Getting rich won’t make you happy. But it will make you more selfish and dishonest.

In this first article of the first edition of “The Nativity Scene” for 2015, I quote liberally from an article originally published in “The New Republic”, and excerpted in “The Week” maga-zine. It speaks of what we secretly know about wealth (which all of us reading this pos-sess, relative to most of the world), what the Word of God confirms about it, and about what we can do in 2015 to reverse its curse to create a blessing for all of us.

Jack Kenney created a tennis camp, called Tamarack, in the mountains of northern New Hampshire. The kids who went to the camp mostly came from well-to-do East Coast fami-lies, but the camp itself didn’t feel like a rich person’s place. It wasn’t unusual for the local health inspectors to warn the camp about its conditions, or for the mother of some Boston Brahmin dropping her child off, and seeing where he would sleep and eat for the next month, to burst into tears.

Kenny ran his tennis camp less as a factory for future champions than as an antidote to American materialism—and also to the idea that a person could be at once successful and selfish. His assault on teenaged American inequality began at breakfast the first morning. The bell clanged early, and the kids all crawled to the dining hall. On each table were small boxes of cereal, enough for each kid to have one box, but not enough that everyone could have the brand of cereal he wanted. There were Fruit Loops and Cheerios, but also more than a few boxes of the deadly dark bran stuff consumed willingly only by old people suf-fering from constipation.

On the second morning, when the breakfast bell clanged, kids sprung from their bunks to the dining hall. The winners got the Fruit Loops, the losers the laxative cereal. By the third morning, it was clear that, in the race to the Fruit Loops, some kids had a natural ad-vantage. They were bigger and faster; or their cabins were closer to the dining hall; or they just had that special knack some people have for getting whatever they want. Some kids would always get the Fruit Loops, and others would always get the bran. Life was now offi-cially unfair.

After that third breakfast, Kenney called an assembly on a hill overlooking a tennis court. “You all live in important places surrounded by important people,” he’d begin. “In the city you see people grasping, grasping, grasping. Taking, taking, taking. And it must be so hard! To be always grasping-grasping, and taking-taking. But no matter how much they have, they never have enough. They’re still worried. About what they don’t have. They’re always empty.” He described the life of not-so-quiet desperation until every kid on the hill wondered what this had to do with the two-handed backhand. Then he opened his eyes and finished: “You have a choice. You don’t realize it, but you have a choice. You can be a giver or you can be a taker. You can get filled up or empty. You make that choice every day. You make that choice at breakfast when you rush to grab the cereal you want so oth-ers can’t have what they want.”

‘WHAT WEALTH DOES TO YOUR SOUL’ and how to reverse it

I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e :

Fr. Len’s Message

Reach News

1-2

3

All About Kids

Novemberfest

4

5

Diocesan Convention

“Wild about Harry”

6

7

Work Day

Living Nativity

8

Visit to a Detox Unit

Friday Group Brunch

9

The Postlude

10

Remembering Nativity 11

C h u r c h o f t h e

N a t i v i t y

NATIVITY SCENE J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

WORSHIP SERVICES

Saturdays

5:00 PM Holy Eucharist

Sundays

7:45 AM Holy Eucharist

9:00 AM Adult Education

10:00 AM Holy Eucharist

with Sunday School

and Nursery Care

Weekday

7:00 AM Morning Prayer

(Mon.-Sat.) with

Eucharist on Wed.

12:00PM Noonday Prayer

7:00 PM Evening Prayer

(Sun.-Fri.)

(Continued on Page 2)

P a g e 2

On the fourth morning, no one ate the Fruit Loops. Kids were thrusting the colorful boxes at each other and leaping on the constipation cereal like war heroes jumping on hand grenades. In a stroke, the tex-ture of life in this tennis camp had changed, from a chapter out of “Lord of the Flies” to the feeling be-tween the lines of Walden. Even the most fantastically selfish kids did what they could to contribute to the general welfare of the place, and there was not a shred of doubt that everyone felt happier for it. The distinction between haves and have-nots, winners and losers, wasn’t entirely gone, of course. But it be-came less important than this other distinction, between the givers and the takers.

