Our Holiday Season at Congregational Christian Church of Somerset MA

Hello Dear Ones:

Here we are already within the holiday season. Thanksgiving and that special weekend for many to go shopping. The Christmas Bazaar has passed. Christmas is coming. Before you get all wrapped up in the business, remember that as Christians, we first must move through the season of Advent. What is Advent you may ask? Advent is a time of preparation. The period of time which begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve and sometimes Christmas Day. Advent is the first season of the Christian year, and it leads us to Christmas. This is a time of waiting and preparing for the coming of the Christ Child. We do this by lighting the Advent candles each week.

Advent Wreaths can be extravagant with greens and bows and berries and of course candles. (battery operated candles may also be used) The Advent Wreath is an important part of our celebration of Advent as we light a new candle each week and focus on the meaning of it that Sunday. Each Sunday during Advent, we continue to light each previously lit candle/s and then the new one last, representing that coming week. With each candle and each Sunday, we move closer to the coming of Christ being born anew in our hearts.

Each Sunday and the week that follows has a particular focus. You will meet each of these as we move through these four during Sunday worship. The Meaning of the Wreath:

*The circle of the wreath is symbolic of God’s never-ending love for us which has no beginning and no end.

*The evergreens represent constant life that is found in Jesus Christ.

*The four candles are symbolic of the light overcoming the darkness.

There is one candle for each of the four Sundays in Advent and a candle for Christ. The three blue candles represent the newness and the royalty of Christ: Hope, Peace, and Love. Some still use purple during Advent which is also a Liturgical color for Lent (the time before Easter). Purple represents royalty as well; but purple is also the color of grief and mourning, not of newness. The use of blue helps us to identify the difference between these two periods in the Christian Liturgical Church Year. The pink candle represents Joy, which is usually lit on the 3rd Sunday in Advent.

The center candle is white and represents Christ. This candle will be lit on Christmas Eve (sometimes Christmas Day) along with the other four candles burning around it. When all candles are lit, we are reminded that the Light of the World has come! Thanks be to God!

Ways to Celebrate and Participate:

*We Celebrated our New Members on Sunday, November 24th during our worship time together and following during fellowship.

*Reverse Advent Calendar, please see the flyer. We created our boxes on Sunday, November 24th during the fellowship time. We will also enjoyed a light luncheon before our Thanksgiving Service.

*We enjoyed a Thanksgiving worship celebration here in our Sanctuary with the Somerset Baptist

Church joining us this year.

*Join our Advent Bible Study at 1pm on Mondays. If you wish to participate you will need the guide. Please see Janina Asselin for more information. This study will end with the Christmas Holiday.

*Sunday, December 1st Advent begins! Enjoy Sunday worship with Communion, Lighting the First Advent Candle, and the Hanging of the Greens. Following worship, we gathered for our 3rd Annual Ugly Sweater

Party (pretty sweaters too)!  Including a potluck luncheon, we celebrate Advent Sunday together!

*The Deacons and Pastor are looking for volunteers to participate in the weekly Advent Candle Lightings. Can you help?

*Monday, December 2, 2024, Pastor Cheryl will be Live weekdays on Facebook at 4pm, with a reading from the Gospel of Luke. We will read the Gospel together during Advent and learn about the life of Jesus as we

grow in understanding as to what this Season is about.

*Saturday, December 14th will be the Annual Wreaths Across America at 12noon at Slade Ferry Park - across from Rockland Trust. Pastor Cheryl will be offering a prayer.

*We will lay the wreaths for our own Memorial Garden on Sunday, December 15th following worship service.

*Tuesday, December 24th we will celebrate Christmas Eve Worship Service together at 5pm with a Prayer Service of Luminaries following at 6:15pm outside on the church green.

*Sunday, December 29th at 1pm, we will hold a Service of Remembrance and Light.

*We can give thanks and honor to those who are both with us, and those who have passed on, through our Luminaries on Christmas Eve. Each Luminary is $10. Please pick up a flyer or contact the church office for more information. You can also order online at congregationalchurchsomerset.com/luminary2024  We will light the Luminaries on the church lawn at approximately 4:30pm on Christmas Eve. After a 5pm Christmas Worship, we will gather outside at the church green for 6:15pm, where the Pastor and Deacons will prayerfully lift the name for each Luminary during our Christmas Eve Prayer Service.

*You may participate by purchasing a Poinsettia for the Altar for Christmas Eve in loving memory or celebration of someone special. Pick up a form at the church or contact church office to have one mailed or emailed to you. The cost of each plant will be $15. You are welcome to take your plant home following Christmas Eve services. 

*Participate with the White Gifts Program to give holiday gifts to a local Somerset Child/ren.

*Give to the local Friends of Somerset COA Food Drive.

*Participate with Heifer International Project. Please see Shirley Denison for details.

*Have you returned your pledge to the church?

*Give blood! All it will cost is some time and some mild discomfort.

*Create a new tradition of lighting the Advent Wreath each week at home.

*Enjoy the moments and make memories.

*Join me weekdays  in December at 4pm on our church Facebook site, for a time of Prayer and the reading of the Gospel of Luke. facebook.com/CongregationalChristianChurchSomerset

In all things, do them in the light of our God who comes to us through the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Peace and a Very Blessed and Merry Christmas and 2025!

The Reverend Cheryl Rieder