Sunday Bulletin
Celebration Service
Third Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2025 9:30 am
Prelude “Hyfrydol” Vaughan Williams
Introit “Prepare the Way, O Zion”
Welcome & Announcements
Special Music SCC Youth Choir
Advent Candle Liturgy Lay Leaders: Charlie & Susanna Burnham
Dear God,
In the height of our Advent walk
Grant us the courage to experience joy.
Joy in the face of apathy,
Joy in the face of sorrow,
Joy in the face of uncertainty. Amen
Today, we light the candle of Joy. Please join with me in our prayer:
With joy we will draw waters from the wells of salvation. We will rejoice in the Lord always. We light a third candle to reveal the pathway to faithfulness. As people of faith, we will seek to live in the joy of the Lord. Amen
Hymn “When God Is a Child” #132
Baptism Shea Elizabeth Loomis
Prayer After Baptism “Blessing of Children” #364
The Lord’s Prayer Shea Loomis
Isaiah 35:1-10
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice
and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice
with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the
majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here
is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.”
Then the yes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
unstopped;
Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless
sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and
streams in the desert;
The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs
of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall
become reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the
unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no
traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
No Lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with
singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
The Gloria Patri #35
Anthem “The Desert Shall Rejoice” Wilson
Psalm 146:5-10
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord their God,
Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who
gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free; and opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, and loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers, and upholds the orphan and the
widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Prayers of the People
Hymn “My Soul Gives Glory to My God” #130
Reading Luke 1:46b - 55
Message “A Time for Joy” Rev. Dan Haugh
Offering
Offertory “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come” Bohn
Doxology* #46
Offertory Prayer*
Hymn “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed” #140
Benediction
Closing “Peace Before Us”
Postlude “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent” Joseph Clokey
Calendar of Events
Monday, 12/15 Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
7:00 Messiah Sing In, in sanctuary
Tuesday, 12/16 7:30 AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, 12/17 Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
5:30 Choir Rehearsal in Organ Loft
Friday, 12/19 6:00 Youth night in Youth Room
Happy Birthday this week to:
Jack Haugh and Blake Haugh today 12/14
Nan Myers on 12/15
Kathryn Lipke-Viges, and Leah Ziegler on 12/16
J. Liatsos on 12/18
Sheldon Frank, Rebecca Frank, and Jacob Winters on 12/20
Happy Anniversary this week to:
Nate and Kayla Troupe on 12/17
Eugene & Alisa Bernat and Cole & Sarah Roberts on 12/18
Announcements
The ushers today are Dave and Nan Myers. Thank you for helping today.
The Stowe Community Church is sponsoring a grocery drive this holiday season.
Beginning November 30th, we invite the community to bring bags of groceries to church each Sunday in Advent to support the Lamoille Food Share and help local families struggling with food insecurity during this holiday season.
Shovel Brigade! As winter is upon us we are looking to recruit for Shovel Brigade to maintain the front walk and ramps and keep them free from snow and ice. Small time commitment 30 - 45 minutes (depending on snow). Please contact via call or text to Maggy Dunphy 802-505-0552.
Advent Scripture Prayer Session
Join Pastor Dan each Tuesday at noon during Advent to read the lectionary texts, meditate, pray, and reflect together.
People can meet in his office or join via Zoom. The link is provided in the Quest, or email the church office.
12/15/25 Messiah Sing at 7:00 pm in Sanctuary
The December Mission Moment will be Clarina Howard Nichols on next Sunday, 12/21/25 due to other exiting events at the church earlier in the month.
12/24/25 Christmas Eve Services
Stowe Community Church will be holding four Christmas Eve Services again this year. 3, 5, 8 and 11 pm.
The 3:00 pm service is geared towards families with younger children. We will sing Christmas Carols, special music will be performed, a family message, story time. No candle lighting.
The 5:00 pm service is a classic Christmas Eve service with contemporary music and traditional carols. The service will include a family message, candle lighting and glow sticks for the children.
The 8:00 pm service is a traditional Christmas Eve Service with carols, special music sung by the choir, scriptures, message and candle lighting at the end while singing Silent Night.
The 11:00 pm service is a traditional Christmas Eve Service of lessons and carols, special music, and candle lighting.
Each service will be a great way to begin Christmas.
Musical Notes by Karen Miller
Prelude: "Hydrydol" is a beloved hymn tune that has been paired with numerous texts in many hymnals. In the Chalice Hymnal alone, it is the music for four hymns: Nos. 125, 233, 453, and 688. We best know it as the music for the text "Come, O Long-expected Jesus." The tune was written by 20-year-old Rowland H. Prichard around 1830 and first published in his Cyfaill y Cantorion of 1844. The tune name means "Good cheer". Rowland Hugh Prichard (1811-1887) was a Welsh choir director and amateur musician. In 1880 he moved to Holywell to become assistant loom tender at the Welsh Flannel Manufacturing Company. In 1920 Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote Three Preludes on Welsh Hymns Tunes, of which "Hyfrydol" was the third in this collection.
Anthem: Roger Cole Wilson (1912-1988) studied at the University of Southern California and then worked for the Lorenz Corporation, a music publishing establishment in Dayton, Ohio. He was also the editor of several organ and choir journals. He specialized in writing hymn-based pieces in several Lorenz anthologies. His choral anthem "The Desert Shall Rejoice" takes its text from Isaiah 35: 1, 4.
Offertory: Georg Bohm (1661-1733) studied at the university in Jena and became organist at St. John's in Luneburg where he wrote cantatas, piano suites, organ works, and songs. He created expressive chorale settings that were brightly decorated with coloratura, a technique to be perfected by J. S. Bach in the next generation. His short "Vom Himmel Hoch, da Komm' ich Her" (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come) is a fitting example of his chorale settings. The entire chorale is heard in the soprano line as a solo line on a separate manual.
Postlude: "Picardy" is the name of the tune that appears in the Chalice Hymnal as the music to hymn No. 124. It is a traditional old French carol that was published in Chansons populaires des provinces de France, IV in 1860. It was later adapted as a hymn tune and appeared in the English Hymnal of 1906. Many organ composers have used this tune to create their own organ works including Joseph Waddell Clokey (1890-1960). Clokey taught at Miami University and Pomona College in Claremont, California. He composed many organ pieces and, near the end of his life, wrote his 35 Interludes on Hymn Tunes. His "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent" is from this collection and features a presentation of the theme followed by a variation.