December 22, 2013 Bulletin - Westminster Presbyterian Church

Announcements
A warm welcome to all who are worshipping with us today. If you are visiting, we
would relish the opportunity to tell you more about this vibrant family of faith! While
children are welcome during worship, childcare for infants through kindergarten is
available on the lower level of the Holderness Mission Center (building on left as you
exit). The pew rack has some tried-and-true tips for parents of children who remain in
the Sanctuary. Parents who need a comfortable space to calm an infant may use the
room in the Narthex (which has speakers so you can still hear the service). If you need
to exit during the service, please use the doors at the back of the Sanctuary. Restrooms
are located on each floor of the Mission Center; the Sanctuary restroom should not be used
during services. Please see an usher if you would like to use a large-print hymnal.
• We welcome Rev. Patrice Nelson, Executive Director of Urban Ministries, to
worship this morning to tell about the important work being done there to fight
poverty. UMD will receive a portion of this year’s Christmas Eve offering, along with
Durham Crisis Response Center and Forest View and Hope Valley Elementary Schools’
Latino Family School and Community Support program. The offering will be collected
at both Christmas Eve services, and you can drop a check off to the church office any
time before Christmas (memo line “Christmas Eve offering 2013”).
• Westminster will offer two worship services on Christmas Eve. A Family Service of
Readings and Carols will be held at 5pm. A Service of Readings, Carols, and Lights with
the Chancel Choir, Brass Ensemble, and Sarah Stallings on guitar will be held at 8pm.
Preludes for this service will begin at 7:30pm. Childcare will be available in the nursery
during both services. We hope you will join us for the final part of the Advent journey,
as we celebrate Christ’s birth!
Calendar for December 22 - 29
To view all events held at WPC, visit www.wpcdurham.org, and click “Calendar” in the main
menu. To reserve a room for a meeting, call Barb Schmidt at 919-489-4974, ext. 100.
Sunday, December 22 - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Bell Sunday
8:30am Worship - Bell Choir - Sanctuary
9:45am Sunday School - HMC
11:00am Worship - Bell Choir - Sanctuary
12:15pm Young Adult Lunch Club - Pop’s Backdoor Pizza
Tuesday, December 24
5:00pm Christmas Eve Worship - Family Service of Readings & Carols - Sanctuary
6:40pm Chancel Choir Warm-up - Sanctuary
8:00pm Christmas Eve Worship - Service of Readings, Carols & Lights with Preludes
at 7:30pm - Sanctuary
Wednesday, December 25 - Christmas Day, Office Closed
Thursday, December 26 - Office Closed
December 22, 2013
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Bell Sunday
Friday, December 27 - Office Closed
11:45am Oldies But Goodies - Café Carolina - Meadowmont, Chapel Hill
Sunday, December 29 - Birthday Sunday
10:00am Chancel Choir Rehearsal - Music Room
11:00am Worship - Baptism of Oliver Thomas Higgins - Sanctuary
12:15pm Reception for Oliver Higgins (All are invited) - Parlor
12:15pm Young Adult Lunch Club - Pop’s Backdoor Pizza
• One worship service will be held on Sunday, December 29 at 11:00am. If you are a
regular attendee at the 8:30am worship service, be sure to mark your calendar for this
change. Please note also that Sunday school will not be held on December 29.
• Help Westminster become a more welcoming community of faith: You can now
upload your photo and a photo of your family to myWPC, and view a directory of
members’ photos in myWPC. This is especially helpful for our new members and for
our new Director of Christian Education, Heather Ferguson. Adding your photo is a
quick and simple way to show hospitality, so do it today! (Instructions available at
www.bit.ly/myWPCphoto)
• Interested in fun, fellowship, and good exercise? Starting in early January, the WPC
men’s basketball team plays 1-2 nights a week for about 2 months. Anyone at least 16
years old is eligible to play. Contact Darren Skeen by December 23 with questions or to
sign up (dmskeen@nc.rr.com).
• As of December 19, 77% of our 406 families have made a pledge, and we have
95% of our total goal for this year, which is $1,001,833. Deep thanks to all who
have pledged to support Westminster’s 2014 operating budget. If you have not yet
pledged, please return your completed financial pledge card to Barbara Fletcher as soon
as possible. Pledging materials can be found in the Mission Center, and you can contact
Barbara with questions at barbara@wpcdurham.org or 919-489-4974, ext. 122.