Money changes the lives of the rich who have it. In one study, people driving expensive cars were four times more likely to cut in front of other drivers than drivers of cheap cars. Drivers in the cheap cars all respected the pedestrians’ right of way. The drivers in the expensive cars ignored the pedestrians 46.2 percent of the time—a finding that was replicated in another study which found that drivers of expensive cars were far more likely to double-park. In another study, the richer the person, the more likely he was to reach in and take candy from a jar with a big sign on it that said the candy was only for children. An-other study showed that a rich person is most likely to cheat. A survery of 43,000 Americans found that, by some wide margin, the rich were most likely to shoplift.

A neuroscientist has shown that that wealth quiets the nerves in the brain associated with empathy: If you show rich people and poor people pictures of kids with cancer, the poor brains exhibit a great deal more activity than the rich. The problem with the rich is caused by the wealth itself: it tilts their brains. It causes them to be less likely to care about anyone but themselves.

There is a growing awareness that the yawning gap between rich and poor is no longer a matter of sim-ple justice but also the enemy of economic success and human happiness. It’s not just bad for the poor. It’s also bad for the rich. It’s funny, when you think about it, how many rich people don’t know this. But they are not idiots; they can learn. Many even possess the self--awareness to correct for whatever tricks their brain chemicals seek to play on them; some of them already do it. When you control a lot more than your share of the Fruit Loops, there really isn’t much doubt about what you should do with them, for your own good. You just need to be reminded, loudly and often.

“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” 1 Tim 6:10

“Keep your lives free from the love of money; be contact with what you have” Heb. 13:5

“As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share” 1 Tim 6:18

So you and I know what to do in 2015 to allow God to make us, and others, happier, and more capable of being the kind of loving people, followers of Jesus, that we desire to be. As we finish out the 2014 fiscal year, we can run the numbers in our giving. People with incomes below 25 grand give away 4.2 percent of their income, while those earning more than 150 grand a year give away only 2.7 percent. We can also tally the time we give weekly to others, noting that of both money and time in 2015 the same kind of disparities between rich and poor exist. And, in both cases as “the rich of the present age” we can increase our giving and discover how the year ahead is full of God’s Love and Life. Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Let’s see if we can prove that in the year ahead.

With love in Christ,

Fr. Len

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

(Continued from Page 1)

P a g e 3

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

VIDEO CONFERENCE AT NATIVITY

At the Spring 2014 Synod of the Episcopal

Church in New England, the bishops and

delegates made a commitment to explore

ways to collaborate to effect change in areas

of economic inequity and poverty. Join us as

we start a conversation about what we can

do together! Nativity will join other sites

around New England in hosting a live video

presentation of a Conference from Trinity

Church, Wall Street, called "Creating the

Common Good". It will be held on Friday

and Saturday, January 23-24. Check out

our Bulletin Boards for further information.

To register, visit http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=zei84bqab&oeidk=a07eaasz7cdd4ace2a5

In September Nativity was blessed to welcome Pastor Komannapalli from Manna Ministries. Parishioners were invited to attend an information session about Manna's mission followed by worship led by Pastor Komannapalli. We then gathered in the hall for a reception and a Q/A session. A new orphanage, Mirium Home, was opened in India and is currently home to 18 girls. Many parishioners have pledged financial support to sponsor a girl. Our Sunday school made pillowcases for each girl and presented them to Pastor Komannapalli . A special thanks to Lynn D'Angelis for her mission work. Lynn has visited the orphanage on a recent mission trip to India. She invited Pastor Komannapalli to speak at Nativity and coordinated a wonderful evening of giving and prayer. On behalf of Nativity, Outreach will of-fer financial and support of this important mission. Coin collection boxes were given to parishioners during the Advent season to further support this orphanage.

