The Mentor for December 20155900 Seventh AvenueKenosha, WI 53140

Phone: 262-654-8642 FAX: 262-605-5526 E-Mail: stmatts5900@gmail.com Webpage: stmatthewskenosha.net

Facebook.com/StMatthewsEpiscopalChurchKenosha

The Rt. Rev. Steven A. Miller, Bishop of MilwaukeeThe Very Rev. Matthew L. Buterbaugh, Rector & Dean of Racine/Kenosha Convocation

St. Matthew’s Church Mission Statement

St. Matthew’s, an historic church rooted in the Episcopal tradition, shares the love of Christ, putting faith into action through worship, prayer and outreach in the downtown community and beyond.

Worship Schedule:Sunday: 7:30 AM Holy Eucharist & 10:30 AM Holy Eucharist Wednesday: 9:00 AM Holy Eucharist & Holy Unction in the ChapelSaturday: 5:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist

Wardens & Vestry:

Debi Rengers, Senior WardenKen Specht, Junior Warden

Linda Bogdala Dawn Christiansen Don Gosse Geoff GreeleyGavin LochtefeldMichelle Plichta

Jim Singer Rick Stoddard B. J. VanKammen

Treasurer:

Jon Cushman

Staff: Kay Sutton, Organist/Choir Director Abigail Wincek, Office Manager Mary Weiser, Parish Secretary Jeff Tyree, Facilities Manager Lynn Heller, RN, Parish Nurse Franklin Gail, Verger Leigh Travanty, Sexton

December Highlights

Sunday, November 29th: First Sunday of Advent Saturday, December 5th: Lessons & Carols at 5:00 p.m. in the church

Saturday, December 12th: Annual Christmas Carol Sing-Along at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, December 24th: Christmas Eve Service at 5:30 p.m. Festival of Music at 9:30 p.m. Midnight Mass at 10:00 p.m.

Friday, December 25th: Christmas Day Service at 10:00 a.m.

Food Pantry Items for December

We will be collecting items for green bean casserole: canned green beans, French fried onion rings, and mushroom soup.

A Pastoral Letter from Fr. Matthew

Dear Friends,

Many years ago I had a priest who said, "I never pray for patience, because God seems to always give me a lot of opportunities to build my patience." People, in general, are not very patient. We don't like to wait for things. This is especially true in our culture where communication is instant, the driver behind you starts honking a half second after the light turns green, and fast food isn't fast enough so that we need a drive through.

This sense of instant gratification has influenced the way we do religious holidays as well. Christmas decorations are already out, and will be taken down on December 26 - ten days before Christmas actually ends. People insist on saying "Merry Christmas" all through December when we're still in Advent, and drop it when Christmas is actually happening. Christmas is celebrated before it begins and ends before it's over.

This is a reminder that the Church is a place that stands out from the world - it is counter-cultural in a unique way. We seem to really stand out by singing Christmas hymns into January and having the Nativity Set out until February. I can imagine someone walking in for the first time and thinking, "Someone should tell these people they forgot to take their decorations down."

The irony of this whole matter is that Christmas is a liturgical holiday. While the broader culture has adopted some of the peripheral customs and traditions, the heart of the holiday is the Church's. The commemoration of Christ's birth and coming into the world and the twelve- day season that follow belong to the Church. The broader culture is merely looking into the window and trying to emulate the superficial things it sees. And because it does not understand these superficial things, it exaggerates them and tries to turn them into the focus.

This happens any time the broader culture takes ahold of one of the Church's traditions and tries to appropriate it. Valentine's Day becomes about candy hearts and perfect dates, while people remember nothing of the third century bishop and martyr. Easter becomes about chocolate eggs and bunnies and not about the resurrection. Weddings become about dresses and cake and not about celebrating commitment. Culture has a way of trying very hard to profane the sacred, or pretend that the sacred does not exist at all.

I think this is what sets us aside as Christians: that we remember these times to be set aside for worship. It is not just the family meal that we will enjoy, but the heavenly meal we receive at the Eucharist. We do not look for the gifts we will receive, wrapped in paper and ribbon, but we look for the gift of remembering that God became one of us. We do not only prepare by adorning a tree with tinsel and ornaments, but by adorning the poor with coats, hats and meals.

As Christians, we prepare for the coming of Christ by making our hearts, minds and souls ready as if Christ were to come back today. We do this because we recognize the abundant grace that we have already received. We do this through prayer, charity and good works. The way we prepare for the coming of Christ truly sets us aside from the way the world celebrates.

