The Rev. Linda LaGroix
Here we are, rapidly approaching the beloved season of Christmas! It seems that once we put the reflective moments of Remembrance Day behind us, Christmas comes all too soon. It is now time for us to prepare for the Advent and Christmas season at St. Alban’s Anglican Church in Ashcroft.
We invite and encourage members of our local communities to join us for or any and all of our Sunday services listed below, as well as for the Soup’s On program on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., culminating on Friday, Dec. 23 with a full Christmas dinner served at lunch.
On Sunday, Nov. 27 we enter this season of Advent at St. Alban’s. Advent includes the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, and is a time we set aside to honour the beginning of the new Christian church year. It is a time to ponder the meaning of the Christ Child once again, and what “God here among us” means to each of us and to our communities.
As Advent this year starts on Nov. 27, our first Gospel Bible study will be on Wednesday, Nov. 23 from 2 to 4 p.m.; the series will continue every Wednesday until Dec. 14. We will be studying the Gospel of Matthew, as it forms the basis for much of our reflection in this coming year. If you want an in-depth study of scripture during Advent, our studies are open to all who would like to join us.
Looking forward, we are excited to also have several different services during the Advent and Christmas seasons. We will have a candle lighting each week through Advent as we remember the gifts of the Holy Spirit; a service of Carols and Lessons at 10 a.m. on Dec. 18; a Hope and Healing Christmas celebration at 2 p.m. on Dec. 21; and a Christmas Eve Holy Communion service at 7 p.m. on Dec. 24. We enter the Christmas season with a Holy Communion service at 10 a.m on Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25.
In this time of hustle and bustle, my prayer is for a peaceful, hopeful, and blessed season where you are warm, fed, and loved by many around you! May you find time to take in the wonder of nature as she changes and to give thanks to our Creator for all that you have been blessed with this past year!
editorial@accjournal.ca
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