Dear Family:
Grace and Peace to all of you. I cannot tell you
how excited I am to be your pastor at Hermon
Presbyterian Church. It has already been and
exciting and very busy three weeks and I anticipate
that it will get busier as we approach the Advent
and Christmas season.
Through all of this activity I have set two
priorities, in addition to all the rest, to work on
at the beginning of my ministry here at Hermon. The
first is worship, the gathering of the community to
present themselves before God. The second is to
meet with each and every individual in the
congregation so that we can get to know each other
better.
Presbyterian worship (which I will have a lot more
to say about in future newsletters) is centered
around the Word of God. We
Gather
to hear the Word; we
Prepare
ourselves to hear that Word through confession; we
Hear
the Word of God through music, the readings and the
proclamation; then we respond to the Word in a
variety of ways; and finally we are
Sent
into the world with the Word in our hearts.
I believe that we, the congregation, are to
participate in our worship services as much as
possible. To this end I have added several
community responses to our regular worship services
and have handed over most of the worship liturgy to
the lay liturgist.
We have a special season approaching that will alter
our worship practices slightly. That season is
Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.
This year we will replace the Prayer of Invocation
(just after the Call to Worship) with the lighting
of the Advent wreath. Each Sunday in Advent and at
the special service of Lessons and Carols and at the
Christmas evening service, we will ask a family to
light the Advent candles, read a scripture passage
and say a prayer.
We will also have two additional services during the
Advent season. The first is a service of Lessons
and Carols. This consists of a series of familiar
biblical passages interspersed with Christmas
carols. Through the biblical passages we tell the
story of the coming of Jesus. This is one way that
we teach this story to our children and therefore we
are asking the children of the church to read these
passages. The carols are related to the passages
that the children will read. At the end of the
service we will each light a candle as the church
lights fade and we will sing Silent Night as we walk
out of the church. We will then gather outside the
church and, after a benediction, we will all sing
Joy to the World. We will be accompanied in this
service with special Hermon individuals and a singer
and harpist from the Opera. The service is on
Sunday, December 20th at 7:00 pm. Mark
your calendars and bring a friend.
We will also hold services on Christmas Eve. There
will be a children’s service at 5:00 pm and a
Christmas Eve service at 9:00 pm.
My second priority is to meet with each and every
one of you. I want to hear your stories. I want to
know of your hopes and dreams. I want to know what
you want for the future of this church. I am
willing to meet anytime and look forward to hearing
about your journey.
I am also available for emergencies and pastoral
care 24/7. You can reach me at my home 202-629-9966
or on my mobile phone 614-893-3342 (this will change
to a local number soon.) Please do not hesitate to
call on me.
Peace and Blessings,
Pastor Bruce
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to
pass...it's about learning how to dance in the
rain."
Calendar and Liturgy
The following readings are from the Revised Common
Lectionary used by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and
by Pastor Bruce in developing his sermons.
November 29, 2009 Jeremiah 33:14-16
1 Thessalonians
3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36
Psalm 25:1-10
December 6, 2009 Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 1:68-79
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6
December 13, 2009 Zephaniah 3:14-20
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
December 20, 2009 Sunday morning service at 11
am
Micah 5:2-5a
Luke 1:46b-55
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45
(46-55)
December 20, 2009
Lessons and Carols
service at 7 pm
a selection of familiar biblical passages
interspersed with Christmas carols, followed by a
singing candlelight procession
December 24, 2009
Children's Christmas
Eve service at 5 pm
Christmas Eve
service at 9 pm
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96:1-13
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14
(15-20)
December 27, 2009 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148:1-14
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52
Holiday Concerts Around Town
Some of the most beautiful and cherished music we
know was composed to celebrate the Advent and
Christmas season. Selected holiday concerts around
town (unaffiliated with Hermon Church) include:
Handel's Messiah
- December 4-6 at Washington National Cathedral
(202-537-2228)
- December 12-13 at Strathmore Hall (301-581-5100;
kids 7-17 are free!)
- December 17-20 at the Kennedy Center
(202-467-4600)
Holiday Sing-a-Long
(no charge) – December 6 at Wolf Trap Farm Park
(703-255-1900), featuring the U.S. Marine Band and
local vocal groups.
Holiday
Musical Festival
(no charge but tickets required) – Dec. 11-13 at DAR
Constitution Hall, featuring the U.S. Army
Orchestra, U.S. Army Chorus and others
(703-696-3399).
Joy of Christmas Concert
– Dec. 12-13 at Washington National Cathedral
(202-537-5527), featuring favorite carols sung by a
madrigal chorus. A family matinee of this concert
takes place at noon on Dec. 12.
A German Christmas Concert
– Dec. 11-20 at the Folger Shakespeare Library
(202-544-7077), featuring the Folger Consort and the
Cantate Chamber Singers.
Joyeux Noel – A Christmas Celebration with a French
Twist!
– December 19, 20 and 24 at the Kennedy Center
Concert Hall (202-244-3669).
Family Christmas Concert
– December 20, at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
(202-244-3669).
Healing Ministry/Prayer Concerns
Please contact Jeanne Edwards concerning those who
need our prayers and support. Jeanne may be reached
at 301-229-6155 or
psjeanne@verizon.net.
Pastoral Care
Pastor Bruce Hartwig is available for emergencies
and pastoral care every day at any time. You can
reach him at his home (202-629-9966) or on his
mobile phone 614-893-3342. Please do not hesitate
to call on Pastor Bruce.
Hermon Website
Our website continues to be built and will prove
more and more useful to you in providing current
information about Hermon activities. Please check
it out as its construction continues at
www.thehermonchurch.com. The website is managed
by Captain David Stone,
capndave@verizon.net.
Newsletter
The Hermon newsletter is published monthly, except
for a combined July/August edition and a combined
Holiday Season edition for November and December.
Inquiries, suggestions and input for the newsletter
may be sent to Kevin Ewing (kevinandrewewing@gmail.com
or 202.828.7638).
