Grace Lutheran Church of Evanston

1430 South Blvd. at Wesley

847.475.2211

Grace Is An Open And Affirming RIC

Congregation

Rev. Daniel RuenPastor

pd@graceevanston.org•

Rev. Kaari ReiersonColleague in

Ministry•

Chloe MartinezOffice Manager

•Steve Brunger

Sexton

“Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” –Jesus in Mark 13:30-31

Is it just me, or is the world going to hell in a hand basket again?

I know, I know: every generation believes it bears witness to the !nal apocalypse. Take a glancing look at the headlines though, with impending global !-nancial collapse via European debt crises on the one hand and every country from the U.S. to Syria seeing mass protests in the streets…well, one at least has a right to wonder.

Certainly, those of you who were alive at the time of the Vietnam war and the civil rights movement, showcasing assassinations of presidents and various public !gures, must have felt like the end of society was dangerously at hand.

I can’t imagine the su"ering, fear and violence of the Great Depression, but I do know we sing gospel country tunes like ‘No Depression,’ and ‘I’ll Fly Away’ in church—songs inspired by a visceral sense of the end-times in the 1930’s. Obviously, we still sing them because their messages resonate.

What did people think about ‘the apocalypse’ dur-ing the Civil War? Whenever I hear our media talking heads ranting on and on about how we’re the ‘most polarized society in American history’ I wonder if any of them even went to high school. Look no further

than our home-grown slaughter of 1861-1865 for worth-wringing-your-hands-about polarization.

As a bonus, recall that before, during and after the Civil War the apocalypse for native-American tribes was in full swing. Which re-minds me: wasn’t slavery one long,

nightmare of apocalypse? How long have women or LGBT people been massacred and systematically deci-mated?

We could go on, and on and on. All throughout our tortured history, there have been multiple apocalyps-es, ending the lives of millions and millions of people.

Perhaps it’s a function of our privilege that allows consideration of such things with a certain degree of equanimity. We have time and energy to consider ‘the apocalypse’ that others do not. For those who are starving or struggling or dying the apocalypse is sim-ply happening to them; they don’t have the luxury of considering if this is ‘the big one,’ or not. To them, it is the big one, or might as well be.

When we talk about Advent and Christmas we are also talking about the apocalypse. Most of our read-ings during Advent are about Jesus or God returning in judgment to set the world aright—and in many of those readings it doesn’t look like a benign return, at all.

How utterly strange, then, that the messianic rev-elation from God, (literally, the apokalipsis in Greek, which is where we get the word for ‘revelation’) comes

We Are The Apocalypse

Christmas Eve 7:30pm, December 24 Candlelight Eucharist Service

Christmas Morning 10:00am, December 25 Eucharist Service

through the birth of a poor, vulnerable baby, placed in an animal trough.

Our culture obsesses about apocalypses in terms of everyone dying, the world being torn asunder, or any number of other terrifying scenarios. But the biblical apocalypse is not focused on ‘the end,’ it is focused on a new beginning, a New Je-rusalem, a revealed place on earth where God’s creation might be restored.

With Jesus representing the new life of that vision—his loving and challenging ministry, his tortured yet courageous su"ering and death, his delightful and a#rming resurrection—all our destructive scenarios are foiled and put in perspective.

We’ve simply been using the wrong de!nition to describe the vision of God. It’s not an apocalypse in the sense of an end; it is an apoca-lypse/revelation about whether or not we choose to believe in God’s hopeful and just future.

Every day you are called to make such a choice. I am called to make it, as well. When we see one another on Sunday during this Advent season our collective, praising presence is the true apocalypse, the true revelation. We are revealed as a people sharing words of stub-born hope.

Construction UpdateThe new carpet is supposed to be delivered and installed on Friday, December 9th, which is the !nishing touch to the project! Go online to see new photos posted or check out the downstairs yourself!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day “Faith in Action Assembly”: January 16th, 2012, 9am to 12noon

Join us: The assembly will include prayer and historical witness to Dr. King’s legacy, a public meeting with decision makers, and action items on current Community Renewal Society campaigns. There is a sign-up sheet in the Narthex hallway. Come with Pastor Daniel and several other Grace members and be part of Putting Your Faith into Action Courageously.

