St. James TidingsSt. James Lutheran ChurchA Monthly

Publication of Volume 28 • Number 12

December 2009

IN THIS ISSUE• Petal Pushers• Support LHM• Living Nativity• Christmas Caroling• Advent Schedule• Stewardship• Gozo Eterno• Music for Advent• LWML• Church News• Senior Youth Group• Church Council• Dec. School News• Braille Institute•Health Care• Recipes• Sponsors

Rev. Douglas JonesPastor

Rev. John RumseyPastor Emeritus

Vicar Mike Bonner

Rigo GonzalezHispanic Vicar

Matt & Beth BahamYouth Ministry

Barbara EideParish Ministry Assistant

Brenda RollisonSchool Director

Deborah Harvill-AshChurch Secretary

Church: 619.424.6166School: 619.423.8648

Fax: 619.424.5129Hispanic: 619.424.6108

A Congregation ofThe Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod

In the fine tradition of Austria, we sing. Silent Night (Stille Nacht) at the Chrsti-mas Midnight service to celebrate the birth of Christ the Savior. Fr. Josef Mohr wrote the German poem that became the lyrics for this marvelous Christmas carol in 1816. He composed these words while serving his first parish, a pilgrim parish, in the quaint Alpine Village of Mariapfarr. Two years later he was sent to the Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf. There he asked Franz Gruber, the school headmaster, to write a tune for his song and to arrange it for guitar ac-companiment. The old, stanch, senior priest at St. Nicholas, however, would not permit guitar music for church services nor permit any language other than Latin. However, on Christmas Eve 1818, the organ would not work. Some think it was mice, others think it was corrosion from past flooding along the Salzach River, and still others think Headmaster Gruber may have had a hand in the malfunction so Fr. Mohr could play His guitar for Christmas. In either case, faced with no music for Christmas, the senior priest asked Fr. Mohr to play his guitar for the Midnight Christmas service and permitted him to sing his new Christmas carol in German. So warmly and enthusiastically was the carol re-ceived, that its singing has spread not only throughout Austria, but has become a world-wide Christmas favorite in over 300 languages.

Nearly one-hundred years later, on Christmas Day in 1914, German soldiers along WWI’s Western Front began decorating their trenches with Weihnachten trees and singing Silent Night. The British troops on the other side respond-ed with Silent Night and English Christmas carols. Some of the German sol-diers dared to walk across no-man’s-land to greet the British troops in English, “Merry Christmas!” The sounds of war grew silent as enemies sang about the Savior’s birth, and shared gifts of cigarettes, plum pudding and whiskey. For his book, Silent Night, Stanley Weintrub, a military historian, gathered original letters and photos, oral histories, newspaper reports, and official field diaries of many army units to record many such unofficial Christmas truces.

Again, during World War II, fighting was halted on many fronts on Christmas Eve as people around the world tuned in to their radios to hear opera performer Ernestine Schumann-Heink sing Stille Nacht. Heilige Nacht. Particularly poi-gnant in the story is that Mme. Schmann-Heink had one son fighting for the Allies and another for the Axis forces. continued on page 2

St. James TidingsDecember 2009

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continued from page 1

As she sang, her own troubled heart as well as others’ were quieted by the peace that only Christ can give. For the length of the hymn and a time after, the smoke drifted silently across the torn earth to the gentle words, “All is calm all is bright Round yon virgin mother and child….”

At St. James, as at thousands of churches around the world, we will once again cel-ebrate the old familiar story of Jesus’ birth: the incarnation of God. With the Living Nativity, we will reenact the pastoral scene of the Virgin Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. Shepherds by night will come running to see this amazing thing in Bethlehem that the angels proclaimed. The wise men in their finery bearing costly gifts will bow down to worship the newborn King: Immanuel, God is with us. And all will sing, “Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!” May you and yours have a blesséd Advent and a Christmas full of His peace. It is a peace that only He, the Prince of Peace can give. Invite the Christ-child into your life and He will truly make your heart a quiet place of joy.

Merry Christmas! Pastor Douglas Jones

PETAL PUSHERS GET READY TO DO IT AGAIN!