While the world moves around us, we followers of Christ patiently wait. But, it is in our waiting that we find hope. It is in our waiting that we find Christ and rejoice at his appearing. Have a blessed Advent.

Blessings and Peace, Fr. Matthew+

Give Rest, O Christ

In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God:  Bruce Bleashka, Tom Lura, Ardis Rognstad, and Barbara Skovronski.  Our prayers are with their families.  May their souls, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Remembering Our Shut-Ins

Lynn Heller, Parish Nurse, is asking us to remember parish shut-ins who through various circumstances can no longer attend church. She has placed a list of names and addresses along with Christmas cards at the back of the church. Please take time to address a card and mail it to a parish shut-in. These cards will bring much joy at this time of the year.

St. Matthew’s is Chock-Full of Events!

Please mark your calendars (or print this out and stick on your refrigerator) and plan to attend as many of these events as you can. So many ways to have fun and enjoy fellowship with others in the upcoming winter season at St. Matthew’s. Watch the Sunday bulletins and Mini-Mentors for more information.

3rd Annual Christmas Carol Sing-Along - Sat., Dec. 12, 2015• Another fun Downtown Kenosha 2nd Saturday event where you can “sing” in the joys

of the Christmas season• 6:30-7:30pm following the Saturday evening service• We are happy to announce that the Kenosha Chamber Choir will be helping us sing in

the sounds of the season this year!• Refreshments will be served

Pizza/Game Night – Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 6:00 p.m., Guild Hall• Back by popular demand. Fun for the whole family, from ages 4-94!• Dinner served from 6:15-6:45pm. Games from 6:30-7:30pm• Cribbage, Apples to Apples, Sorry, Card Games and more!• Pizza and water will be provided. Sign-up sheet in the back of the church. Please sign

up to bring either a 2-liter bottle of soda, juice/juice boxes or a dessert.• If you can, please bring a non-perishable food item which will be donated to The

Shalom Center.Women's Quarterly Dinner - Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2016 at 6:00 p.m., The Boat House

• Guests will meet in the bar area at 6:00p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. (Order from the menu and separate checks.)

• Sign-up sheet will be in the back of the church by Dec. 27, 2015. RSVP to Linda Bogdala at (847) 912-8349 or email: bogdale@comcast.net

Snow Daze Chili Lunch – Saturday, February 13, 2016, Noon-3:00pm, Guild Hall• St. Matthew’s will again host a free chili lunch as part of Kenosha’s 2nd Saturday

Snow Daze Ice Sculpture event in Library Square.

Service of Lessons and Carols

A candlelight procession will begin the traditional service of Lessons and Carols on Saturday, December 5th at 5:00.  This beautiful service will combine scripture and music of preparation for the coming of Christ.

This year St. Matthew’s welcomes special guests, the Kenosha Chamber Choir, who will combine with members of St. Matthew’s Adult Choir to present famous classical anthems for Advent, including, “The Paper Reeds by the Brooks” by Randall Thompson, “E'en So Lord, Jesus, Quickly Come” by Paul Manz, “A Spotless Rose” by Herbert Howells, “How Lovely are the Messengers” by F. Mendelssohn and ending with the powerful “Magnificat in B-flat” by Charles Villiers Stanford.  Other anthems, special hymns for the congregation to sing and organ music written for Advent will complete a service of preparation, anticipation and reflection on the coming season.

Inquirers’ Class is coming back! 

For those who are interested in Confirmation, Reception into the Episcopal Church or want to reaffirm their baptismal vows, this class is for you.  If you are relatively new to the church, want to learn more about the Church or want to officially join the Church, this class is for you!  The Inquirers’ Class will meet weekly, starting in January, and go until May when we will have a celebration Eucharist with people from other Episcopal Churches in our area and the bishop.  More information will be published about this class soon.  If you have any questions about this, please contact Fr. Matthew.

Each month St. Matthew’s Vestry decides which local or Episcopal human services agency will receive a tithe from the church’s operating budget. The amount for 2015 was $1,377.50 per month. To date the church has given a check to the following programs/agencies:

January - Hospitality Center at St. Luke’s in Racine February - Kenosha Human Development Services! March - Haiti Project April - Congregations United to Serve Humanity May - Kenosha Community Sailing Center June - Genesis House of Southeastern Wisconsin July - Kenosha County Jail Chaplaincy Program August - National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (Kenosha) September - Kenosha Literacy Council October - Care Net Family Resource Center, Inc. November - Bridges Community Center

Each agency is most grateful for the gift. They are especially thankful for the St. Matthew’s community and our dedication to helping others.!