Nativity also provided financial support of The Northboro Senior Center's Annual Veteran's Day Luncheon in No-vember. This event honors and hosts approximately 100 local veterans. We also continued our support to Wounded Warriors with a financial donation on behalf of Nativity

75 bags of carrots were donated to the Northboro Helping Hands Organization that helped assemble 75 Thanks-giving baskets to be distributed to local families in need.

continued financial support of our three sponsored children from Compassion Intl. Continued financial support of Families in Transition that supports homeless residents in local area hotels financial donation to the Northboro Food Pantry Continued financial support to Christian Association of Youth Mentoring We were also blessed to support Philippine Missionaries Jeremy and Amy Simons. Amy is consulting to help

ramp-up the new community health outreach project that will require more of her time in the new year, in-cluding hiring a local project assistant to travel regularly to the tribal communities where partners are locat-ed.. Jeremy has been asked to consult with the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission, an offi-cial body set up by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to help implement the comprehensive peace treaty signed in late March. This commission will focus on addressing human rights violations and atrocities committed over the past 40 years of armed conflict. Reach would like to thank Dana Cheney for introducing us to Amy & Jeremy and their important mission work.

A shout out to Sandy Schofield who contacted Reach to donate some baby quilts she had sewn. These were delivered to Spring House. A home for single moms. Thank you Sandy for such a wonderful donation.

Thanks to Nativity for your continued support of the Reach Ministry. Your time, talent and treasures have made a differ-ence. Blessings to All, The Reach Ministry, Gail, Marge, Dana, Lori & Janet

The Outreach Ministry News for Fall 2014

P a g e 4 V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

INTRODUCING NEW ADDITIONS

Luke Richard Pierce Wilson was born on September 20 at 4:34pm to Eliza-beth and David Wilson. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. Both mother and son doing really well. Luke and Elizabeth have returned to Massa-chusetts in December. David was at the Christmas service and expects to be home sometime in January.

GIULIANA PETRACCO BAPTISED

Giuliana Cutler Petracco,

daughter of Chris and

Brittan, was baptized on

Saturday, November 22,

2014 at the 5 PM Service..

BIRTHDAY PARTY

Barbara Strom wants to thank her Nativity family for the love showed to Makayla at the

Luncheon on Sunday 14. This is her extended family. Her birthday party and the

shower of gifts was extraordinary. She loves all of Nativity very much and looks for-

ward to coming to church. She shares her love, her hugs, and her kisses with every-

one. Barbara writes, “As her grandmother I am blessed to have her in my life andjust

a blessed to have all of ;you. I love you all and pray; youhave a blessed Christmas and

a blessed and healthy New Year.

Charles Maxwell Nelson on the

left, son of Sean and Abby

(Severence) Nelson and Julie

Severence, on the right, daugh-

ter of Matt and Kate Severence

will be baptized on Saturday,

January 10, 2015.

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1 P a g e 5

FR. LEN AT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

NOVEMBERFEST

Fr. Len addressed the Christian Fellowship at

Northeastern University about God's plan for

excellent sex, from Genesis 2:24-25.

The annual celebration of Novemberfest, the Parish Fair, was held on November 15. Visitors were warmly greeted by

parishioners offering a variety of crafts, attic treasures and boutique items. Bill Gagnon and Charlie Dexter were at their

band saws cutting wooden items, and Glen Campbell and gang manned the kitchen to serve lunch while a multitude of

gift baskets and gift certificate were available at the silent auction. The baked goods and candy were delicious. This

major fund raiser netted over $6000 this year,

Getting ready for the fair ( shown above)

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1 P a g e 6

A lot of Diocesan Convention is good news intended to encourage us all in our walk of faith. I hope the following report

accomplishes that with you. Your delegates Glen Campbell, Cindy Loverin, Joan Gilcrest and Len Cowan represented

Church of the Nativity this year at the Diocesan Convention held in Agawam MA on October 25, 2014. Notice there was

no youth delegate mentioned. I would like to see young members of Nativity (between the ages of 16-20) volunteer for

election in January.