It’s that time of year! The Lutheran Petal Pushers are currently recruit-ing volunteers for the 2010 Pasadena Rose Parade. The Petal Pushers will be decorating six floats and assisting with floral preparations in the flower tent. We will be decorating: Detail Days: 9 pm to 5 pm – Sat-urday, December 5; Saturday, December 12; and Saturday, December 19. Decorating week: Saturday, December 26 - Day Shift: 9 am – 4 pm

shift; Evening Shift: 1 pm – 9 pm; Sunday, December 27 through Wednesday, December 30 – Day Shift: 8:00 am to 3:30 pm; Evening Shift: 3:00 to 11 pm; Thursday, December 31 – Day Shift only: 8:00 am to completion (approximately 12 pm). As a reminder, all vol-unteers must be 13 years and older (for insurance purposes). All volunteers during Decorat-ing week are required to have a Petal Pushers shirt (any year). Please email reservations@petalpushers.org any updated volunteer counts) Thanks to the efforts of the Petal Pushers, we are able to keep the only religious float in the Tournament of Roses Parade. You volunteers are a blessing! www.petalpushers.org

SUPPORT LUTHERAN HOUR MINISTRIESLutheran Hour Ministries is a Christian outreach ministry supporting churches worldwide. LHM produces Christian radio and TV programming for broadcast, as well as Internet and print communications, dramas, music, and outreach materials, to reach unchurched people in the United States and more than 30 other countries. LHM’s flagship program, The Lu-theran Hour, airs weekly on more than 900 stations in North America.

St. James Tidings December 2009

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Living Nativity December 4 & 5

Friday & Saturday Evenings6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The telling of the Real Christmas Story

Live Characters and Live Animals with Petting Zoo.

Christmas Caroling by the Community Choir.

Young Women’s mariachi to sing the Christmas Posadas.

Hot chocolate and cookies served by the Women’s Club of IB

The entire community is invited! Free.

December 02

December 4 & 5

December 5

December 09

December 15

December 16

December 23

December 23 December 24 (Thu)

December 25 (Fri)

December 31, 2009

Advent and Christmas ScheduleWednesday Advent Dinner at 6 PM--Hispanic & Service at 7 PM

Living Nativity 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Christmas Comes to I.B. 12 PM to 5 PM (City Program)

Wednesday Advent Dinner at 6 PM—Bd of Edu & Service at 7 PM

School Christmas Program 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday Advent Dinner at 6 PM--LWML & Service at 7 PMWed. Advent Dinner 6 PM--Elders7 PM Sunday School Children’s Christmas ProgramSchool closes at 12 noon for Christmas. Returns on January 4, 2010.Christmas Eve Midnight Candlelight Service starts at 11:00 PM

Christmas Service 10:00 AM

New Years Eve Service 7:00 PM

St. James TidingsDecember 2009

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STEWARDSHIP November 2009

Mission of the Month is Lutheran Border Concerns

LBCM BEGINNINGSWhat do you do if you are a Christian who has more than enough to take care of yourself and notice that you have neighbors who are hungry and need clothing? If you were a Lu-theran in San Diego in the 1950’s you got together with others, brought beans and rice and began sharing this food with the poorest of the poor in Tijuana, Mexico. And before long you began to share the Lord Jesus with the people you were feeding. God blesses the ef-forts of those Lutherans and the work grew so that in 1967, they incorporated and LBCM was born. LBCM continues to carry out this mission.

SHARING THE BLESSINGS;Jesus loves us very much. He gives us everything we have. We have been blessed with plenty of food, clothing, toys, nice homes and the gift to heaven. What can we do for Jesus? Jesus said, if we give food to the hungry, it is the same as giving food to him. We want to do our best to show Jesus how much we love him. When you give your gift to LUTHERAN BORDER CONCERNS (LBCM), we are able to feed the hungry. Best of all we also teach the people the Good News about Jesus. The people are thankful, Jesus is happy and you will be happy too!LBCM isn’t on the budget of any denomination, synod or district. We are able to func-tion only because God works through the generosity of individuals, groups and congrega-tions. All donations are tax deductible. Your generous gift will “store up your treasures in heaven”.

Lutheran Social Services of Southern California says

“Thank you” to the members of Saint James Hispanic Lutheran Church for their financial gift. LSS/ SC sees hundreds of hungry people seeking food each day, as well as those who need a place to sleep, help finding a job, or mental health counseling. This year, LSS/SC served over 117,000 individuals in programs throughout Southern California. Patricia Digre, Interim President, thanks you for helping LSS/SC to fulfill their mission “to celebrate

the love of Christ for ALL people through acts of service.”

St. James Tidings December 2009

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Gozo EternoCuando estas cosas comiencen a suceder, erguíos y levantad vuestra cabeza, porque vuestra redención está cerca. Lucas 21:28Aún cuando día tras día podemos ver las señales que predicen que el Día del Juicio Final está cerca, quienes somos del Señor podemos confiar y esperar con gozo, porque sabemos que para nosotros todas esas señales no son más que los pimpollos del árbol del tiempo que indican que nuestra redención final y eterna está cerca.

