First Presbyterian Church December 2024
Sacred Time
Friday, 11/22/24: Right now, I am thinking about my long to-do list for things that should happen in the next week or two. I did cross one thing off my list yesterday, i.e. finish quilting a table runner in time for Thanksgiving. (Thank you, Dolores, for fixing my mistakes on it). However, that was a project that took months longer than planned due to my surgery, and it is just the tip of my holiday iceberg of busyness. I still need to write this newsletter article, come up with a sermon for Sunday, plus the Thanksgiving Eve Service at Huron, etc. That is why I was encouraged by the lectionary commentary for this week, which is from the Presbyterian Outlook magazine, https://pres-outlook.org/2024/11/twenty-seventh-sunday-after-pentecost-november-24-2024/ .
“Christ the King Sunday’s origins go back to December 11, 1925, when Pope Pious XI released Quas Primas, and called for a new feast day celebrating the Lordship and Kingship of Jesus Christ. ‘Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature…’. It talks about how our liturgical year ends on this triumphant note, and then begins again with the first Sunday of Advent a week later.
Pope Pious XI wrote the following statement 99 years ago in the aftermath of World War One, but it is still quite relevant today.
“The seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin.”
Christ the King Sunday is considered religious trivia these days, though it is a profound statement about the sacred nature of time. Jesus Christ’s introduction to the world started in obscurity, and ends with a proclamation of him as King in the timeless kingdom of God. It speaks of the imminent needs of the “NOW”, and contrasts them with God’s will and purposes, i.e. sacred time.
Post Script note. I used an example of a quilt in my sermon to depict this, and here is how John Ray summed it up during the question and answer time on Sunday, 11/24/24.
“When we are self-centered, we are like the random pieces of fabric. Our priorities are scattered about without purpose. When we become Christ-centered, the individual pieces become organized into something beautiful with a purpose.”
Rev. Walter Stuber
First Presbyterian Church
11988 W. Main St., Wolcott, NY 14590
585-217-6030 stuberman1@yahoo.com
www.wolcottpresbyterian.com
Deacons’ Christmas Envelopes
There are Deacon Christmas envelopes in the Narthex. Your donations will help some elderly people this year!
Christmas Concert
The Christmas in Wolcott Concert sponsored by Lyons National Bank will be on Sunday, December 8that 3 p.m. at the Wolcott Presbyterian Church. Admission is free. All cash donations will benefit the Wolcott Council of Churches food pantry. Refreshments will be served this year. We will need cookies so if you are able to help out, that would be great.
Children’s Christmas Pageant
This year, our children and teen Christmas Pageant will be during worship on Sunday, December 22nd. Parents: please have your children arrive by 9:30 a.m. on the 22nd, to rehearse in the sanctuary.
Christmas Boxes
Christmas Boxes will be distributed on Tuesday, December 17.
Pop-Up Choir
There will be a pop-up choir on the morning of December 22.
Christmas Eve Service
There will be an ecumenical Christmas Eve Service at our church this year at
7 p.m.
Festival of Trees and Holiday Parade
The 21st Annual Festival of Trees tree lighting sponsored by the Wolcott Historical Society will be held on Saturday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. in Northup Park. It will be followed at approximately 7 p.m. by the annual area parade. The parade will end at the Wolcott Fire Hall with refreshments.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, December 7: 6:30 p.m. Festival of Trees tree lighting in
Northup Park followed by the annual parade at 7 p.m.
Sunday, December 8: 3 p.m. Community Christmas Concert at the Wolcott Presbyterian Church
Tuesday, December 17: Community Christmas Boxes
Sunday, December 22: Children and Teen Christmas Pageant; Pop-Up Choir
Tuesday, December 24: 7 p.m. Ecumenical Christmas Eve Service
In Our Thoughts
Perhaps you would like to send a Christmas card to the following people in our church family:
Valerie Cahoon: c/o of Tom Cahoon, 12341 Bovee Road, Wolcott, NY 14590
Ellen Elwell: The Village at Penfield, Room 221, 2006 Five Mile Line Rd., Penfield, NY 15426.
Edith Hutchings: Wayne County Nursing Home, Garden Valley Room 171, 1529 Nye Rd., Lyons, NY 14489
Maxine Pankratz: Sunset Nursing and Rehab. Ctr., 232 Academy Street, Boonville, NY 13309-1397
Bob Strong: c/o Stuart Strong, 3636 Estate Circle, Larkspur, CO 80118
Arlene Youngman: Wayne County Nursing Home, 1529 Nye Rd., Lyons, NY 14489..
December Anniversaries
Bill & Cheryl Gilbert 12/31/67
Randy & Marti Ann Gillette 12/28/73
Mike & Laurie Johnson12/27/14
Richard & Izetta Younglove12/22/71
December Birthdays
Tammy Vezzose12/18
Chris Kenyon12/4
Jackie Lockwood12/18
Michael Lockwood12/8
Maxine Pankratz12/9
Rich Steves12/25
Dan Tatum12/27
Noel Tyler12/25
Luna Vezzose12/25
Marissa Vezzose12/22
Izetta Younglove12/31