Diocese of Montana Newsletter, January 2021
Follow the Light
By Bishop Marty Stebbins
An increasingly popular liturgy during the Advent season is Blue Christmas. My prior congregation offered it to the community on the evening of winter solstice, the longest night of the year. This service allowed us to acknowledge that, in the midst of the hoopla of the usual Christmas season with its overwrought shopping standards and artificial joy, not everyone is joyful or “in the Christmas mood”. Perhaps this was the first Christmas without a loved one present, or that someone special died in the Christmas season, or that a relationship ended dreadfully. Sometimes it is just the dark and cold night of the impending winter of the Northern Hemisphere.
The Blue Christmas service acknowledges the darkness and its challenges, asks participants to name it. To do this, we use paper ornaments to write on and then place them on the Advent tree. But we do not remain in that dark space. Just as each dark cloud can accentuate a beam of sunlight, so our dark places can wind up focusing the Light into our life. So, we also light candles in remembrance of what was lost or never found. At the end a previously dark nave now glows with all the candles lit.
The season of Epiphany offers its own festivals of light. Stories of epiphanies where God reveals God’s self to us are at the center. But we, too, are beings of light. Even when we cannot see our own light, others will follow it. And so, we are called to follow the Light as well. The wise men followed the Light in the shape of a wandering star. They followed it to the Christ child, “the Light which had come into the world”. Christ is the light that no darkness can overcome. In the midst of all the turmoil and illness we are enduring, we are called to follow the Light. For we are also beings of Light, and we are called to be beacons of hope, of love, of the reconciliation with God that so many need and hunger for. Help someone find their light by being the Light of Christ in their life. Follow the Light!
Click here to read the complete newsletter, including the following:
- Diocesan Calendar
- Christmas at Camp Marshall
- A Reading of A Christmas Offertory, by The Rev. Canon Bradley Wirth, premieres Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.
- Save these dates! - for Treasurers, Wardens, and Vestry members
- United Thank Offering
- Congregational Development, by The Rev. Janis Hansen
- Speaking Up For All Montana's Children
- A Prayer for Montana
- Envisioning Workshop: Save the Date: Saturday, Feb. 27, 1-3 pm via Zoom
- Camp Marshall: Summer 2021 Registrations are now open
- Tell Me Something Good, a new web series from The Episcopal Church
- Camp Marshall Cabin Rentals for personal or family retreats
- Covid-19 Emergency Grant Program
- Finance Corner, by Barb Hagen: Church Insurance
- WEBS 2021 Winter Book Study, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, by Krista Tippett, Mondays from 9:30-10:45 am Jan. 4 - Feb. 8
- Episcopal Relief & Development
- A Prayer for the Pandemic