As the holidays approach, you might want to purchase coffee for gifts!

There is a good supply of Vienna Medium Dark in the coffee corner of the church. This blend has a roasty goodness and rich chocolatey body and comes in whole bean form at $10 a bag. When you purchase Singing Rooster Coffee you are helping the farmers in Haiti who grow the coffee.

Same Sex Marriage Resolution

On November 10, 2015, the Vestry of St. Matthew's approved the following resolution:

The Episcopal Church in the United States has long been in dialogue about whether or not to develop and approve the use of liturgical rites for the marriage of same sex couples. After much prayerful debate, those rites were formerly adopted at the July 1, 2015 General Convention and their use will go into effect the first Sunday of Advent, 2015. It is with prayerful hope and consideration that St. Matthew's Episcopal Church will honor these liturgical rites in the marriage of same sex couples.

The church's general convention has striven to honor the liturgical diversity in matters of human sexuality of all ordained and lay persons. It is our prayerful hope that the vestry and all parishioners of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, regardless of their view on this decision, should not suffer for their opinion. We will continue to pray for wisdom and guidance to do ourbest to live out our baptismal covenant - striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being.

Mittens & Hats The GLOW Sunday School will be collecting mittens and hats through Sunday, November 29th. There is a box in the back of church for these items. They will be distributed to local schools and agencies in early December.

Giving Wreath Project Last year Giving Wreath support was so appreciated, that again this year that, we’re asking the congregation to remember “the least of these” in our community through the Giving Wreath project. Understanding how adults ended up in the negative situations that they are in may be difficult for us, but we ask that, this Christmas, through our Giving Wreath, you consider Jesus’ call to take care of the sick and those suffering from addictions. Gifts are limited to $25 each, and the Giving Wreaths will be up with tags on November 29. The last day to bring gifts to church is Sunday, December 20. The Outreach Committee thanks you for your support.

Awe, Wonder, Anticipation. When you see these words, what thoughts come to your mind? Mr. Webster defined them this way:

Wonder: a feeling caused by seeing someone or something that is very surprising, beautiful, amazing, etc.

Awe: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime.

Anticipation: a feeling of excitement that something is going to happen

The feeling of awe can arise for me in many ways: from seeing the last remnants of leaves changing colors, from sunsets over Green Bay that take my breath away, from photographs of the aurora borealis (which I hope to gaze upon myself one day).

Seeing my unborn grandchild’s eyes, fingers and toes caused me to be gripped by a sense of wonder at this beautifully formed little person and reminded me of Psalm 139:13-14: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.”

Anticipation. It can be a good feeling, like looking forward to a vacation or counting down the days until your retirement. There can also be fearful anticipation: waiting for your college student to drive home from school or getting called into the principal’s or boss’s office.

Just imagine the thoughts of a young girl named Mary and her husband, Joseph, as they trudged along the dusty road on their way to Bethlehem. Both Mary and Joseph had been the recipients of some wonderful, awe-inspiring angelic visitors at the beginning of Mary’s pregnancy. And during both of those visits, angels told Mary and Joseph not to be afraid. Their strong and abiding faith, in spite of any doubts or fears they may have had, allowed them to anticipate with awe and wonder the birth of that little baby who, they were told, would be Immanuel, God with us. Let us all strive to walk with anticipation, awe and wonder as we, too, wait to celebrate the birth of that little baby.

In His Love,

Linda Bogdala

Care for Toddlers

Our nursery care provider, Carly Jepson, has resigned due to personal schedule conflicts. The church would like to hire someone for this position by December 6th. This is a paid position and the individual must be 16 years of age or older, be willing to have a background check done, and take a “Safeguarding God’s Children” course within six months of hire date.

Contact Fr. Matthew if you are interested in this position

Flowers to the Glory of God

As is the tradition at St. Matthew’s Church, parishioners are invited to contribute to the Christmas Flower Fund in thanksgiving for personally significant occasions in your life, to honor a living family member or friend, or to celebrate the life of a deceased family member or other significant person in your life.

Please detach the form below and, with your donation, give it to an usher, place it in the collection plate, or mail it to the church. All donations must be received by Wednesday, December 16th.

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Please print your name and intention as you wish it to appear in the Christmas bulletin insert. Place this and your donation in the envelope provided.

Donor: ________________________________________________

In memory of: __________________________________________

In thanksgiving for: ______________________________________

Other intention: _________________________________________