For those unfamiliar with Diocesan Convention, the purpose is to review the operations of the Diocese in the prior year

and plan for its operation in the upcoming year - all in a humble and worshipful attitude before Almighty God. This year,

as in past years, the schedule looked like this: worship, review activity reports for the prior year, review expenditures

for the prior year, elect candidates for open positions, vote on any resolutions brought before the convention, review and

approve the budget for the upcoming year.

The Rt. Rev. Alan Gates, Bishop of Diocese of Massachussetts addressed convention. He recounted the ways we've

worked together in the past and looked forward to working with us in the future. James Hazelwood, bishop of the Lu-

theran church in New England celebrated the eucharist. During worship, bishop Fisher gave his annual address. In a

nutshell, the bishop encouraged us, as Jesus did his disciples in Luke 10:1-9, to "go out". He offered a wonderful exam-

ple. "Every Wednesday Dean Jim Munroe and Canon Tom Callard and several church members go through the streets

of Springfield handing out sandwiches and gently offering to pray with whomever requests prayer." We heard many oth-

er such examples in the activity reports that followed. Betsy Fisher (the Bishop's wife) reported on her activities. Last

year, she made a diocese-wide appeal for money for the construction of a women's training center in the Diocese of Ku-

masi, Ghana - "spare change" kind of idea. She raised $30,000 and showed us pictures of construction under way.

Derek Fetz and Karen Gladwin presented a wonderful production documenting the "Church Without Walls" initiative put

on by St. Andrew's, Longmeadow. Tanya Wallace presented an inspiring overview of the "Lawrence House" program.

Last year, Tanya rustled up $70K in grants to buy and refurbish an old house in South Hadley. This year with the house

now habitable, she brought in some interns interested in Christian community (living simply together) and service. All of

the interns introduced themselves to the convention and gave a short intro to their work at Lawrence House. Hilary

Bogert-Winkler - Interim Christian Formation Missioner - putting together a very ambitious youth program for the dio-

cese. Recently took a group of our youth to the Episcopal Youth Event: "Marked for Mission". Her plan includes Dioce-

san Youth Council, first meeting November 15 10AM-3PM: need for one youth from each parish, WinterLight Confer-

ence at Kanuga from December 26 - January 1, Lift Every Voice Pilgrimage July 12-18, 2015 in North Carolina, 2016

pilgrimage to S. Africa. Laura Everett, executive director of Massachusetts Council of Churches, addressed the conven-

tion. She outlined the ways that MCC and the Diocese cooperated on programs this last year. Laura just exudes ener-

gy about God's mission in Massachusetts.

Steve Abdow, Diocesan Treasure, is a great guy filled with the spirit and crunching numbers for the diocese. He re-

viewed the results of last year with us - a small surplus. He's keeping the diocese on budget in a humble and mission-

minded way.

Elections followed with most positions unopposed. Then the resolutions were considered. The first resolution was to

request that the Episcopal Church Fund, the endowment that funds the national church, divest itself of a certain number

of fossile-fuel investments. The resolution was passed overwhelmingly following additional vigorous discussion. The

second resolution concerned whether to allow revision of diocesan-wide health insurance benefits by Diocesan Council

rather than by Diocesan Convention as the policy read beforehand. Almost immediately, an amendment was offered to

modify the resolution to say that Diocesan Council could review and make recommendations to Diocesan Convention

rather than just out-and-out revise the policy. The amendment was vigorously discussed at length, but in the end failed.

The amendment as originally stated was approved after much additional discussion. Your delegates needed to get back

to Nativity for the 5PM service, so had to leave for this part of the convention. However, Steve Abdow presented the

proposed budget at a Corridor meeting that we delegates attended earlier in the year. At that presentation, Steve said

the 2015 budget projects a modest increase in revenue and a modest increase in expenditures with a small surplus pro-

jected.

