We celebrate and give thanks for the following members who have birthdays in December.

May God bless each of you with health, joy, and peace in the coming year!

December 8 – Sonja Koruga
December 25 – Christel Langner
December 29 – Carol Saunders
December 30 – Marianne Cross

Happy Birthday!

We rejoice with you and pray that your special day is filled with love and blessings. 

On Saturday, our church welcomed former participants from our ESL Language Circle for a potluck lunch and social gathering. The gathering included both our Ukrainian newcomer freinds and English-speaking conversation partners from our congregation as well as from the neighborhood. The room quickly filled with the warmth of shared food, lively conversation, and the joy of reconnecting with old friends while making new ones.

We began by lighting a candle in memory of the victims of the Holodomor, the genocide that remains an open wound in Ukraine’s collective memory. Pastor Vida offered a prayer of remembrance and blessed the food, helping us hold together both the weight of sorrow and the strength of the women who continue to rebuild their lives far from home.

After lunch, Pastor Vida shared reflections on a contemporary icon of the Annunciation, created by an iconographer Ivanka Demchuk associated with the Lviv school. While it draws from traditional motifs, Pastor Vida wondered if the icon is also profoundly shaped by the present moment of Ukraine’s suffering.

In it, the angel Gabriel stands just outside the room where Mary sits, almost hesitating to enter. Mary’s gaze is turned toward the doorway, as though she senses someone is there but has not yet heard the message. The room itself is painted in dark, muted tones, and Mary’s cloak is rendered in a deep charcoal blue—so dark it appears almost like a mourning shroud. For many, this imagery resonates with Ukraine today: a nation still in mourning for thousands killed on the battlefield or by missiles and drones that have struck homes, hospitals, and schools.

And yet, there is a window in the scene—an opening onto fields of golden wheat, luminous against the darkness. The wheat fields are unmistakably Ukrainian and serve as a quiet sign of hope. Through this opening, light enters the room. The icon seems to say that even in the midst of grief, Ukraine is still waiting, still listening for good news, still hoping for the moment when God’s messenger steps fully into the room with the promise of deliverance.

The afternoon concluded with folk songs sung by the women's own vocal quartet.  Their final offering—a traditional Ukrainian Christmas carol—was sung as a blessing over everyone gathered.

As the women departed, many expressed how meaningful the event had been: the food, the music, the conversations, and the chance to be together again. For us, it was a glimpse of Advent hope—an embodied reminder that friendship, remembrance, and shared hospitality are themselves signs of God’s coming peace.

Truth, healing, reconciliation, right relationships. These are words we have heard a lot of in the 10 years since Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Chief Justice Murray Sinclair, issued its final report containing 94 Calls to Action. But what do they mean for us individually, as communities of faith, and as a society? And what, specifically, does it mean to heal?

In this year’s Alongside Hope Advent resource, the Rev. Dr. Ray Aldred (Cree, Swan River Band, Treaty 8), invites you to consider what it means to heal yourself, to heal others, and to heal God’s creation so we might live into right relationships. Through powerful and personal storytelling and theological reflection, he offers both challenge and hope for our Advent journey. And while “truth, healing, reconciliation, right relationships” can often seem like words and concepts too big to handle, Ray invites us to think about them in the everyday of our lives.

Throughout Advent, you can receive a daily message in your inbox with a scripture reading, a reflection from Dr. Aldred, a prayer and an Alongside Hope story.

You can subscribe to receive a daily message here.

The Reverend Dr. Ray Aldred is an ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Canada and the director of the Indigenous Studies Program at the Vancouver School of Theology, whose mission is to partner with the Indigenous Church around theological education. Together with Matthew Anderson, he is the author of Our Home and Treaty Land: Walking our Creation Stories (Kelowna, Woodlake Pub. 2022).

Lutheran Connect invites participants to join its annual Celtic Advent devotional series, running from November 15 to December 24. This 40-day tradition blends Celtic spirituality with the Christian season of anticipation, encouraging reflection on everyday holiness, acts of kindness, and hospitality, our connection with Creation, and the wisdom of Celtic saints. The series emphasizes a disciplined, faith-rooted understanding of hope - one that seeks to build and nurture hope in the world. If you want more details or to sign-up, please visit the devotional site or email lutheransconnect@gmail.com.

Many people use festive calendars to encourage reflection on each day of Advent. Some provide small candies or toys as gifts each day, reminding people about the great gifts of God we receive through Jesus. Advent calendars also provide a fun way to count down to Christmas, building anticipation with each day checked or each small gift opened. 

The calendar from the Bible Project is designed to encourage deeper meditation on the themes of Advent, helping you engage the season in a fuller way. It begins on the first Sunday of Advent, and each day offers one or two verses from Scripture to consider, along with an accompanying question to help spark reflection.

The Calendar is arranged following the 4 Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. You can view it or download it by  clicking on the link below. This will take you to this blog post on our website where you can click on the pdf download button.