There is so much to be thankful for this year.
First, I thank God for all of you. I value your friendship and partnership in the Gospel as we have sought the Lord?s strength and guidance and have hung in there together through this time of uncertainty and transition.
Second, I am thankful for the progress we have made with the formation of the International Conference, the support we receive from the Global South primates and the opportunities we enjoy to work with our Common Cause partners. There is real ground for hope as we move ahead with the new alignment.
Third, I thank God for our new Network church plants. Please join in praying that they will grow and bring many people the good news of Jesus Christ. Our Network mission team has returned from Nigeria, eager to share and apply what they have learned from the explosive church planting movement in Anglicanism?s largest and most rapidly growing province. It was a life changing experience for the team and we are looking at ways to share and implement their learnings.
And fourth, I am thankful that my parish, All Saints' Church, which has been in negotiations for 13 months with the Diocese of Virginia, has reached an amicable property agreement. Our congregation will vote on December 10 to approve the agreement, which includes separating from The Episcopal Church, and go under the Church of Uganda. I praise and thank God that this was completed in a godly way. Please keep us in your prayers. A number of other Diocese of Virginia churches have completed, or soon will have completed, their 40 Days of Discernment process. Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare for congregational votes.
With so much going, let us give thanks that the Lord our God is seated on the throne. He is in control and He is good and ever faithful.
In Him,
John A. M. Guernsey
Dean
The Messiah in Prophecy
A Three-Week Advent Program
Church of the Divine Love
A guest speaker and a film will explore the theme of the Messiah in Old Testament prophecy during an Advent program at The Church of the Divine Love, Montrose, Diocese of New York. Rabbi Steve Fenchel, who heads a Messianic Jewish Congregation on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, will come for two evenings. Our third and final evening will include a film dramatizing the coming to faith of a first century Jewish Rabbi. Each evening will include discussion and Q&A.
This program will be held Thursday evenings, December 7, 14, & 21 at 7:30PM. Church of the Divine Love is about an hour north of New York City in the Hudson Valley.
Advent Outreach Programs
Good Samaritan Church
Christmas Gift Outreach Program
Each year in the Narthex, there are Christmas trees adorned with ornaments in different shapes. Parishioners and Day School parents and students are invited to take ornaments and purchase gifts that are then distributed to different groups. Each year the abundance of gifts is overwhelming. Good Samaritan partners with St. John's in Kensington for this ministry.
Good Samaritan youth and adults gather, deliver, and help clean and sort gently used and new toys, games, books, videos and other articles donated by Good Samaritan parishioners and Day School parents, for St. John's annual Christmas Toy Sale. The sale provides a low-cost source of Christmas gifts and raises money for St. John's projects. St. John's youth then have the joy of donating unsold articles to homeless children at the St. Barnabus shelter. Good Samaritan parishioners also provide food, support and resources for the St. John's Food Closet. The partnership between Good Samaritan and St. John?s continues to provide opportunities for growth and discipleship for members of both churches, and gives a visible demonstration of Christian witness in two very different communities.
Gift Wrap for Bolivia: KIDS4KIDS
Kids4Kids is a ministry within the 5th grade that has partnered with Good Samaritan parishioners and SAMS missionaries Betty and Larry Colletta to pray and raise money for the children of Bolivia (most specifically at La Trinidad). While they were once "in between" Sunday school and Youth Group, our 5th graders are now a vibrant part of our missions ministry. By redirecting their focus away from themselves toward other children in God's kingdom around the world, they gain a solid sense of their role in helping God reach out to others. We continue to partner with Betty and Larry Colletta and the children of La Trinidad church where they serve. Our relationship with them is a real bright spot in the lives of our 5th graders. They have sent gifts to the class and letters with pictures to help open the world of missions for these children. The "Christmas Wrap for Bolivia" was a huge success in 2005. Many more people brought gifts to be wrapped by the 5th graders. The donations added up to $800 dollars, which will be sent to the Collettas for the Children of La Trinidad and other churches in the area. This ministry continues to grow, as does our love and commitment to God's work in Bolivia.
St. Andrew?s Episcopal Church is doing a special mailing to those who have recently moved to our neighborhood, as well as a sermon series tied to The Nativity Story. The postcards are from Outreach.com and helpful information for preparation of the sermons is available on SermonCentral.com.
First Annual Advent Celebration Sunday
St. Bartholomew's Church
Tonawanda, NYwww.stbartston.org
The children of St. Bartholomew's, Tonawanda, New York, will be getting into the Advent spirit of preparation with the church's First Annual Advent Celebration Saturday, December 2, from 3:00 -5:00 p.m. Children, grades K-8 and their parents are invited to make an Advent Wreath, an Advent Calendar, and a special Christmas card, as well as take home an Advent Devotional booklet and magnet. Parents are asked to bring a dozen of their favorite Christmas Cookies to share and St. Bart's will provide the hot chocolate and punch. We are hoping that many families will partake in the beginning of this special season of preparation for the birth of Our Lord and then share that Good News with others in their communities.
Guest Speaker and Film
The Church of the Divine Love
A guest speaker and a film will explore the theme of the Messiah in Old Testament prophecy during an Advent program at The Church of the Divine Love, Montrose, Diocese of New York. Rabbi Steve Fenchel, who heads a Messianic Jewish Congregation on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, will come for two evenings. Our third and final evening will include a film dramatizing the coming to faith of a first century Jewish Rabbi. Each evening will include discussion and Q&A.
This program will be held Thursday evenings, December 7, 14, & 21 at 7:30PM. Church of the Divine Love is about an hour north of New York City in the Hudson Valley.