2014 DIOCESAN CONVENTION by Glen Campbell

P a g e 7 V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

Harry Durning: a beacon for ethics, integrity, compassion, good government, fine writing, and holding people accountable for all of this and, most notably, holding himself accountable. So where did all this good come from? As Harry said of himself he enjoyed a remarkably happy life with good luck at home and at work. Plus, he married well with Judy, the daughter of apple-

farmers with whom he once worked. This guy, voted the most likely bachelor in High School, was blessed with five chil-dren and a passel of grandchildren, all of whom love him. That “good luck” can bring goodness out of some. But sometime about 50 years ago, Harry encountered Someone Who changed his life forever. Like C.S. Lewis, one of Harry’s favorite writers, who died some fifty years ago this day, Harry found a transformative relationship with Jesus Christ, an unexpected discovery from someone who, in his own words, was once “not a fun fellow”. As with Lewis, Har-ry possess a keen mind and a prodigious intellect, and so was not apt to be swayed by fuzzy notions of “God is in His heaven, so all is right with the world.” His faith had to be well-reasoned and sound, as was the faith of C. S. Lewis. Harry struggled with his relationship with God and the Bible that provided the grounding of that faith. He struggled with the darker narratives of the Old Testament – Harry wanted to know why the Egyptian soldiers, acting on orders, got drowned in the Red Sea of the Exodus. But he agreed with the humorist Mark Twain who said, “it ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that really bother me, it’s the parts that I can understand. Harry had a faith of integrity, working at being sincere and honest about it. His fascination with the Prayer and faith of St. Francis and his love for the Book of James, resulted in his conviction that a faith without good works is as good as dead. Let’s let Harry have his “final” Editorial, written at his own Royal typewriter in 1968, for a panel discussion about faith in Sudbury: With due credit to the inclusive nature of this gathering, I make no apologies for the fact that I am a Christian. I believe in God the Father, Who created this world; His Son, Jesus Christ, Who assumed the full burden of humanity and died for our sins; and finally the Holy Spirit, God’s continuing manifestation in the world, Who sustains our faith and acts as a channel for our contacts with the Father and the Son. I’ve been asked how I can swallow all that baloney about a Jewish carpenter’s son walking around making the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear and the dead rise, Himself included, back to life. It seems to me that the apostles of Christ, a collection of fisherman, a tax collector and apolitical radical, could never have done what they did unless they were convinced that Jesus was what He said He was – the Son of God. At the end, they saw Him put to death on the cross with two common criminals. Even the head man, Peter, denied and deserted Him. Yet from that low point the Church spread like wildfire – because Christ reappeared Himself and sent the Holy Spirit after He left. The same group of people who panicked at the time of the crucifixion went forth with boldness and unshakeable conviction after-ward. With one exception they gave their lives for their faith. This was the real thing. All this, of course, is recorded in the Bible. Though the Bible remains the all-time best-seller, I’m not convinced it’s as well read these days. But there remains a power in Bible. I’ve been a nominal Christian since childhood, but it’s only in the past few years that I’ve really taken the time to read and study the Bible. I still don’t do enough of it. But what I have done, what I have observed in study groups has convinced me this is no ordinary Book. I’ve touched on many of the benefits of a real Christian faith. I can’t end without a few words about its de-mands. Basically there are just two of them. One involves a simple confession that you are a sinner. Some people are apparently bothered by that. Anytime I look in a mirror I can accept that pretty easily. I could do that even before I had the insights on the faith I have now. The second demand of this faith is a real-person commitment to Christ, recognition that our relationship with God depends first of all on faith. As the Lord’s own brother, James, pointed out in one of the great Epistles, that faith had better be backed up with positive Christian action or its just a sham. But it’s important to keep first things first – and that’s the faith. Jesus made this perfectly plain in His lifetime. It’s in the Gospels for all who will take the time to read them. One final point. The word has changed, somewhat. We’re a little smarter . We get around faster. We kill each other with greater aplomb and accuracy. But for all this, human nature is not much changed. We still need a Messiah. I be-lieve the Messiah has come. It’s still up to us to accept Him. And so, Sir Harry, we say to you: Thanks! Cheers! Peace!

