Midweek Announcements for December 17, 2020

Outdoor Worship on the Second Sunday of Advent

Join us outdoors (with facial covering and maintaining strict physical distance) on Sunday, December 20 at 12:15 on the Potomac Street side of the church for a brief service of worship in conjunction of the food collection for AFAC. This brief service includes an order for confession and forgiveness, a reading and reflection, prayers of intercession, the Lord’s Prayer and a blessing. This has become an important way that we can safely gather as church during the pandemic.

Advent Evening Prayer via Zoom

Join us at 7:00 pm via Zoom on the remaining Wednesday in Advent for Evening Prayer: December 23. Watch for your Constant Contact message on Tuesdays in Advent where you will find the Zoom link to participate as well as a link to the bulletin for each service. May these occasions serve our communal devotion and sense of togetherness as a congregation during this season of anticipation and hopefulness in Christ.

Advent Devotional Reflections

Continue to watch your Home Worship Constant Contact messages on coming Saturdays for links to Advent devotions written by members of Resurrection. There is a written reflection and invitation to prayer for each of the four Sundays in Advent based on selected verses from each Sunday’s first reading from the lectionary. Many thanks to our members who have generously offered their time, energy and creativity to serve our communal devotions during Advent.

4th Sunday in Advent: Peace

“May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” -Jude 1:2

Though we love and long to feel merry and jolly during the holiday season, this time of year can be stressful for some. When we give to others who worry about shelter, food, health care, employment, and more, we give them the gift of peace and a heart at rest. When we don’t know what to give someone as a Christmas gift and we give to a ministry in his or her honor, we feel peace in knowing that we can end our search and that we’re helping to change the world. This Christmas, will you consider sharing peace with those outside our congregation? Visit www.giftsofhopedc.org for more information.

Christmas Eve Carol Sing

Join us at 4:00 pm on Christmas Eve, December 24, for a brief occasion of singing some favorite Christmas carols. Watch for a special Constant Contact message this coming Tuesday that will provide final information on the ways to participate in this occasion – either in person on the Potomac Street side of the church, physically distanced with masks OR via Zoom. Music and texts will be provided – hard copies in person and digitally on Zoom. Even if this is a brief experience for safety reasons, it will provide some opportunity to sing together on the Nativity of our Lord when we miss communal singing so much!

Christmas Eve – Christmas Day

Resources for your worship at home for the Nativity of our Lord will be provided for your use on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Accompanying these resources will be our usual videos. Our resources will follow a lessons and carols format, with six readings, six pieces by the choir and soloists and six hymns with homily and prayers of intercession and a thanksgiving for the word. These materials will be made available on Christmas Eve, with the watch-through video premiered at 5:00 pm.

Important Announcement on RELC'S Annual Meeting

The next RELC annual meeting will be Sunday, January 24, 2021 and will be conducted virtually. More details will follow. The Council has approved changes to the model constitution for congregations that were approved at the 2019 church wide assembly and must be sent to the congregation 30 days before the meeting date. These changes were recommended by RELC's Administration Committee for the 2020 annual meeting but were deferred to the annual meeting in 2021. The proposed changes to the model constitution are below.

pdfAmendments to the Model Constitution for Congregations 2019-RELC-121020

Report from the December 10, 2020 RELC Council Meeting

From Interim Council Chair, Jeanne Broyhill

As noted elsewhere, the annual meeting will be on January 24, 2021 and when we will be considering candidates for the RELC Council. I hope congregants, particularly those who have never served on council, will seriously consider putting themselves forward. These are challenging times for our church but exciting times as well. The church can benefit from your unique set of skills. Please give this request serious thought.

The Stewardship Committee had received 30 pledges as of the December Council meeting, down from 61 last year. The good news, is that six of these pledges were first-time pledges this year. But, this is a particularly challenging budget year and if you haven't pledge yet, please give prayerful consideration to do so.

Council approved a request from the Memorials Committee to fund a portable microphone that can be used for outdoor services and other outdoor activities. Those who have been attending the outdoor services will find this to be a big improvement. Memorials provided the modest funds for the microphone.

Pastor Linman advised the Council of discussions underway with the Property Committee of a proposed patio at the Parsonage that would provide adequate space for a variety of outdoor church activities, including coffee hours and class discussions. Bid solicitations are underway and Pastor Linman is offering to pay for part of the project.

Coming in January: Elections for New Members of the RELC Congregation Council!

Elections for new members of RELC's Congregation Council will take place as usual at our Annual Congregational Meeting in January. The Congregation Council serves as a core team of leaders for our congregation as we undertake together as a local church God’s mission in the world. These are both exciting and challenging times for our church, for our nation, and for our world. If you have passion about the future directions of Resurrection Church’s mission, and if you sense the possible nudges of God’s call to you to serve on Council, please engage in prayerful discernment about becoming a nominee for election to the Council.

You may contact members of this year's Nominating Committee for more information, to express interest in being nominated or to enquire about how to nominate someone else:

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For Your Prayers at Home:

In addition to our usual prayers of intercession in our home worship, we encourage your prayers throughout the week for the following: Barb Jensen; Charlotte Boeck; Don Hansen; Lee Hansen; Gretchen Zeltner; Lynn Kiewel; John Beston; Frank Fuelling; Phillip Swingler; Michael Chaffier; Maria Liwski; Mimi van Poole; Angie; Kyler; Debbie; Kat; Sherry; Todd.

