New for Wednesday Evenings in Advent – Every Wednesday our usual service of Holy Eucharist with a Service of Healing is held at 7:00 p.m. and during Advent this service will be followed at 7:30 p.m. by an hour devoted to quiet reflection and conversation.  If you are looking for a moment of peace and a space to get away from the bustle of the season and focus on the meaning of Advent, please join us!   A lovely, quiet soul-refreshing informal service held in the church and a very meaningful preparation for Christmas.  Come for the service at 7:00 or just come for the reflection and conversation at 7:30.   You’ll come away refreshed.

What’s Happening at St. Peter’s

One Tag Left!!:  The Church of the Holy Family has once again shared with us their mission of making the Christmas season a bit happier for others who are not so fortunate by letting us take a tag and buy a gift for a stranger. The tags went like hot cakes! There is only one left. Please return the gift you purchased (wrapped & with the tag attached) by Sunday, December 13th when the gifts will be collected by a representative of the Church of the Holy Family. Thank you so much! We always come through for Holy Family each year, and, once again, you have demonstrated your generosity!

 Christmas Pageant sign-up – The Christmas Pageant is coming up soon.  It will be held at the 10 a.m. service on the 4th Sunday of Advent (December 20th).  If you or your child would enjoy being a part of this Annual Christmas event, please speak with Allison Forrest or call or email her. Rehearsals will be held Sundays after the 10 am service.

 Christmas Flower sign-up – A sheet for ordering Christmas flowers to honor loved ones or give thanks and used to decorate the church is now at the back of the church (on the bulletin board) along with a manila envelope for the checks.  Please do not put your flower money in the offertory plate.  If you pay with cash please be sure to place the cash in an envelope well-marked with your name and ‘Christmas Flowers’ (or you may drop it off in the office).  Please write your name and the name of the person(s) remembered or honored on the sheet. Be a Christmas angel and please write clearly.

Women’s Club – The next Women’s Club meeting will be held on Monday, December 14th at 7:00 at Joan Churney’s home.   This is our annual Christmas party and everyone is invited – even if you’ve never come before!  We each bring a wrapped Christmas ornament for a Yankee Swap which is a lot of fun.  We all bring the usual snacks and beverages so the food is very tasty.  Please join us for a fun event!   You can call Joan at 860-228-0027 for directions and more info.  If you want to carpool, call Kathy Kniep at 860-295-1251 and we’ll make arrangements.  Hope to see you there!

A message from the choir loft – CALLING ALL SINGERS!!!!  Any men or women that would like to sing in St. Peter’s choir are invited to join us Sunday mornings at the 10 am service. We meet on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 – 8:15 and Sunday mornings at 9:05 to rehearse. Anyone interested please speak to the organist (Josh Ziemski).

Calling All Youth!  Judi Babin and Lynn Hassouna  have begun a new series of discussions for youth to be held on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. in Father Perry’s office. Any young person in grades 7 through 12 is welcome to join them. These discussions will continue to be held on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. More events are being planned including a Confirmation Class starting in January. Stay tuned!!!

Confirmation Classes to begin in January! Father Perry will be scheduling Confirmation classes for any interested youth or adults beginning in early January. This provides a wonderful opportunity for anyone wishing to join the Episcopal Church, any youth (9th grade or older) wanting to become adult members of the congregation or anyone interested in engaging in conversation about the meaning of our Episcopal traditions or how our faith enriches our lives. Please contact the parish office or speak to Father Perry if you have questions or are interested in “signing up!”

New Nativity Set

A parishioner is donating a Nativity Set to be placed on the lawn along the roadside in front of Phelps Hall.

The set comes with the shed, the manger, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.  The other figures (magi, angels, shepherds, camel, donkey, sheep, etc.) are additional purchases to be made in the future.  If anyone would be interested in purchasing one of the “extras” you may get more information (including a link to order the “LARGE” characters) and sign-up for an addition on our website at: https://testarea.stpetershebron.com/nativity-scene/
(or go to Events -> Sign-Up Page on our website)

The company that makes the nativity scenes has offered to donate the Ox personage if any other pieces are ordered.