Pero no podríamos tener ese gozo sin primero haber tenido la primer llegada el Señor. Sin su venida como el Niño de Belén que vino a salvarnos, nosotros también tendría-mos miedo de su regreso en el día del juicio. Si él no hubiera dado su vida perfecta a cambio por la nuestra, no podríamos enfrentar con confianza su juicio.

Pero gracias a que Jesús vino en Navidad, cuando venga otra vez en el Día del Juicio Final, seremos liberados para siempre. En ese día Jesús nos dará la redención eterna del pecado que causa tanto dolor y sufrimiento, y de la muerte y la pena que rodea la tumba de nuestros seres queridos. En ese día nos dará la redención eterna del poder del diablo que a diario nos asalta con sus tentaciones. En ese día todas nuestras pruebas y sufrimientos llegarán a su fin. En ese día Dios limpiará toda lágrima de nuestros ojos, y no habrá más dolor, porque las cosas viejas habrán pasado. En ese día tendremos gozo eterno.

ORACIÓN: Señor Dios, Padre celestial, envía a tu Hijo para que guíe a su novia, la Iglesia, a tu Reino eterno. Amén. LHM

MUSIC FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMASThe choir is preparing several anthems from the new Christmas musical, “I Hear a Prophet Callin’”. In addition we will have special music from Alex Rohlmeier, the Lawyer family, Andria Elam, and others. The choir will also be singing at Advent services.

On Dec. 23, the children will be doing a lot of singing in the program “In Other Words”--we may also hear some Latin and some German in that program. Teresa Lawyer will be our soloist for the Christmas Eve service. We all love to sing Christmas carols and we hope you will join the choir for caroling at the Live Nativity on Dec. 4 and 5.

St. James TidingsDecember 2009

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LWMLThe Lutheran Women’s Missionary League’s recent rummage sale raised $605 for their projects. One local project that LWML supports is Storefront in down-town San Diego. This is a teen runaway shelter. To dem-onstrate the love of Christ, the women prepare meals for about 15 teens once or twice a month. The last meal was ham and scalloped potatoes, green beans, pump-kin dessert and something to drink. They also donate personal supplies like toothbrushes, deodorant, socks, and flip-flops. Through their “mite” offerings, they support other local, state, national and international projects and mission work. The organization is open to all women of the church. Their new president is Jenny Reyes and they meet on the first Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. for about an hour.

Church Council News

The Voters’ Assembly on November 15, 2009, elect-ed a new council to start January 01, 2010 and serve for the next two years:

President Jack Schmuckal

Vice President Richard Jacobson

Secretary Teresa Lawyer

Treasurer Vicki Goins

Board of Education Martin Brandt

Board of Evangelism Connie Salazar

Board of Stewardship Mary Corklin

Board of Trustees Kenneth Larson, Jr.

Elders: Mark AllchinMark BartlettBrian BucherJorge GonzalezArturo Martinez (H)Fred WhitakerRod Wolfe

Saturday, December 19th.From 5:00 to 7:00 PM.All Ninth grade through 2nd year of college are welcome.Please be sure to RSVP by December 10thMatt can be reached at 619-823-8937.All attendees are asked to bring a toy and a pair of socks to wrap and put under the Christmas tree in the Church. Thank you, Beth and Matt BahamSenior Youth Group Leaders

St. James Tidings December 2009

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December School NewsNovember was full of excitement and flew right by. Hope everyone enjoyed theirThanksgiving holiday at home or afar. Special Thanks! Thank you to all our Parents for donating food for our Thanksgiving Feast, those who stayed to serve and clean-up. We had a wonderful time and of course the food was good. Pictures of the feast are posted on bulletin board by my office, the children look great in their costumes.

December will be a fun filled month, our learning themes are Winter, Jesus Birth, Christ-mas Around the World. Please be sure to look at your parent calendar at home or at school. The Parent Calendar includes information about scheduled activities with-in the school and church. We here at St. James Lutheran Church would like to invite you at any time to visit us for services. Especially during the month of December our church invites our school families and friends to join us for Advent Dinners and evening services on Wednesday, a free will of-fering, dinner starts at 6:00 p.m. and service to follow at 7:00 p.m. Important Dates to Remember!All School Christmas Program-Thursday, December 15th at 6:30 p.m. Parents and family members are invited! Preschool/Pre-K Christmas Vacation- Wednesday, December 23rd half day of school, then will be closed December 24th to the New Year. Kndr. Christmas Vacation-Monday, December 22nd to the New Year. Birthdays for December-Sarah, Charlize, Charley, Hayden and Keanna. Have a great Christmas and see you in the New Year.Brenda Rollison, School Director

BRAILLE INSTITUTEAccording to the National Diabetes Statistics, diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults ages 20 to 74 years. In fact diabetic retinopathy is responsible for 12,000 to 24,000 new cases of blindness each year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 113,000 San Diegans have diabetes and a large por-tion of this population are Latinos. Many individuals do not understand the serious health implications of this condition or do not seek treatment.

