Archives for November 2021

Welcome!

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and you can see the difference for yourselves, whether you join us online or in-person. Our blue paraments (our worship linens and cloths) are blue, our Advent Wreath is up, and all around the church—we’ve made the switch to the season. You may have even glimpsed my personal Christmas tree in my office, too. (If you haven’t, drive by at night! 🙂

Advent is from a Latin word which means “coming.” During Advent, we wait not just for Christmas which celebrates Jesus’ arrival and birth, but we wait for his second coming, when God’s kingdom on earth is fully realized.

Many of you may recall purple as the season’s color, with a bit of pink thrown in. So why blue? Is this new? Not really. The Swedish Church has used blue for centuries as well as parts of Spain as early as the eighth century. There is strong evidence of Western churches using blue and sometimes even black in the 12-14^th centuries.

More recently, the need to differentiate the seasons of Advent and Lent has been discussed. Using the same colors as Lent can be confusing. Lent, a time of repentance before Easter, uses purple as the color for royalty, penitence and fasting. Blue is a color suited for royalty, but it is also for hope. In Advent, we are waiting for Christ, but we are more hopeful. The old Green Hymnal, remember that one?, recommended using blue over purple in 1978—but many churches did not change immediately for a variety of reasons. My old church, it was because of finances. We had nice purple paraments—why not use them?

I am partial to the blue because it is a visual difference between Advent and Lent. I don’t know about you, but I need hope in the typically darker days of Advent. I need hope that Christ’s presence in this world will grow, and his light will overcome all darkness. This Advent season, our theme will be the different kinds of Hope we have—for ourselves, for our communities and for our church. I pray that you join us as much as you can these next 4 weeks. I pray that you find hope when and where you need it the most.

Blessings, peace and hope,

Pastor Sarah

Welcome!

“The end is near,” we have been hearing the past few weeks on Sundays. This Sunday, we do reach an end—the end of our church’s liturgical year. Our church year always begins on the first Sunday of Advent and it ends today on Christ the King Sunday.

It’s easy to rush through Christ the King Sunday and move into the much anticipated season of Advent. Who doesn’t love a good Advent season with its blue colors and, eventually, trees? While I will preach about Christ the King and its meaning for us today, I would like to take this space and reflect on our past church year as Bay Shore.

A year ago, I was in my spare bedroom leading worship on Zoom. Danny, Dulcie and Kate also were in their homes, playing music, reading lessons and singing hymns. A year ago, we knew we would not be worshipping together for Christmas Eve, and we began making plans to create a service that we could show on our then new YouTube Channel. A year ago, we were completing the installation of our new technology which allowed us to begin livestreaming our services in early 2021. A year ago, I couldn’t fathom that we would not be together for a second Easter. A year ago, we didn’t have vaccines readily available.

In June, we returned to our building. We continue to livestream. And now, we still are contemplating the best way to have services in the coming weeks and months. I do not have a crystal ball, and so far, God is not answering certain questions that I have about when the pandemic will finally be contained enough to return to all things normally. But I am grateful to have spent the past year with this great community here at Bay Shore—the staff, our Council, our volunteers, our members and friends. We learned a lot; we grew in ways we did and did not want to grow. But most of all, we stayed together and supported one another as Jesus taught his disciples to do.

Blessings, my friends. May God bless us in our new year.

Pastor Sarah