Over the course of the year, we will be contacting all parishes requesting information about any ministry you would like highlighted in the MAC newsletter. However, if you have a time-sensitive ministry you would like for us to include in an upcoming newsletter, please contact Heather Adams at hadams@acn-mac.org .
Did You Know?
A Brief History of Advent
Advent (from the Latin adventus, "the coming") is a holy season of the Christian church, the period of preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, or Christmas. It is the beginning of the Christian year (except in the Eastern churches).
The theme of readings and teachings during advent is often to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ as Judge, while commemorating the First Coming of Christ as Savior at Christmas.
In Western Christianity, Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The earliest Advent can begin is November 27 and the latest is December 3. Very often Advent begins on the Sunday after the American Thanksgiving.
From the 8th century the season was kept as a period of fasting as strict as that of Lent (commencing in some localities on 11 November; this being the feast day of St. Martin, the fast became known as "St. Martin's Fast" or "St. Martin's Lent"), but in the Anglican and Lutheran churches this rule was relaxed, with the Roman Catholic Church doing likewise later, but still keeping Advent as a season of penitence. In addition to fasting, dancing and similar festivities were forbidden, and to the present day, in accordance with the symbolism of liturgical colors, purple vestments are worn at the church services, although in recent years blue has gained favor, an apparent revival of the Sarum Rite, which dates from medieval England (Sarum being the Latin name for Salisbury, where the custom of using blue vestments at this time of year originated). In the Eastern churches, red is used.
Recommended Reading
Your Turn! 
In the September 2006 newsletter, the MAC staff invited readers to answer the following question: If you were going to be exiled to a desert island and could take only two books, the Bible and one other book, what book would you choose?
Below are the additional responses we have received:
My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
Intercessor by Norman Grubb, Reese Howells
A Conference for Our Time
Fairfield, CT
December 1-3, 2006
Please join the Church of the Apostles (AMiA) in Fairfield, CT, as they welcome Archbishop Chung: A Christian Missionary in a Muslim Land and an Asian Missionary in North America. To register for this free conference, call 203-254-3244 or email
info@apostlesct.org.
Crisis in the Episcopal Church: What the Spirit Says to the Churches
Rochester, New York
December 9, 2006
This is a conference for Christian believers and all those who are concerned about or being impacted by the crisis in The Episcopal Church. Located at Bethel Christian Fellowship (321 East Ave.; Rochester, NY); Sponsored by All Saints Anglican Church, Rochester, NY (Province of Uganda); Keynote Speaker: The Rev. Douglas Taylor-Weiss, Rector of Saints Peter and John Episcopal Church in Auburn, NY
ACN Parish Youth Leaders Tribal Gathering
Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2006
Charlotte, NC
This special Gathering of Youth Ministry Leaders is open to all who are engaged in youth ministry in Anglican settings and is being held in conjunction with Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) Winter Conference
January 17-20, 2006
Jacksonville, FL
God's great work of mission is going forward throughout the world?and in our own communities. To participate in it we must embrace the words of the prophet to open wide our lives, and like an ever expanding tent lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes. And we must not hold back. Winter Conference 2007 will be a great opportunity to see this expansive vision and allow ourselves to be stretched by God's purposes. Don't miss the event that has become an important point of connection for so many across North America and around the world. Come be a part of what God is working through the Anglican Mission in America.
Mere Anglicanism Conference
January 25-27, 2006
Charleston, SC
This event features ideas and analysis by three special Anglican thinkers and speakers, Michael Nazir-Ali, Ashley Null, and Edith Humphrey, in the historic city of Charleston. Not only that, the conference will feature Interactions panel discussions, Connections groups [for Track II participants], and wonderful worship opportunities.
Visit Trinity Conference
Trinity School for Ministry
March 8-10, 2007
Ambridge, PA
Come to the Visit Trinity Conference that begins with dinner on the evening of Thursday the 8th of March and concludes after dinner on Saturday the 10th. You'll have a chance to converse with Dean Paul Zahl as well as other Trinity faculty and students. The weekend will feature workshops on the call to ministry, panel discussions on life at Trinity, classroom experience with members of our faculty, community worship, and just plain fun.
New Wineskins for Global Missions Conference
April 11-15, 2007
Ridgecrest, NC
Sponsored by the New Wineskins Missionary Network
The 5th New Wineskins for Global Missions conference is an incomparable opportunity to equip you and your parish for engagement in the work of mission at home and abroad. At every conference, I've been powerfully touched by the amazing speakers that New Wineskins always offers many are not well-known in the U.S., but they are all world-class! The array of workshops will leave you wishing you could choose them all. Every speaker will uphold the authority of Holy Scripture and the truth of the historic faith. It is an event that you and your congregation can joyfully and confidently plunge into! I look forward to seeing you there.?
-John Guernsey, Dean
If your church is having an event, we would be happy to publish it, not only so that interested people might attend, but so that we can be praying for you. Send information to newsletter@acn-mac.org .
Feel free to forward this newsletter to members of your congregation.
John Guernsey, Dean | George Beaven, Church Planting Director | Heather Adams, Executive Assistant | Heidi Reichert, Administrative Assistant
Mid-Atlantic Convocation | Anglican Network Communion
c/o All Saints' Church | 5290 Saratoga Lane
Woodbridge, Virginia 22026
Tel: 703-670-0093www.acn-mac.org
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Now thank we all our God, With hearts and hands and voices;
Who wondrous things hath done, In whom this world rejoices.
Who, from our mother's arms, Hath led us on our way,
With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today.
Martin Rinkart (1586-1649), Hymn #397