Prayer Requests

Should you desire to make prayer requests for persons you care about, or desire prayer for other concerns, please contact Pastor Linman with those requests: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 703-972-2076. Pastor will make certain that the names you provide will be included in the Prayers of Intercession for Sundays, and they will also be included in a listing of names in the midweek announcements to invite your prayers throughout the week. Making your requests known to Pastor Linman will allow him to follow up with you directly – as your requests for prayer help set the agenda for our Pastor’s ministry at Resurrection Church.

Opportunity for Bible Study, Lectio Divina, and Supportive Conversation

Join us for about an hour every other Thursday morning at 11:00 am on Zoom for Bible Study, lectio divina and conversation about the upcoming Sunday’s Gospel reading. Pastor Linman leads these occasions. Spending time with our appointed Gospel readings promises to enrich the experience of Sunday Home Worship. The next such occasion is Thursday, December 17.

On the alternating Thursdays, this group gathers for fellowship, checking in and supporting each other, as well as spending time discussing the reflection questions from the previous Sunday sermon.

If you are interested in joining these Thursday conversations, please contact Pastor Linman at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 703-972-2076.

December Financial Update

The below chart is a summary of RELC’s finances for the year to date as of November 30, 2020. The columns titled “(a) YTD Giving,” “(b) YTD Expenses” and “(c) Giving minus Expenses” provide key data for our three primary financial funds.

This data shows that our general fund giving continues to run below our actual expenses for the year and well below our giving levels for this time last year. We continue to see the negative impact of the cancellation of Sunday services on our giving. Please continue to send in your weekly contributions which can be made through Simply Giving, by using the “Donate Now” button on RELC’s website or by sending your contribution check to the church office in the US Mail. Please also consider completing your 2021 pledge form if you haven’t already.

Please prayerfully consider what this information means to you as we work together to support RELC’s ministries. 

  (a) YTD Giving(b) YTD Expenses(c) Giving-Expenses(d) Giving as %
of Budget
(e) Change from
2019 Giving
General Fund 324,813 353,247 (28,424) 70% (47,569)
Benevolence 65,682 47,854 17,828 72% 7,558
Renovation 19,542 831 18,711 106% (2,183)
TOTAL 410,037 401,922 8,115 72% (42,194)

Your Giving Intent is Important

Despite the challenges we currently face, we have so much to be thankful for this holiday season. As we begin a new church year, we’re all more aware than ever of the importance of God’s love and how much our church community means to us, even when it’s hard for us to be together in person. If you haven’t done so already, please take a few minutes to share your intention to support Resurrection’s worship, ministries and programs in the coming year. Just mail the intent card you received to the church office or use the online giving intent form. Our congregation leaders need to know your giving plans as they try to prepare for the coming year.

Faith in Action — Social Ministry Update

In order to deliver the holiday donations in a timely fashion, the next collection date for during the holiday season will be December 20. RELC will continue collecting food donations for AFAC. In addition, since due to safety concerns brought on by the pandemic we are not collecting toys and Secret Santa items as we have in past years during the holiday season, we request that you support OAR, A-SPAN and other non-profits in Arlington in the “Bring a Neighbor Holiday Joy” fundraising initiative. Your donations will be used to help each participating organization purchase and distribute gift cards, allowing the children and families in our programs to safely purchase their own holiday gifts and resources. Contributions can be made online by using the “Donate Now” button on the RELC website (choose “Project Winter Cheer”) or bringing your donation to the collection at the Potomac Street entrance (note “Project Winter Cheer” in the memo line). Online donations can be made on the Volunteer Arlington Website. If you wish to donate items, Doorways welcomes new, unwrapped toys for children under ten years of age in addition to gift cards (especially Target, Giant or VISA gift cards). They would especially like toys such as “Leap Frog” and other learning toys. More information is on their website at: https://www.doorwaysva.org/donate/ways-to-give/seasonal-giving/holiday-wishes/. If you have any questions, contact Edd Nolen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 703-533-2953.

Clothes Closet Update (Not Accepting Donations)

Due to the pandemic, the Clothes Closet is closed. At this time, it has been decided that the Clothes Closet will remain closed until further notice. All previously accepted donations have been re-donated to charities who are still operational. We kindly ask that no further donations be left in the Clothes Closet because the room creates too much moisture for storing clothing. Any items left in the room will likely become damaged and destroyed by mold. The Clothes Closet volunteers and ministry leaders will continue to meet and discuss the future of this ministry at RELC. We thank you very much for your understanding and patience during this time.

Youth Ministry

Provided is a Home Faith Formation Calendar, updated each week with the following week’s recorded content. For those who couldn’t tune in live, see those resources available to you now. Check out too suggestive home activities, lectionary readings, and resources for racial justice for all ages.

The best ways to contact Pastor Linman

Here are the best and most direct ways to contact Pastor Linman. The email address given for his professional and pastoral use is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Pastor Linman’s direct dial phone number in the church office is: 703-972-2076. Please leave a message there if Pastor does not answer. He monitors and responds to his messages throughout the day even when he's not in the office. Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.

Other Announcements?

Should you have announcements that you wish to communicate in this weekly message as committee chairs or those responsible for other ministry initiatives at Resurrection, please contact Monika at the office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by late Monday mornings for inclusion in the message for the coming Wednesday. Thanks!