This week at the Cathedral
Annual "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols."
Saturday, December 17 at 4:00 pm and Sunday, December 18 at 6:00 pm.
Don't miss this beautiful service that tells the story of God’s care for humanity in biblical readings. The service features carols in French and English for all to sing and carol-anthems sung by the Cathedral Choir and soloists. The Cathedral nursery will be available (for parishioners only) during the Saturday service. Come early to get a good seat for this much-loved part of the Christmas season. All are invited.
Lessons and Carols on the radio, in French.
On December 24 at 12:05 pm, extracts from Lessons and Carols will be broadcast on Fréquence Protestante. Three parishioners and Canon Hendrick will read parts of four of the readings, each accompanied by a carol from the Cathedral Choir's CD Christmas in Paris. The broadcast can be heard at 100.7 FM or on the site www.frequenceprotestante.com or beginning the following week, by searching the site for the broadcast VIA MEDIA. Each month parishioner Laurence Moachon prepares and broadcasts on this program on behalf of the Cathedral.
Imagine a Christmas
...... when you get more than you'd hoped for.
...... when children devote their Saturdays to preparing gifts for other children.
...... when youth enthusiastically wrap, pack and bundle gifts for people they don't know.
.......when you ask for one volunteer and they bring three friends.
.......when your school or community group produces many, many more gifts than last year.
.......when you send out a call for help and so many helpers arrived they can barely fit into the room.
Now imagine children opening a present overflowing with the love you packed inside.......
With your help we created, checked and gave 2,835 boxes this year--more than ever before!!
Thank you for your generosity and your Christmas spirit which will touch the lives of many.
YOU made it happen!
Christmas in Paris CD.
Don’t miss this opportunity to have and to give the CD recording of the Cathedral’s splendid choirs.The CD, recorded in 2007, will be on sale at the back of the Cathedral after the 11:00 service on Sundays during Advent (15€ or $20 each). Alternatively, download the order form here. It may be filled out and mailed to the Cathedral with check payable to The American Cathedral.
Christmas decorations
You can help make the Cathedral beautiful this Christmas by making a donation toward its greening and decoration. Envelopes are in the pews, each with a slip inside on which you can make a personal dedication, if you wish. Dedications will be published in the service bulletin. Either put the envelope in the collections plate, give it to an usher, or mail it to the Cathedral.
It’s not too late to pledge!
If you haven’t had a chance to complete your pledge card, be sure to pick one up from the Welcome Table at the end of the 11:00 am service, or email Annual Appeal co-chairs Katherine and Philip Worré at stewardship@americancathedral.org . Place it in the offering plate or put it in the mail. This season of Advent is an ideal time to prayerfully consider the many God-given gifts you have received in your life during this year.
A Request from the Director of Finance:
At this time of year, many parishioners are making the last payments on their 2011 pledges and also beginning to contribute to the 2012 annual appeal. So when sending us your payments or leaving them in the plate, please indicate to which pledge year the payment should be assigned, 2011 or 2012. We can then keep your pledge statements accurate and up to date. Please note, on the other hand, that tax receipts are always based on the amount contributed in the calendar year during which the donations are received, regardless of which pledge (2011 or 2012) you are fulfilling. As always, thank you for your generosity.
Fridays in Advent: Brown Bag and Book.
The four weeks before Christmas are a time of preparation, waiting and hope. As part of Advent preparation, the Cathedral invites you to a weekly oasis of calmness in the midst of a very busy time. A book study on Advent meditations will be offered on the remaining Friday of Advent, December 23, from 12:30-1:30 pm. We will bring our lunch (brown bag) and discuss daily meditations from the book, Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas. Join us.
Sunday Forum
There will be no Sunday forum on December 18, 25 or January 1.
The Lambda Group
is having its annual dinner on Saturday January 7, 2012, apéritif starting at 7 pm. Everyone is welcome to this convivial celebration of Epiphany and of our fellowship, whether or not you attend the Lambda Group. This year, Sigun Coyle has graciously agreed to cook the meal with our help. As every year, we ask people to bring a small gift (worth no more than €5) to be exchanged. Everyone will receive a gift to take home. Please sign up with Hope at groupelambda@gmail.com before January 1, and if you are available to help out (with set up, clean up, cooking, etc.), let us know! (Suggested participation towards expenses: €10.) (The Lambda Group is a bilingual theological discussion group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and their families and friends.)