Wild About Harry, Delivered at the Memorial Service for Harry M. Durning

November 22, 2014 – Nativity, Northborough

V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

P a g e 8

CLEAN- UP DAY - NOVEMBER 1

SERVICE! TIME ! AND TALENT ! Bravos to: A gathering of workers to make our Nativity sparkle. Rugs were cleaned, windows washed, brass polished, stairs and wood work cleaned. Thanks Marilyn Bergstrom, Kristen Swift, Hallie Cowan, Cathy Terwedow. The Boy Scouts raked leaves, while others blew the entire property clean of leaves. Thanks Bob Roche. New lights where installed and the entire building was power washed. Thanks Wayne Deslauriers. Thanks Brad Nutting for painting doors. Last but not least the bathroom floors were tackled By Glen Camp-bell and Brad Nutting. They are sparkling. A great Lunch was served as we gathered wet, tired but happy and grateful that we got so much needed work done. Thanks to those who helped me serve a great lunch, Phyllis Nutting, and a wow to a great soup made by Sue Gellles. Greatness from my Angels! With love, Jr. Warden, Sue Roche

And Thank You to the Boy Scouts who raked leaves at the Rectory!

THE LIVING NATIVITY

Though December 20 was colder than days prior, the setting for this year's presentation of The Living Nativity couldn't

have been better. Clear skies most of the day but, during the presentation, some light snow fell. Thanks to the summer-

time God Rocks concert and to Howie Gelles and friends, we now had a stage to elevate the action for all to see. The

Stable, singers, and angels were all front and center, and the staging for the spotlight meant that even the youngest

could visually follow the story. Our usual cast of characters and performers was in attendance, led by Music-Arts Direc-

tor Carl Kinkel, complete with lovely solos by our singers and by a hyperactive rooster who thought it was morning! By

all accounts, this was one of the best showings ever, with the largest crowd in recent memory. And the party inside, with

singing led by Father Len and a team of karaoke singers was both a relief from the cold and a delight to the soul. Many

thanks to all who made this great event possible!

V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

P a g e 9

A Thought about Stewardship A checkbook is a theological document; it will tell you who and what you wor-

ship. Billy Graham

FRIDAY BIBLE STUDY BRUNCH

A VISIT TO A DETOX UNIT by Lisa Phelps

Greetings to all as we start the Advent season, I with a small group of friends to detox this past Sunday - a "5th Sunday" which we added to our 1st Sunday schedule. a bonus! We used the smaller room so as not to interrupt the Pats game, and once again, we had a good turnout of those who chose a Godly conversation over football. very encouraging. Most of the individuals who joined us were believers, (all with a Catholic background) and very eager to discuss their faith. One woman had met us 2 years ago and was particularly excited to see us. Just the day before she had told someone there about our visit, never anticipating that she'd see us again. There were two others who knew us from a prior visit, one of them we remembered for his horrific childhood and his impressive knowledge of scripture. His maturity in faith was notable when near the end of our visit his prayer request included being empowered to be a source of light to oth-ers at detox. He has serious health concerns and personal needs but fortunately a very surrendered spirit. A woman in her 50s was glad to be reminded of the need for continuous contact with the Lord. She said that things had fallen apart for her recently and she realized as we spoke that this happened when she had stopped praying. She said that she felt peace in our meeting. Others agreed that they hadn't known peace in detox but felt it in our fellowship of faith. We explained that one of the blessings for us in making these visits is that we experience the same peace. A young man who didn't speak much wanted prayer for his 4 year old son, currently in Texas with an addict mother. A man who had been raised Orthodox has not had a consistent walk but was listening to people speak about the differ-ence it can make in your life. He is very sad to be estranged from his children, including one not yet born. A sweet young man talked about loving the Lord. It showed as he asked for special prayers for the woman next to him. An older man in a wheelchair sat in a corner, saying little but listening intently. His prayer requests for all of the hurting of this world also were generous. We talked quite a bit about the need to protect our hearts and our relationship with Jesus by establishing relationships with other believers where we can be uplifted, loved and taught. Most of our friends do not have much Bible knowledge. They seemed happy to receive a Bible. We talked about what "the right church" would feel like. The staff was extremely welcoming on Sunday. It's such a blessing to get that warm welcome. I'm grateful for our op-portunity to make our visits, and for those who share the experience with me. Thank you Dan, Dottie and George. OUR NEXT VISIT IS DECEMBER 7 !!!!!! I'm looking for some people to say, "Here I am. Send me." In His love, Lisa