Westminster Presbyterian Church
3639 Old Chapel Hill Road, Durham, North Carolina 27707
Phone: (919) 489-4974 Toll Free phone: (877) 489-4974 Fax: (919) 493-4553
Email: westminster@wpcdurham.org Website: wpcdurham.org Facebook: facebook.com/wpcdurham
Chris Tuttle,
Tuttle Pastor, ext. 103
Betty Berghaus,
Berghaus Associate Pastor for Congregational Care, ext. 108
Taylor Lewis Guthrie Hartman,
Hartman Associate Pastor for Youth Ministry, ext. 114
Haywood Holderness,
Holderness Pastor Emeritus
Monica Umstaedt Rossman,
Rossman Minister of Music, ext. 113
Heather Ferguson,
Ferguson Director of Christian Education, ext. 104
Barbara Fletcher,
Fletcher Business Administrator, ext. 122
Kara Pearce,
Pearce Communication Coordinator, ext. 101
Barb Schmidt,
Schmidt Administrative Assistant, ext. 100 Tracy Fletcher,
Fletcher Finance Clerk, ext. 102
Sally Cook,
Cook Christian Ed. Clerk, ext. 127 Thoko Manzini,
Manzini Caregiver Coordinator
Congregational Responsibilities for December 22
December Nursery Coordinator – Melissa Katrincic
The Nursery 8:30 Infants: Thoko Manzini; Toddlers: Claire Leadbetter, Marketa Dickinson
2-5 Cindy & Ray Soloe
11:00 Infants: Thoko Manzini; Toddlers: Marketa Dickinson
2-3 Emmy & Jimbo Huckabee
4-5 Ralph & Sue McCaughan
The Offering Counters 8:30 Bruce & Carol Cunningham
11:00 Sally Cook and Anne Wolf
The Sound Technicians 8:30 Doug Wellemeyer
11:00 Frank Stallings
The Lectors
8:30 Mike Bunch
11:00 Holly Lockhead
The Ushers
8:30 Stephanie Cottrell, John & Anna Sundy, and Hugh White
11:00 Neal, Monica, Lauren & Ella Nichols, and Neil & Jennifer McElroy
The Acolytes
Grace & Eliza Miller
Mission Statement
We are a community, a covenant people.
In response to God’s love and grace, we proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel of Jesus Christ
within our congregation, throughout the community, and to the world.
As disciples in the Reformed Tradition, led by the Holy Spirit, we affirm our faith through
worship, nurture, outreach, stewardship and education.
We go into the future with hope and confidence in God’s purpose.
Composed by the Session, January 1987; Amended by the Session, January 1997
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Durham, North Carolina
“. . .and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8
The Service of Worship
The Assurance of Pardon
Assemble in God’s Name
The Preludes
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
arr. by Hart Morris
The Rocking Carol
arr. by Kevin McChesney
Christmas Medley
arr. by John Purifoy
The Westminster Ringers; Kathryn Bunch, director
In order to preserve the dignity of this service, please turn off cell phones
and observe silence during the preludes.
Greeting
^ Special Music
Go, Tell It on the Mountain – Away in a Manger
The Sunday School Children; Ralph McCaughan, guitar
Introit
Hymn 37, vs. 1:
Polish Carol
1
Infant holy, Infant lowly, for His bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, little knowing Christ the babe is Lord of all.
Swift are winging angels singing, Noels ringing, tidings bringing:
Christ the babe is Lord of all.
*# The Call To Worship
based on Psalm 80
Give ear to us, O shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock!
Stir up Your might, and come and save us.
Restore us, O God; let Your face shine, that we might be saved.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim and
Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up Your might, and come and save us.
Restore us, O God; let Your face shine, that we might be saved.
God of great power, break into our world this Holy season. Be born in our hearts,
for the good of Your world.
Restore us, O God; let Your face shine, that we might be saved.
Join us as we worship You with joy!
*# The Hymn No. 22
Angels, from the Realms of Glory
Regent Square
The Act of Confession (Please be seated.)
Why do we confess our sin?
Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
But why do we do this together?
Because we are a community, a covenant people.
