December 18, 2019

Five Resources for Christmas Reflections

This month we offer five resources for Christmas reflections. Please share this digest with new members of your vestry and extend an invitation to subscribe to ECF Vital Practices to receive Vestry Papers and the monthly digest.

1) Did you ever think, why, oh why, did I host that last Christmas party? In Bearing Gifts, Hosting Parties Richelle Thompson invites us to slow down and enjoy Christmas, while joining the Epiphany party trend.

2) Annette Buchanan reminds us that the holidays are not necessarily a happy time for everyone. In The Best Gift - A Visit, she gives us best practices for keeping in touch and being connected in thoughtful ways.

3) In The Christmas Challenge, Chris Yaw explores the miraculous circumstances of the birth of Christ and the deep love of God who gave his son to us. Can we replicate that love and share it?

4) In Christmas in Heaven? Linda Buskirk recommends that we pay attention to the readings of the liturgical year. She says, “The liturgical year is a gift of the church that reminds us that we’re all on a journey together; moving in rhythm to a pattern designed to daily and seasonally reveal something new about God.”

5) Are you a more a Christmas Christian or an Easter Christian? Peter Strimer in Christmas Christians, considers himself more of a Christmas Christian in that he embraces the message that God so loved the world that he sent us his only son. Bring on the decorations!