If you know someone who is sight impaired or blind, the Braille Institute can help. The Braille Institute offers Library Services which include books on tape. These tapes of many different books can be checked out for free. If you are interested in learning more about what the Braille Institute has to offer call 1-800-808-2555 or locally Rosie Roscón at 858-404-5004. The local office is at 4555 Executive Dr., San Diego, CA 92121.

St. James TidingsDecember 2009

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Health Care LegislationIn the national debate on how best to provide health care, I do not claim to be an expert on health care policy. But health care policy involves making serious moral decisions. I am asking that our people at St. James and our friends would be vigilant and involved in monitoring the ethical nature of health care legisla-tion. The US House of Representatives recently passed a compre-hensive health care bill. Thankfully an amendment was passed to support the long-standing precedent that no federal funds would be used to pay for elective abortions. In doing so, the House of Representatives honored President Obama’s stated commitment to the Congress and the nation that health care reform would not become a vehicle for expanding abortion funding or mandates. Whatever legislation finally may be passed, we want to make sure that these essential provisions are maintained. We want the Senate to maintain these safeguards of human life as they work on their health care legislation. We oppose measures that would force Americans to pay for the destruction of the unborn. We are deeply concerned on how final legislation may affect the poor and vulnerable, and those at the beginning and end of life. Legislation must also protect conscience rights of doctors, nurses, other health care providers, and recipients of health care. God cares about our laws and public policies: The prophet Isaiah sounded an alarm to God’s people when he declared, “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees…” (Isaiah 10:1).

Pastor Douglas Jones

Lemon Bars1 cup butter or margarine • ½ cup powdered sugar • 2 cups flourMix these like pie crust. Press in a 9 inch by 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until light brown.Cool crust slightly.

Combine:2 cups sugar • ¼ cup flour • 4 beaten eggs • 1/3 cup lemon juicePour over baked crust.Bake “about” 25 minutes, or until set.Cool slightly. Dust with powdered sugar. Cut before they get COLD.

Brunch Eggs 15 to 25 servings 8 eggs beaten • 4 cups cubed bread1# diced turkey, cooked sausage, or bacon • 2 cups Half and Half 1# to 1 1/4 # shredded cheese1 can diced green chiles Mix well.Pour into oiled or sprayed 9 inch by 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until set. or until set,

50 servings16 eggs beaten8 cups cubed bread2# diced turkey, cooked sausage, or bacon • 4 cups Half and Half 2# to 2 ½# shredded cheese2 cans diced green chilesMix well.Pour into 2 oiled or sprayed 9 inch by 13 inch pansand bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until set.

Stuffed French Toast15 to 25 servings1# to 1 ½# French bread cubes 1# cream cheese2 ½ cups Half and Half 8 eggs1 cup maple syrup Mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar, to taste (suggested proportions are 1 cup sugar, 1t nutmeg, 1t cinnamon.) ½ cup butter powdered sugar Oiled or sprayed 9 inch by 13 inch pan

50 servings2# to 3# French bread cubes1 ½# to 2# cream cheese16 eggs2 cups maple syrupMixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar, to taste (suggested proportions are 1 cup sugar, 1t nutmeg, 1t cinnamon.)1 cup butter powdered sugar 2 Oiled or sprayed 9 inch by 13 inch pans

Divide cubed bread, layer half in bottom of pan and cover with sliced cream cheese. Cover with remaining cubed bread.Mix Half and Half, eggs, and half of syrup. Pour evenly over bread cubes and cream cheese to saturate. Sprinkle with Cinnamon, nut-meg, and sugar mixture, to taste. Bake 1 to 1 ½ hour at 350 de-grees until set. Melt together butter and remaining half of syrup.Pour over baked French toast and dust with powdered sugar.Cut and serve.

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St. James Lutheran Church & School

866 Imperial Beach Blvd. • Imperial Beach, CA 91932Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod

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Pastor: Douglas D. JonesHispanic Vicar: Rigo Gonzalez

Vicar: Michael BonnerParish Ministry: Barbara Eide

Email Addresses:Pastor: stjameslutheranchurch@cox.netHispanic Vicar: stjameshispanic@cox.netVicar: Mbonner1034@aol.comChurch Office: stjamesoffice@cox.netSchool Director: stjameslutheranschool@cox.netYouth Ministry: Mdbaham@cox.net

Church: 619.424.6166 School: 619.423.8648 Fax: 619.424.5129 Hispanic: 619.424.6108