concludes with A PLAY, titled “Innkeeper’s Dilemma”.  Deb knocks this one out of the park, if you’re a family with younger children or if you like being a kid at Christmas this is something not to miss.

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Next Sunday, December 14th our worship service will be the Chancel Cantata Choir and Orchestra presentation of "Love Came Down at Christmas" by Joel Raney. Cantata Sunday is a perfect Sunday to invite your friends who love music to come and share in our worship. Under Don’s direction the Chancel Cantata Choir and Orchestra take full advantage of the amazing sound quality of our sanctuary. It is a truly amazing day.


On Saturday, December 20th at 4:00 p.m. it is the 4th Annual Family Christmas Gathering. There is food, live music, and Christmas Carols.  This event grew out of a few families, couples, and individuals who just plain wanted to be together with others from our church at Christmas.            

And of course Christmas Eve; our services are at 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Both services end with lighting candles and singing “Silent Night.”  At the 4:00 p.m. service we are more family/children centered.  We had no problems last year with kids and candles.  At the 10:00 p.m. service it is a service of lessons and carols with the Chancel Choir singing several anthems.  

So there it is all in one place.  We hope to see you sometime in this beautiful season.  

Keep the Faith!

Pastor Dan

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