The women from the Community

Bible Study which meets in the

nave on Friday mornings are

shown enjoying brunch at a recent

gathering. A good time was had by

all. Child care is provided for this

event. The study will resume on

January 9 at 9:30.

V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

P a g e 1 0

THE POSTLUDE by Glen Campbell

II read the following article the other day and it reminded me that it's not always clear to the average person attending a service what kind of considerations go into the music selection for a given service. Granted, I probably don't go to the sophistication level that the author below does. At any rate, I wrote the editor of the magazine that I subscribe to and received permission to reprint the following article: In Defense Of The Mighty Postlude by Kenneth Vigne Copyright 2014, by the American Guild of Organists. Reproduced by permission of The American Organist Magazine. While training to be an organist, I often wondered about the purpose of the postlude. After all, in many of the churches in which I've worked, the pastor leaves after the benediction. Having it as a sending song made it seem too much like a liturgical fire alarm, and having it be a performance made it seem unnecessary, in terms of worship. I made it a goal to find ways to convince the congregation to stay for the postlude - and had moderate success at each church I served. When I played my first service at Lake Of The Isles Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minn., about a year ago, I was surprised when the congregation sat right back down after the benediction. My goal had somewhat disappoint-ingly been achieved without me. Luckily, I've learned since that getting the congregation to stay after the benediction is only the first step in reclaiming the postlude as an important component of Sunday worship. The issue with the postlude feeling separate from the service isn't specific to the postlude itself; it's an issue with *all* music in a church service. Church services, whether or not they follow a liturgy, follow a structure that may include a call to worship, readings, prayers, a sermon, an offering, a meal, and a benediction. Worship leaders carefully craft their sermons and select readings and hymn texts to agree thematically, but compatible hymn texts don't always have compatibly hymn tunes. The only parts in the service that are chosen with musical consideration are the prelude, of-fering, postlude, hymn introductions, and improvisations. When carefully chosen, they can provide a narrative that helps each section of a service flow compellingly into the next. When they are not chosen carefully, that serve as little more than interludes and distractions. When I was in school, I was taught two considerations for choosing music for the postlude. First, the mood of the piece should match the overall mood of the service or the season. Second, chosen pieces should favor those from great composers to conserve the legacy upon which great church music is built. For example, I learned that a cleaver planning trick was to play a Bach prelude at the beginning of the service and then play its accompanying fugue for the postlude. - to bring a sense of continuity to the service. That continuity, of course, is only felt if the listener is familiar with the piece and knows that the two halves belong together. Beyond that, the prelude and fugue do not intrinsically enhance the readings, hymns, or sermon. If I wanted to prove that the postlude was important, it had to hold a con-nection to the rest of the service; and because the two considerations I learned did not address this, I eventually aban-doned hem. In an effort to craft a service narrative, I weave the motifs and melodies from the prelude and postlude into my hymn introductions and improvisations. I base my prelude and postlude on the hymns in a service, either by playing a cho-rale or playing a piece that incorporates similar motifs as one of the hymns. Whenever I can't find the perfect piece for the prelude, offering, or postlude, I compose or improvise what I'm looking for. When things go right, I am rewarded with people telling me that they heard the water gushing from the rock, or saw Jesus' robes turn a dazzling white. When things go exactly as planned, people tell me they felt worshipful from beginning to end, and that they have re-ceived revelations revealed through the music.