Where: Kingdom Baptist Church, 301 North Central Ave., Chicago

ELCA Good Gifts CatalogueThe new, 24-page ELCA Good Gifts catalogue o"ers more than 50 unique, meaningful gifts that support ELCA World Hunger, Disaster Response, and Malaria Campaign ministries. These make great Christ-mas gifts! Among the new gifts is the alpaca, a smaller relative of the llama. For $175 you can provide a family living in poverty with soft $eece to make into clothing to sell at the marketplace. A gift of just $25 is enough to provide medication to treat 25 people with malaria and honor a loved one at the same time. To obtain more information and to shop for ELCA Good Gifts go to www.elca.org/goodgifts.

MICAH meeting 1/29 after worshipJoin us for a potluck lunch and an informal discussion led by Pastor Jen Rude, board member of ELM (Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries). Pastor Jen will write next month’s Harbinger cover article on the topic of churches like ours looking for a place to channel our energy for LGBT justice within the church. If you have an interest in helping with the potluck or want more information, please email Pastor Daniel at pd@graceevanston.org

Adult EdJoin us for the tail-end of The Life of Faith and Paul’s Letter to the Ro-mans during Sunday mornings in December, 9:30am-10:30am in the upstairs classroom (soon to move downstairs to the newly renovated Fellowship Hall). This course ends on 12/18; we will start up again with a course on the Acts of the Apostles beginning January 15th.

12/1 Pat Brunger Dominique Baptiste

12/4 Keith Ericksen

12/7 Phyllis Buck Rita Davis

12/8 Kelly Brunger Nancy Stewart

12/10 Christine Collins Mark Mathyer David Utech

12/14 Cecilia Galicia

12/15 Peter Graef Peter Spies

12/17 Nancy Starkman

12/18 Andria Morse

12/20 Gail Lamont

12/21 Kim Brown

12/25 Rev. Daniel Ruen Lilia Johnson

12/26 Lynn Otte Tyler Brunger

12/31 Rina Campbell

Do you want your holidays wrapped in more meaning...and less stuff?

Too often, the holidays seem to exhaust rather than uplift us. The Center for a New American Dream o"ers a free booklet that o"ers practical tips for having a holiday with more joy and less stu". Fol-low the link below for ways to create a more meaningful Christmas season:

http://www.newdream.org/resources/publications/2011-05-sim-plify-the-holidays-booklet

Evanston’s ReBuilding WarehouseSo you’ve decided to upgrade your kitchen. Why send the dis-carded materials from your home renovation to the land!ll when they would be perfectly usable in someone else’s home? That is the mantra of the Evanston ReBuilding Warehouse, a non-pro!t organization that promotes reduction of waste in land!lls through sustainable deconstruction and reuse practices. Reclaimed build-ing materials at the ERW warehouse are sold at reasonable prices to support its education, job-training and job-development programs that foster individual, community and economic growth in Evan-ston and beyond. Everyone can shop at or donate to ERW. ERW also has classes to help guide Do-it-yourselfers through home construc-tion projects.

The ERW warehouse is located at 1818 Dempster Street in Evanston and is open to customers on Thursday and Friday from 3 – 7 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

Recyclery Bike Drive at Whole Foods in South Evanston

The Recyclery Collective seeks to build community through the res-toration of donated and discarded bicycles. They share resources and knowledge in order to support an a"ordable, independent, and sustainable mode of transportation. In this spirit of education and mutual aid, they encourage discussion about how our trans-portation choices a"ect the health of our communities and our en-vironment.

On Saturday, December 10th the Recyclery Collective will host a bike drive from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Whole Foods Market on Chi-cago Avenue south of Dempster Street. If you have a bike you’re not using, bring it to the bike drive! They will accept bikes in any condi-tion, and all donations are tax deductible. And anyone who donates a bike that day will be entered in a ra%e to win a spot in one of the Recyclery’s Tune-Up classes, a set of REI panniers, an organic pro-duce box from Newleaf Natural Grocery, and more! All donors will walk away with a Whole Foods goodie bag valued at $50, including a $10 gift card. Even if you just stop by to check out the scene, there will be REI give-aways and hot cider! Lots of goodness for everyone!