Then let us confess our sin.
God of mercy and power, You asked so much of Mary and of Joseph. You
asked them to be the ones to bear the Lord of all into this world. You asked
them to raise him and nurture him. Yet – like we would be – they were
unsure. So You promised Your presence. “Do not be afraid,” You said to
them. In this Holy season, we take comfort in that promise. We confess that
too often we live in fear – of the horror of the world, of what others will
think, that we will not have enough. Forgive us for that fear. Embolden us
with Your hope. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A Time of Personal Silent Confession
Kyrie Eleison No. 574
arr. David N. Johnson
Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.
* The Gloria Patri
Tallis’ Canon
All praise to God the Father be, all praise, Eternal Son, to Thee,
Whom with the Spirit we adore, forever and forevermore. Amen.
Proclaim God’s Word
* The Doxology
Hyfrydol
Praise the God of all creation. Praise God for His boundless love.
Praise the Lamb, our expiation: Priest and King enthroned above.
Praise the Spirit of Salvation, Gracious One by Whom we live.
Undivided adoration to the Great Almighty give. Amen.
* The Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Lighting of the Advent Wreath
Go In God’s Name
Following the lighting of the Advent wreath, preschool children may be excused for childcare.
Sharing Our Mission
Christmas Eve Offering: Urban Ministries of Durham
A Prayer for Illumination
Hymn 5, vs. 1:
1 Sung by Congregation & Choir
Picardy
Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand.
A Reading from the Psalms:
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 (p.540 OT)
A Reading from the New Testament:
Matthew 1:18-25 (p.1 NT)
The Word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
The Sermon
“Do Not Be Afraid”
Angels We Have Heard on High
Gloria
* The Charge and the Benediction
^ Amen
Hymn 28, vs. 3
In dulci jubilo
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart, and soul, and voice;
Now ye need not fear the grave: Jesus Christ was born to save!
Calls you one and calls you all to gain the everlasting hall.
Christ was born to save! Christ was born to save!
The Organ Postludes
Carol Settings
Wilbur Held
In dulci jubilo – From Heaven Above – God Rest Ye Merry – Joy to the World
Taylor Lewis Guthrie Hartman
~~~
Moments of Silence
* The Hymn No. 53
* The Hymn No. 23
What Child is This
Greensleeves
Respond to God’s Word
* Affirmation of Faith
from A Declaration of Faith
God sent the promised Deliverer to his people. Jesus, the long expected
Savior, came into the world as a child, descended from David, conceived by
the Holy Spirit, born of Mary, a virgin. He lived as a Jew among Jews. He
announced to his people the coming of God’s kingdom of justice and peace
on earth. We affirm that Jesus was born of woman as is every child, yet born
of God’s power as was no other child. In the person and work of Jesus, God
himself and a human life are united but not confused, distinguished but not
separated. The coming of Jesus was itself the coming of God’s promised rule.
Through his birth, life, death, and resurrection, he brings about the
relationship between God and humanity that God always intended.
The Concerns and Celebrations
Please direct your attention to the list of concerns, celebrations, and announcements. If you or
someone you know has any needs or concerns, please fill out a green card (located in the pew
rack) and place it in the offering plate.
Prayers of the People and The Lord’s Prayer (in unison)
Invitation to the Offering
The Offering
Please sign the pew register and pass it along your row. The register book is on the end closest to
the center aisle. As you pass it back, please take notice of who is sitting with you. Thank you.
Offertory
An English Christmas
arr. by Douglas Wagner
The Westminster Ringers
Many thanks to our handbell choir, The Westminster Ringers, directed by Kathryn Bunch,
for playing in both worship services this morning! Their participation makes the Fourth
Sunday of Advent – Bell Sunday – especially meaningful. Ringers are: Alyson Bosworth,
Claudia Draffin, Richard Draffin, John Gunter, Pat Gunter, Shelley Keir, Ann Lehew,
Candy Lockamy, Deb Miles, Ellen Vogel, and Janet Whitaker.
+ Denotes 8:30am service
* Congregation standing, if able
^ Denotes 11:00am service
# Latecomers may be seated at these times
Children’s Bibles: Inside aisle of pew; Children’s Bulletins: Narthex (Green: 3-6yrs, Yellow: 7-12yrs)