Sunday Bulletin

Prelude           “In the Bleak Midwinter”                Wilbur Held

Introit             “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child”                

Welcome & Announcements

Call to Worship         Lay Leaders: Sandi Kuhl
We waited.
And imagined a savior.
We imagined power.
One like the world but stronger and on our side.
We imagined a king on a white horse wielding a sword.
We got a baby born in a stable among the livestock.
We imagined the work done for us through the
destruction of our enemies.
We received a baby who will teach us our calling
to seek reconciliation and to love expansively.
Praise be to God fore the unexpected babe of Bethlehem.
Praise to the wisdom of love. Amen!

Hymn           “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice”     #164                                                                

Unison Prayer
Holy God of Love, there is light in our lives because of the
abundance of your steadfast love. A love so vast, so deep,
so real, that you became one of us. May we live within the
power of this love. And may we share its light with a world
where too many dwell in darkness. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Children’s Message

Psalm 148

The Gloria Patri                                                                    #35

Anthem          “Huron Indian Carol”                           T. Charles Lee

Prayers of the People

Hymn           “It Came upon the Midnight Clear”     #153

Reading       Matthew 2:13-23

Message       “After they had left”                            Rev. Dan Haugh

Offering                                 
Offertory         “A Shepherd’s Lullaby” Charles Callahan
Doxology*                                                                            #46
Offertory Prayer*

Hymn           “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”     #150

Benediction      

Closing           “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child”

Postlude        “Fanfare on “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”         Robert A. Hobby

Calendar of Events

Monday, 12/29            Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Tuesday, 12/30            7:30 AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
7:30 AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, 12/31      Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
                                    5:30 Choir Rehearsal in Organ Loft
Thursday, 1/1/26 Happy New Year – office closed
Friday, 1/2/26 Office Open
                                   

Happy Birthday this week to:
Nellie Leeb and Helen Reilly today 12/28
Lauren Ross 12/29
Christian Cobaugh, Dean DeRienzo and Kelsey Goodson on 12/30
Virgil Shaw on 12/31
Lawrence Rhodes on 1/1
Wesson Ziegler on 1/2
Linda Fucile on 1/3

Announcements

The ushers today are  Thank you for helping today.

The flowers today are in loving memory of Peter Jones from Wendy Jones.

Please join us today and the next 2 Sunday for an On line coffee and fellowship hour at 11:00 am.  See the Quest for the link.

2025 Poinsettias given by:

In memory of Alan and Becky

Matt & Leslie Anderson in loving memory of: Jack Turner, Michelle LaBow our family members forever in our hearts and Michael Baumann.  In honor of our service members protecting our country.

Anne Bongiorno in memory of Priscilla Watson and Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Bongiorno

Ben Brayton in memory of Rev. Doug and Elinor Brayton

Marlene and Bob Davison in loving memory of our son, Robbie and Martin Darrow

Evie Dworetzky, Luke & Katelyn O’Toole  in memory of George & Katherine Dworetzky

Annie-Vera Frye in memory of L.Arnold & Susanne J. Frye, Pierre A. Frye, Roald & Vera Dysthe, Jean Roald Dysthe

Lois Hayworth in memory of Steven Hal Hayworth and Galen Earl Mudgett Jr.

Bob and Amy Marshall in memory of our loving families

Karen Monsen in memory of Peter Monsen and Ken Stevens

Greg and Meg in memory of Adrienne Chamberlin

Greg Morrill in memory of George and Ruth Morrill

Dave and Nan Myers in memory of The Robert Ayers Family and the Harvey Myers Family

Laura Nichols in memory of Alice Kruidenier

David and Ruth Roy in memory of our parents, brother-in-law Steven and brother Galen and in honor of our children and grandchildren

Meg Scotti in memory of Frank and Joan Scotti

Nancy Small and Roger Keller in memory of Christina Houghtaling

Penny and Barry Shonio in memory of Haven Sterling Shonio

John and Barb Stotsenburg in memory of our parents

Dian Williams in honor of my grandchildren

Jessie and Jacob Winters in memory of Alice Kruidenier

Bernadette and Lorilei Wyman in memory of Bill Wyman and Dick & Marcia Johannesen

Musical Notes by Karen Miller

Prelude:  “Cranham" is the title of a melody written by eminent English composer Gustavus Theodore von Holst, the son of an organist.  When Christina G. Rossetti's poem "In the Bleak Midwinter" was to be included in The English Hymnal of 1906, Holst provided this tune for it.  Holst (1874-1934) wrote mostly for orchestras, choruses, and chamber groups and is probably best known for his orchestral suite "The Planets".  He formed a life-long friendship with Ralph Vaughan Williams and the two of them contributed significantly to the collection and publication of English folk songs.  In 2007 Wilbur Held published a collection of organ pieces based on Christmas carols and included "Cranham" as the basis for one piece.  Held confined his composing to works for beginners at the organ and church musicians where he felt there was a great need when he started an organ department at Ohio State University in 1946.  In this piece the soprano starts with the melody, then the tenor carries it to the end.

Anthem:  The "Huron Indian Carol" is an arrangement for solo voice and accompaniment of an old Huron carol written 380 years ago by Jean de Brebeuf, a Jesuit priest who started a mission among native Huron people in Canada.  The tune he used for this is an old French carol called "Une Jeune Pucell" (A Young Maiden).  Jesse E. Middleton translated the text in 1926 and further enhanced the story in Huron images.  It is Hymn No. 166 in the Chalice Hymnal.

Offertory:  Dr. Charles Callahan (1951-2023)  has been a leading organist/composer for decades.  A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, he studied at the Curtis Institute and the Catholic University of America.  As an improvisateur he played at the International Eucharistic Congress in 1976.  He has written for orchestras, choruses, chamber misc ensembles and soloists, and has twice been commissioned by Harvard University to compose music.  He was awarded in 1999 the Papal Honor of Knighthood in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in recognition of his service to the church and for his commissioned compositions for Papal visits to the United States.  He was also an educator, author, and organ consultant.  He wrote a large quantity of music for the organ, especially for church service use.  His "A Christmas Suite" was published in 1990 and includes a quiet, meditative piece based on "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night).

Postlude:  Robert A Hobby (b. 1962) studied at the University of Notre-Dame and was organist at Trinity English Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  He has composed and published a number of hymn-based pieces including his collection "Three Christmas Preludes" which features a piece based on "Mendelssohn" (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing).  This melody was adapted from the second movement of Mendelssohn's Festgesang, Opus 68, composed in 1840. The hymn setting was written by William H. Cummings and first published in Chope's Congregational Hymn and Tune Book of 1856.  Cummings at age 16 sang in the premiere performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah with the composer conducting.