Dec 4Preaching .......................................................Christina GarrettAssisting Minister ....................................................Ron GraefLector .......................................................................Sue GraefAcolyte ...................................................................Julia ShoafUshers .................Sydell Reeves, Ann Stevens and Kyle MurphyGreeters ..................................Paul Bailey and Helen Yarbrough Coffee Hour........................................Nancy and Mark MathyerAltar Care ................................. Sue Graef and Nancy Schubert Nursery Care ........................................................Ann Stevens

Dec 11Preaching ................................................... Pastor Daniel RuenAssisting Minister ..........................................Christina GarrettLector ......................................................................... Les InchAcolyte .................................................................Kyle MurphyUshers ................ Larry Yarbrough, Rools Jean and Jon FlahertyGreeters ......................... Bob Carroll and Bonnie GunzenhauserCoffee Hour...............................Anne Laurence and Paul BaileyAltar Care .....................................Kara Sokol and Janet WrightNursery Care .............................................. Mary Lynch-Dungy

Dec 18Preaching .................. Grace Sunday School Christmas PageantAssisting Minister ..................................................Bob CarrollLector ...................................................................Ann StevensAcolyte ..............................................................................TBAUshers ................ Larry Yarbrough, Rools Jean and Jon FlahertyGreeters ............................... Anne Laurence and Tim Schannep Coffee Hour............................ Marjorie and Dominique BaptisteAltar Care .....................................Kara Sokol and Janet WrightNursery Care .........................................................Deb Mitchel

Dec 24Preaching ................................................... Pastor Daniel RuenAssisting Minister .................................................. Kim BrownLector ..............................................................Larry YarbroughAcolyte ..................................................................Nate BrownUshers ......................................Russ Kohnken and Nate Brown Greeters ................................. Dominique and Marjorie BaptisteAltar Care ................................ Nell Ferguson and Janet Wright

Dec 25Preaching ................................................... Pastor Daniel RuenAssisting Minister .................................................. Paul BaileyLector ....................................................................Ginny AyersAcolyte .................................................................... Zora RuenUshers ......................................Russ Kohnken and Nate Brown Greeters ................................................................... Bob ShoafCoffee Hour............................................Jan and Bill BlackburnAltar Care ................................ Nell Ferguson and Janet WrightNursery Care ...................................................... Danny Brown

Blue Christmas WorshipThursday Dec 22nd, 7:30 pm at Grace Lutheran Church

(1430 South Blvd, Evanston)

Come observe the incarnation of our Lord in a more subdued wor-ship service. This service recognizes that some people carry bur-dens that make it di#cult to celebrate. Bring those burdens to wor-ship and enter a space where they are acknowledged. (Combined Choir rehearses at 6:30 pm.)

Epiphany WorshipFriday January 6th 7:30 pm at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

(1004 Greenwood St., Evanston)

Come celebrate Epiphany, the day we celebrate the revelation of Christ to all the nations. With the Magi from the East, we adore the Christ child, Jesus. (Combined Choir rehearses at 6:30 pm)

Some Local Holiday EventsH.E. Lane Center for Positive Change will present the second an-nual Christmas Songs in the Night bene!t. This fund-raising pro-gram will bene!t the Center to help restore hope, rebuilding lives of previously incarcerated men and women who are re-entering our community. It will be held on Saturday, December 10th beginning at 6 p.m. at Faith Temple Church, 1932 Dewey Avenue.

Join Trinity Lutheran Church, 3637 Golf Road, as they celebrate their Scandinavian heritage with a special Santa Lucia worship ser-vice followed by Scandinavian treats. The service will be held on Sunday, December 11th at 7:30 p.m.

Grace is fortunate to be part of a cluster of local small ELCA churches that recognize our common heritage and celebrate and support the unique ministries of each congregation. During this time of prepara-tion for the birth of the Christ Child, please ponder this thoughtful message of Pastor Betty Landis of St. Paul’s…

Dear Sisters & Brothers:

During the Advent season, we take time to prepare for our God who comes down to, with, and in us. Among other things, we anticipate and ponder what it means to call our God the Prince of Peace. In these ever-turbulent times (whether it be in our homes, our neighborhoods, our country, or in other countries of our world), we signify how worthy our Triune God is by taking the time and living into “the peace of God, which surpasses all un-derstanding, [that] guard[s] your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)