Dancing to Jerusalem!
Save the Date: Saturday, January 14, 2012.
Come dance, sing, and eat the night away (well, 7:00-9:30 pm) and help J2Aers Savannah and Adam raise money for their pilgrimage in the spring. The event will feature the ‘Doodads,’ a live band, and will be a family event to which all ages are welcome. After the Christmas vacation, tickets (€20 adults/€5 youth & children) will be on sale on Sundays at coffee hour after the 11:00 service.
Pilgrimage 2012.
Our annual Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is now scheduled for April 19-28, 2012. The Cathedral has a companionship with the Arab Evangelical Episcopal School in Ramallah, and we will visit the school and community in the West Bank. We are also planning to spend several days in Jerusalem visiting the major Holy Land sights with the opportunity to worship together. We have arranged speakers to heighten our awareness of the political, historical and cultural situation as it affects the region, Palestinian, Israeli and Christian. The cost for the trip is approximately €2000 (includes air fare, hotels, all meals, donations and tips). Please contact Joanne Blakemore at joanne.blakemore@gmail.com.
Vestry Nominations
Five people will be elected to the three-year terms as vestry members of the Cathedral at the Annual General Meeting on Sunday, February 5, 2012. All pledging members of record are entitled to make nominations and to vote in the vestry elections. Please consider who might best represent the views of the congregation and serve the governing body of the Cathedral in its oversight of the Cathedral’s fiscal and material health. At a minimum, the nominees who consent to serve if elected will meet the criteria specified below. Special consideration for nomination will be given to those whose skills and interests could complement and enhance those of the incumbent vestry members, and to those who have a reasonable expectation of completing their terms. In the days ahead, please feel free to discuss with any vestry member how the process works, what the vestry needs, and the potential contributions of candidates you are considering.
A nominee must be:
1. A baptized and confirmed person at least 18 years of age who seeks to respond to his or her ministry in Baptism to be a servant of God and to others in the Church and the World.
2. A pledging member of record at the American Cathedral.
3. A person who regularly attends worship and has a record of involvement in the Cathedral's life and ministry.
Nominations close Sunday, January 8, 2012.
A nomination form will be in this Sunday’s 11:00 service bulletin and available at the back of the church. You may mail the form to Vestry Nominations, The American Cathedral, 23, avenue George V, 75008 Paris; or drop it in the red nominations box in the Cathedral office.
Dean Leo
On Thursday (December 15) the Cathedral received a telephone call from Patsy Leo announcing that the Cathedral’s former dean, James Leo, had died on Wednesday night. After eleven fruitful years at the American Cathedral in Paris, Dean Leo left in 1991 to accept the call to be rector of Christ Church, Cincinnati, which became the cathedral of its diocese in 1993. In Cincinnati, he inspired a structural renovation and general rejuvenation of the new cathedral. He remained a member of the Friends of the American Cathedral after he left Paris and was active in fundraising, especially in the New York chapter. He was “a steadfast cheerleader through all of the Cathedral's accomplishments in recent years,” according to our most recent Dean, Zachary Fleetwood. Dean Leo is featured on page 12 of the issue of Trinité magazine mailed this week. Our prayers are with Patsy and their sons Jason and Jonathan.
LAGV Upcoming Concerts, Les Arts George V
Les Arts George V is the Cathedral's arts association
Learn more »
Gospel Dream
Music from Africa, the Caribbean, and the USA.
Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, January 1 at 8:30 pm.
Tickets and information 01 43 14 08 10 or www.gospeldream.comDavid Saunier, piano
Works of Liszt in honor of the 200th anniversary of his birth.
Tuesday, December 20, 8:00 pm.
Ticket information: 02 32 46 43 02.Les Nouvelle Voix de St. Petersbourg
Students of the Rimsky Korsakov and State university of Arts and Culture,
St. Petersburg, director Mickël Golikov.Saturday, December 31, 5:00 pm.
Tickets: 01 43 71 92 38.