The Olive Branch, 11/28/11

Accent on Worship

This Sunday we will meet John in the wilderness, proclaiming repentance; and Isaiah, proclaiming comfort; and we will listen to words from 2 Peter about God’s patience with us. Advent is all those things-- comfort, repentance, patience. As we sing through the night in minor key, the Daystar will come in his own time, changing the tone of our lives. He will come as a weak, world-changing baby, surprising everyone, including his zealous and perhaps slightly odd cousin John. (Locusts and honey? Hmm.) The incarnate one for whom we wait is likely to be where we do not expect him, and is not strong in the world’s way. How will you prepare to be surprised?

Advent Calendar

He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.

He will come like frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.

He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.

He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.

--Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

from Literary Companion to the Lectionary, Ed. Mark Pryce, Fortress Press 2002

- Vicar Erik Doughty



Sunday Readings

December 4, 2011 – Second Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 40:1-11 + Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a + Mark 1:1-8

December 11, 2011 – Third Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 + Psalm 126
I Thessalonians 5:16-24 1:3-9 + John 1:6-8, 19-28



This Week’s Adult Education
Sunday, December 4

“Why Do We (at Mount Olive) Worship the Way We Do?” part 3 of a 3-part presentation
by Dwight Penas


Wednesdays During Advent
Evening Prayer - 7:00 pm
(beginning November 30)


Annual MOGAL Holiday Cookie Bake
Please join us! Everyone is welcome!

This Sunday, December 4, 2011, following the second liturgy (about 12:30 pm) in the Undercroft, all are invited to join the MOGAL group for the annual holiday cookie bake. Each year we gather for a bowl of soup for lunch and then bake a variety of holiday cookies for delivery to Mount Olive members and friends who are home bound, living in care facilities or unable to worship with us because of health circumstances.

Bring the ingredients or the prepared cookie dough for your favorite holiday cookies. We bake the cookies in the church kitchen ovens and then box the goodies for distribution. If you prefer, you may bring cookies that you have baked at home to include with those we bake at church. If you are not a baker and would like help with some of the prep, cleanup, and boxing you are welcome to join us too!!!

Please call the church office at 612-827-5919, if you plan to attend so that we can make enough soup.



Book Discussion Group

For their December 10 meeting, the Book Discussion group will discuss German Boy: A Child in War, by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel. For their meeting on January 21 (the third Saturday due to the annual Conference on Liturgy), they will discuss William Faulkner's A Light in August.



Advent Luncheon for Seniors
Wednesday, December 7, 11:30 a.m.

Have you received your invitation in the mail? If so, be sure to RSVP to the church office as soon as possible, if you haven’t already done so.

Are you age 65 or older and did not receive an invitation in the mail? This only means that the church office does not have your correct date of birth – you are invited, too! Simply call the church office to RSVP (and be sure to take that opportunity to give us your date of birth!).



Fair Trade Craft Sale

The Missions committee is hosting a Fair Trade Craft Sale. Purchase beautiful and unique Fair Trade items handmade by disadvantaged artisans in developing regions. With each purchase, you help artisans maintain steady work and a sustainable income so they can provide for their families. Jhonson Augustin from Haiti says, “This work is our tool to fight poverty. We want more orders to make money to repair and replace what we lost (in the earthquake).” Lutheran World Relief works in partnership with SERRV, a nonprofit Fair Trade organization, to bring you the LWR Handcraft Project.

The crafts will be available for purchase after both services on December 4, 11, and 18 (cash and check only). Fair trade coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate from Equal Exchange will also be available.

This is not a fund-raiser, just an opportunity to buy good products for a good cause.



2012 Conference on Liturgy: Liturgy Shapes

This year’s Conference on Liturgy, “Liturgy Shapes,” will be held here at Mount Olive on January 13-14, 2012 (one week later than usual). This conference will address the ways in which our liturgical practices shape our ideas about God, our ways of reading the Bible, our experiences of community, our understanding of the world, and our response to our neighbor’s needs. We are delighted to welcome The Rev. Dr. Gordon Lathrop back as our keynote speaker for this conference. Workshop sessions will be led by Senator John Marty, Pastor Joseph Crippen, and Susan Cherwien. The conference brochure is attached to this week’s Olive Branch email, and additional copies of the brochure and registration are available at church or by following the link on the homepage of Mount Olive’s website: www.mountolivechurch.org.

Cost for Mount Olive members is $35 per person.



Alternative Gift Giving

Are you looking for something different to do this year for Christmas gifts? Take part in a growing tradition by giving gifts that help those in need. The Missions Committee is promoting the idea of alternative gift giving this Christmas. For example, for $15 you can “buy” a school uniform in honor of a loved one for a student in India so that the student can attend school. We have catalogues from different charitable organizations that you can use or you can order from the organizations’ websites. Some of these organizations are:

 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(www.elca.org/goodgifts)
 Lutheran World Relief (http://lwrgifts.org)
 Heifer Project Int’l (http://www.heifer.org)
 Common Hope
(http://commonhopecatalog.myshopify.com)
 Bethania Kids (http://bethaniakids.org)



Gloria: And on Earth, Peace
National Lutheran Choir Christmas Festival

In a world troubled with strife, the angels sing the song "Gloria" announcing the birth of the one who brings what we still need today: peace. In the beautiful ambience of the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, the Christmas Festival creates a journey - musically and for the listener and literally for the choir itself as it moves all around these spaces. All three local performances held at the Basilica of Saint Mary, 88 N 17th Street, Minneapolis, MN.

4:30 pm Friday, December 9
8:00 pm Friday, December 9
8:00 pm Saturday, December 10

For tickets, please call the National Lutheran Choir office at 612.722.2301, or visit them on the web at www.nlca.com. Tickets will also be available at the door.



Attention, Worship Assistants!

Is your server’s alb looking a bit tired? Soiled? In need of a minor repair or two? If so, Carol Austermann can help! Please give her a call if her services are needed, 612-722-5123.



Hot off the Press!

The greeters will be handing out the fall issue of "Greetings from Mount Olive Neighborhood Ministries" after both Eucharists this Sunday, December 4th.