Dear St. Stephen’s family and friends, 

Happy New Year! Tomorrow is the first day of the Christian Year, the first Sunday in Advent. 

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. -Psalm 25:5

We have Advent daily devotionals from on Eagle’s Wings available for you to use throughout the season. Each day has a scripture reading and reflection, from various writers across denominations. On Eagle’s Wings is a ministry that shares the gospel in northern communities, bringing Vacation Bible school and other programs to those who request it. If you would like a booklet but are unable to come and pick one up, be in touch!  

A small group of youth gathered on Friday night. We completed (barely!) an online escape room! We will gather again in December. Stay tuned!

Practices for our Christmas Pageant start today! Saturday, November 30th at 3 pm. All children are invited to participate! The pageant will take place during the 10:30 am service on December 22nd. 

Altar Servers training also takes place today, Saturday, November 30th at 2 pm, before the Pageant rehearsal. 

CS Lewis’ “The Great Divorce,” book study and conversation group will restart on Sunday, December 8th. We will not meet on the 1st. Last Sunday, November 24th, we held a small and cozy conversation for the 12 people who were able to get to church in the snowstorm! 

Under the Broom Tree — thank you to all who have gathered monthly on Mondays to pray, sing and worship. Thank you especially to Wyndham and to all musicians. The service will resume in January.   

We are holding a Vestry Meeting: Tuesday, December 3rd at 7 pm. 

Please note: because of the vestry meeting, A Service of the Word: Read, Mark, Learn and Inwardly Digest, will shift to Wednesday, December 4th, at 7 pm in the Mitchell Hall upstairs, with Rev. Perry. All are welcome! 

Noon Eucharist–Wednesday, December 4th at 12:15.  

Thursdays at 4:30 pm, Holy Eucharist in the Book of Common Prayer. 

We held a Bible Study at Sherbrooke on Tuesday evening, with parishioner Marc Cheriyan. The cat, Tig, visited us, but not for long. Please note we will not be meeting this week.   

Next weekend: Cozy Advent Afternoon, Sunday, December 8th from 2:30-4 with Evening Prayer at 4.  This parish event is a time to welcome family, friends and neighbours and to enjoy the beauty and enchantment of Advent. Plan to come, and bring a friend! If you are able to volunteer, there is a sign up sheet in the Mitchell Hall. We need people to offer hospitality, we need cookies!, we need people to help with the Advent craft.   

Our Annual Christmas Giving Tree for Adelle House is now decorated with tags.  Every Christmas, our St. Stephen’s church family provides Christmas gifts for the children living at Adelle House. If you wish, please take a tag, which includes the age and gender of the child, and purchase a Christmas gift for them. Gifts should cost around $40. They can be wrapped or unwrapped, but must have the tag attached.  Please return all gifts to St. Stephen’s by December 18th. 

Christmas Worship Schedule: December 24th 4 pm Holy Eucharist, 5:30 Christmas Eve Potluck, 7 pm Holy Eucharist, 10 pm Malayalam service.  Christmas Day, 11 am Holy Eucharist, 5 pm Malayalam service.

Scroll Deadline: December 5th. Thank you Linda, for putting this together for us in time for Christmas! You can contact Linda at lindabliss@shaw.ca or leave submission in her box at church.

Good News! I am glad to share news of our church sponsored refugee’s entry into the final stages of coming to Saskatoon. Machot will arrive in 6-11 weeks! Read on for the story of how we got here!

On Saturday evening, we held a 10th Anniversary Party for Tigist Gebeyehu, whom St. Stephen’s sponsored to come to Canada. This is her, on that evening!

Tigist was the first refugee St. Stephen’s welcomed, and the Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland Pritchard, who was our priest at the time, was instrumental in leading our parish into this relationship. Jean Gibson welcomed Tigist into her home.   

Many others supported Tigist in many ways, and a slide show was prepared for Saturday evening, naming some of those people. Here is Lura Mae Sider, with Tigist, at Thanksgiving Dinner.

As time has gone by, we have sponsored several other people, and we are now entering into a sponsorship for Machot Deng, who is the cousin of the Rev. John Chuol, from South Sudan. He is 35 years old. The news of Machot’s “pre naturalization” form arrived during Tigist’s party–on a Saturday! This really felt like God’s encouragement and God’s timing. As we celebrated Tigist, God is now sending us Machot. Our parish is responsible to support Machot for one year, providing housing, helping him register in English classes, supporting him to get a bank account, register for health care etc. Any donations towards this project are welcome, and can be marked Refugee Sponsorship. The decision to sponsor Machot was made several years ago, and is only now coming to fruition. It is a long process. We need to renew our group of support to facilitate his successful integration into Saskatoon. I ask the whole parish to please keep him and all of us in your prayers. If you feel called to be a part of the support group, please be in touch with me. We will all need to work together and share our gifts.   

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. -Romans 15:7

Finally, the December issue of our Diocesan Newsletter, put together by the Rev. Marie Louise Ternier can be found at the link below. This newsletter has been such a wonderful way for us to be more connected to the wider Diocese and to keep abreast of the latest news. 

In Christ’s love and peace,
Rev. Amy <><

Parish Cycle of Prayer
Monday: for Machot, as he prepares to move to Saskatoon. For his friends and community as they say goodbye to him and for our parish as we prepare to welcome him. 
Tuesday: for our children and youth at St. Stephen’s, that they may grow in the knowledge and love of God. For our pageant, that it might be a time to share the good news with all people. 
Wednesday: for all those living in Adelle House or other shelters. For those who live in fear and uncertainty. For families and couples who struggle to live in peace with one another. 
Thursday: for Peter and Shirley 
Friday: for Ifeanyi