One way we live that peace is through the Passing of the Peace in our weekly worship service. From various people, I have heard this time referred to as “recess” or “sharing time” or “welcoming visitors” or “catching up” time. The Sharing of the Peace is none of these; the Peace greeting is not an occasion for touchy-feely conviviality; it is an act of faith. In the earliest eucharistic litur-gies, the Peace appeared at the end of the opening Service of the Word as a seal of what had taken place. The Word had reminded the assembly of who they were. Now they gave their active as-sent to the Word, con!rming Goethe’s dictum that “the highest cannot be spoken; it can only be acted.” The mutual embrace was a gesture that con!rmed the mystery of Christ’s presence and the people’s unity with the risen Lord and with one another. Im-plicit in this exchange was the intent to reconcile any di"erences among the members of the Body, before you “come...and o"er your gift.” (Mt. 5:23).

Every time the Peace is shared, it represents an act of faith that we can overcome our di"erences, that the hearing of the Word and celebration of the Sacrament will bring faith that enables us to leap over our self-imposed boundaries. People are invited to risk and reach out and touch. … This may not come naturally, nor need it. It comes as a gift, as grace from the One who gathers us.

We have time before (in the narthex) and after worship (during the Co"ee Hour) for visiting, welcoming and catching up - all worthy things.

Therefore, please Pass the Peace before we o"er our gifts as a simple and focused act of faith with those around you (and/or those with whom you need to be reconciled) - keeping in mind that it may not come naturally to everyone you greet, but that the Prince of Peace is being born among us - over and over again! Thanks be to God!

p. 179-180; Worship as Pastoral Care by William H. Willimon (Abing-don Press, 1979)

Serendipity Woven InThreads of Grace scheduled its second delivery of neck scarves and mu%ers to the Evanston School Children’s Clothing Association for the morning of November 16. In the afternoon of November 15, Gail Lamont received a package from Paula Wendland in Stur-geon Bay, Wisconsin. When Paula and her children, Clara and Na-than, lived in Evanston, Paula was a prime mover in beginning the Threads of Grace ministry. The surprise package contained a large and beautifully colored mu%er knit by Paula, to go to ESCCA with Grace’s donations. Good timing!

The next morning our timing was right, too: Gail Lamont and Helen Yarbrough arrived at ESCCA headquarters just when Rory, a graduate student from NU’s journalism school, was there working on a story. For his article in “Northshore Newcomers”, a publication that o"ers its readers information on local services and volunteer opportunities, Grace’s Threads representatives were interviewed about Threads’ people, history, purpose, projects and relationship to ESCCA. All congregated on a tabletop, our second array of 23 colorful, bright handmade scarves was well-photographed during our visit.

ESCCA sta", Enid Shapiro and Diane Kastman, enthusiastically re-ceived our “shipment” and said that the kids would love them. Be-fore we left the room, the scarves were placed on the shelves to be selected by clients, and Enid and Diane proclaimed that those would be chosen right away.

On December 5th Threads of Grace participants will take knitted hats and scarves and purchased gloves to the Chicago Uptown Ministry. Adults will be able to select some winter-wear items. On or before Sunday, December 4th, Threads folks happily will receive and collect any donations of dark watch-caps, men’s and women’s scarves, women’s hats, and sturdy winter gloves (preferably water-proof ), to deliver to Chicago Uptown Ministry with the hand-knit-ted gifts.

Threads of Grace meets on the !rst Wednesday each month. Meet-ing times are $exible and participants may come routinely or spo-radically, as their time permits. We appreciate your support on any or all of the service projects.

Gail Lamont can provide more information via gsl_1m@hotmail.com.

Every Sunday 10:45 Worship followed by the coffee hour

Sunday School During Worship

Dec 7 7:30 - 8:00pm, Midweek Advent Vespers

Dec 14 7:30 - 8:00pm, Midweek Advent Vespers

Dec 21 7:30 - 8:00pm, Midweek Advent Vespers

Dec 22 7pm, at Grace, Blue Christmas

A special service with St. Timothy’s, Skokie

Dec 24 7:30pm Candlelight Service

Dec 25 10:00am Christmas Morning Service

Grace Church CouncilSue Graef, Chair,

Les Inch, Danielle Keifert, Nancy Mathyer, Tim Schannep, Marvin Scroggins, Laura Wally

Find us at GraceEvanston.org