Outreach

We will once again be receiving and packaging home-baked cookies for HIHS (Hebron Interfaith Human Services) for Christmas.  We’ll need about 150 dozen this year to serve approximately 50 clients. We will be putting the plates together after coffee hour on December 13th.   Please bring in some cookies and join us for assembling the plates if you can.  There will soon be a sign-up sheet on the back table.   For more information please call Judi Babin 860-228-9366.  Thanks in advance for your generosity.  It is always a much appreciated gift for HIHS’s clients

Take Note!  In Concert – Music to Warm the Heart this Sunday, December 6, 2015, at 3:00 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 27 Plains Road, Windham Center, CT.  The concert is free. Donations will be gratefully accepted at the door. Any proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Windham Area Interfaith Ministry (WAIM).

A Red Cross Blood Drive will be held on Saturday, December 26th from 8 a.m. to 1:00 p.m..  Please consider giving this Christmas gift to 3 people with your single donation.  It takes only about an hour and is painless.  Spread Christmas joy and help those who are desperately in need of a blood donation in this Christmas season.  Call for an appointment: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or go on-line to www.redcrossblood.org . Walk-ins are always welcome.

In the Community

The Annual “Blue Christmas” Service at Gilead Congregational Church will be held on Monday, Dec. 21st at 7:00 p.m.  This service provides a special time of being together to receive words of strengthening and hope that can speak to us in the midst of sadness and sorrow.  Bring your fears, pain and grief and join with others for a time of prayer, reflection, singing, communion and a candle-lighting ceremony. Bring a friend as well.

St. Mary’s Church will host Simply Sonority  performing “The Winter’s Night,” a concert of music celebrating Advent, Christmas and Winter on Saturday, December 12th at 7 pm. Simply Sonority is a ten-voice women’s chamber choir made up of young adults and high school students.  The choir will be joined by guest singers from Manchester High School. A diverse program of music for the season promises to have something for everyone, including music by Willcocks, Hurd, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, John Williams and Irving Berlin and others.  For more information, visit www.stmarysct.org or call 860-649-4583. The concert is offered free of charge; a reception will follow the concert. Please join us as we celebrate the season in sound!

The Windham Region No-Freeze Hospitality Center

Cold, wet, unsafe? Many of the Windham area’s homeless live in makeshift camps along the Willimantic River all year long. The Windham Region No-Freeze Hospitality center seeks to provide a warm shelter for those in the community who are homeless and over the age of 18 from November 15th through April of each year. No one is turned away. We provide food, clothing, hygiene among other services. Donations to keep the center going are always welcome. If you are able to donate items to help please drop them off at our office:

75 Bridge Street, (First unit in the plaza) Willimantic, CT 06226 (Monday through Thursday from 1-4 pm)

Items that the shelter is in need of:

  • Non Instant Coffee, Sweetener, Non-Dairy Creamer, Hot Chocolate,
  • Paper products, Toilet paper, paper towels, napkins.
  • Vinyl or plastic Pillow case covers
  • Coffee cups (small size, disposable)
  • Plastic utensils (spoons/forks)
  • Socks (white preference)
  • Men’s boxer shorts all sizes
  • Women’s briefs – all sizes
  • Razor blades
  • Shaving Cream
  • Toothbrushes
    • Deodorant
    • Women’s hygiene products (pads, tampons)
    • Plastic soap saver boxes
    • Sweatpants/shirts(med/large/Xtra/XXtra lrg)
    • Laundry detergent (powder)
    • Floor and bathroom cleaner
    • Office supplies – Call to see the needs
    • Gift Cards to Stop & Shop, BJ’s Walmart, Staples and Home Depot of any value.

The Windham Region No Freeze Hospitality Center, Inc. is a non-profit organization that survives through donations from our local community. We appreciate any monetary donations and gift cards to help us meet the needs of our guests.