Not everything always works out well, Sometimes I fail spectacularly. I always take criticism with as much humility as I can muster, and keep on trying. In a way, the risk I take is itself my greatest reward. I don't always play spectacular pieces for the post-lude at Lake Of The Isles. Sometimes I'll play small pieces, if I feel they are a more fitting end to the service. Sometimes I'll play a melancholy piece as the postlude. The entire congregation still sits down expectantly to listen to the postlude after the bene-diction. I still haven't completely uncovered why - although I suspect it has to do with time and tradition - but I have reclaimed the postlude as an important part of Sunday worship.

V O L U M E 5 5 , I S S U E 1

N A T I V I T Y S C E N E

P a g e 1 1

REMEMBERING NATIVITY

Hello and happy tidings at this joyous time of year, My family was one of the founding families for the Church of the Na-tivity in the late 50's, and I would like to tell you my recollections of that early time, if I may. I am hopeful that this e-mail will be placed into the hands of one of the ministers of the church. My earliest memories of church were in Shrewsbury, where the near-est Episcopal church was located. A local lady, Ruth Card, would pick up my brother and I for Sunday School, and then my parents would meet us there. This went on for several years, then we moved to Northboro and attended services in the Grange hall. The two things I remember about those services were that my dad always pulled out an index card, counted heads, and made note of the num-

ber, probably to reassure everyone that we had enough people to support our own church. Also, I remem-ber being stared down upon by Abe Lincoln and George Washington, whose portraits hung in the hall. Earliest fundraisers were always family events. My mom and I presided over the crafts table, and each year we cut, sewed, and glued our way to candles, aprons, and who knows what else to sell at the Christmas bazaar, which was held in the while building on the corner just down from the Grange. My dad and my brother stood outside selling Christmas trees with other church members. I remember when the land was bought for the church, what an amazing thrill that was! I went to the elementary school next door, and one time the founding families brought in a small carnival as a fundraiser. It was with awe and pride that I watched from my classroom as the rides were set up. I only remember that carnival occurring once. Maybe it wasn't such a great money maker! The next great thrill occurred when the vicarage was being built. I don't remember if that was before or after the church was built. For some reason I think it was before. Anyhow, I think my dad and other church members worked on the actual building of the home. One of my treasured photos of my parents is them cutting a cake at the vicarage as their church family looked on, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. A few other thoughts. When the time came to name the church, my mother was determined it would have a proper name, and she was in favor of St. Matthew's or St. Mark's. As those names were taken by other churches locally, The Church of the Nativity was voted on. My mother never loved that name! :) The minister that I remember during those times was Reverend Lepoideven (I know I have fractured that spelling.). He was a large man, full of joy and fun. Not everyone loved him, I remember, as some felt he wasn't formal enough, but my parents saw the goodness in his heart and appreciated his guidance as the church came to life. I graduated from high school in 1969, and as I went to college my parents sold their big beautiful home on South Street (79 South Street, the big brick home on the corner). They moved to New Hampshire, and I stayed in Vermont after college. About 15 years ago, when my daughters were in college in Boston, we took a drive to Northboro and stopped at the church. I was completely overcome with emotion as I walked into the beautiful building. The Church of the Nativity was a large part of my early years, and it helped me find my moral compass and my character. I wanted to be sure that, if there is a list anywhere of the first members of the church, that my par-ents, who have long passed, are on that list, as well as my brother, who also is deceased: Edmund and Hazel Archambault, Richard Archambault Thank you for letting me ramble. I hope that someone at the church finds this of interest. Kindly, Susan (Archambault) Belding

1963

2014

CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

45 Howard Street

Northborough, MA 01532

508-393-3146 (fax) 508-393-0702

We have been called together by God

to be and to make faithful followers

of our Lord Jesus Christ

www.churchofthenativity.org

Check out our weekly News and Notes listing of

announcements and events.

The Nativity Scene

JANUARY/FEBRUARY

EPIPHANY/LENT

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

PERMIT NO.52

NORTHBORO, MA

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

JANUARY 10 Quiet Day 13 Vestry and Leaders Meeting 25 Annual Meeting

FEBRUARY 10 Vestry Meeting 14 Quiet Day 18 Ash Wednesday - Lent begins