[Fuusm-l] FUUSM Topsy-turvy Service Sunday

Fri Jan 3 12:30:24 CST 2025

Because we will have a potluck brunch on Sunday at 11 followed by a
video, *THERE
WILL BE NO ZOOM OR FACEBOOK LIVE this week.* Sorry Zoom and Facebook folks.

After brunch, we will watch the video "Twelve Days of Tudor Christmas."
Those who cannot attend in person can arrange to borrow the DVD from the
Worship and Music Committee. It is also available on Amazon Prime for
rental or purchase for a small fee. Showing a DVD is not legal on either
Zoom or FB without special licensing/permission. Normal streaming of our
Sunday service will return next week.

In lieu of an order of service, a handout about Epiphany and the Twelve
Days of Christmas leading up to it will be provided to those who attend in
person. It is copied below. But first...

Announcements

Saturday, January 4

   -

   10 a.m. -noon: FUUSM kitchen cleaning party!

Sunday, Jan. 5

   -

   9:30 a.m., Choir practice, sanctuary.
   -

   11 a.m., “Preparing for Epiphany,” ALL AGES Potluck Brunch! On this
   day—"In the Bleak Mid-Winter" as the old hymn calls it—we're going
   topsy-turvy by feasting first and holding the service second. We'll gather
   as usual at 11 a.m., but for a potluck brunch. Then we'll settle in to
   watch parts of historian Lucy Worsley's documentary, "Twelve Days of Tudor
   Christmas," and learn more about the meaning of Epiphany and the customs
   and traditions that survive in our current celebration. *Please bring a
   dish to share for brunch.* (King Cake and wassail are already on the
   menu.)  Dress in the spirit of the Tudor times if you would like, and join
   us for some merriment! Un-decorating is part of the traditional festivity,
   so—if you are able—please plan to help with that activity after the service.
   -

   12:15 p.m., Committee on Ministries, RE parlor. Canceled.

Monday, Jan. 6

   -

   10 a.m., Fire Inspector Steven Hill will inspect both FUUSM buildings
   -

   2 p.m., Caring Committee via Zoom.
   -

   6:30 p.m., FUUSM Board of Trustees meeting, RE parlor.

Tuesday, January 7

   -

   Noon, UU-plus Women’s Book Group, Parkersburg Country Club.
   -

   3:30–6:30 p.m., Girl Scout Troop meets in the social hall.
   -

   6:30 p.m., Shari Ballantyne’s game night, social hall. You’re invited!

Wednesday, January 8

   -

   2:30 p.m.,  Worship & Music Committee, RE parlor.
   -

   6 p.m, Women’s Group potluck, FUUSM social hall.

Thursday, January 9

   -

   7 p.m., Hour of Environmental Action (a Green Sanctuary project), social
   hall. Please join us to learn about the problems of fracking brine, and
   to write letters to those who can do something about it!

Friday, January 10

   -

   9:30 a.m., Membership Committee Meeting, RE parlor.

Saturday, January 11

   -

   Harrison/Griffith wedding, sanctuary (private)

Sunday, January 12

   -

   9:30 a.m., Choir practice, sanctuary.
   -

   11 a.m., Sunday service, sanctuary. “35 Years a UU Minister’s Wife,”
   presented live on Zoom, for FUUSM, by Ellie Searl.
   -

   11 a.m., Quaker meeting (MOV Friends), RE parlor.
   -

   Coffee hour!  Social hall. Ends at 1 p.m.

Preparing for Epiphany

In Twelve Days of Tudor Christmas, British historian Lucy Worsley recreates
how Christmas was celebrated during the age of Henry VIII—eating, drinking,
singing, dancing, and partying like people did 500 years ago. She discovers
the roots of some of the Christmas customs we still enjoy today, and
explores why other festive traditions were lost. Because the video is a bit
longer than our usual service, we are abbreviating some of the segments. If
you are interested in viewing the entire program:

   -

   The Worship and Music Committee will share the DVD for you to view at
   home;
   -

   It is also available on Amazon Prime.

Here’s a brief description of the events on each of the 12 Days: The Twelve
Days of Christmas are the festive Christian season celebrating the
Nativity. In 567, the Council of Tours “proclaimed the twelve days from
Christmas to Epiphany (that is, through the end of 5 January, as Epiphany
begins the following day) as a sacred and festive season, and established
the duty of Advent fasting in preparation for the feast.”

Christmas Day, December 25, is celebrated by Christians as the liturgical
feast of the Nativity of the Lord. It is a public holiday in many nations.

December 26 is the Feast of Saint Stephen. Churches opened their alms boxes
and distributed donated money to the poor. This practice may have set the
precedent for the secular Boxing Day holiday, which became popular in
England during Queen Victoria’s reign.

December 27 is the Feast of Saint John the Evangelist. St. John is said to
have miraculously survived drinking poisoned wine. This legend gave rise to
the tradition of “wassailing.” Popular in Tudor England, wassail was a
communal drink made with hot ale or cider, sugar, spices and apples.

December 28 is Childermass or the Feast of the Holy Innocents, in
observance of the Massacre of the Innocents of the Nativity narrative, in
which Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders the execution of all male
children who are two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem.

December 30 is the Feast of the Holy Family.

December 31, New Year’s Eve, was a day for parlor games and sports. There
might also be Frost Fairs, archery competitions and football games.

January 1, New Year’s Day, is an occasion for further secular festivities
or for rest from the celebrations of the night before. In the Roman
Catholic Church, it is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and was also a
day for gift-giving. It is also celebrated as the Feast of the Circumcision
of Christ, because according to Jewish tradition the male child would have
been circumcised on the eighth day after his birth.

January 2 through January 4 in Tudor times were apparently spent preparing
for Twelfth Night—unless you were still partying and free to sample
entertainments that were legal only during Christmastide.

January 5 in England in the Middle Ages was a period of continuous feasting
and merrymaking, which climaxed on Twelfth Night, the traditional end of
the Christmas season, the last night before Epiphany, January 6, celebrated
the visit of the Three Wise Men. This day was marked by church services and
a final feast to close the Christmas season. As was the tradition in
England, all decorations would be taken down by Epiphany morning and the
remainder of the edibles would be consumed.

A few words about the Epiphany

Anglican: Epiphany means manifestation. What the Church celebrates today is
the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world; after being made known to
the shepherds of Bethlehem He is revealed to the Magi who have come from
the East to adore Him. Christian tradition has ever seen in the Magi the
first fruits of the Gentiles; they lead in their wake all the peoples of
the earth, and thus the Epiphany is an affirmation of universal salvation.

UUs: An epiphany is an illuminating discovery, realization or intuition of
something meaningful or moving. While the experience is often striking and
extraordinary, the circumstances when it happens can be ordinary. Epiphany
is also the name of the 12th Day of Christmas, when the Magi followed a
star to behold a newborn baby—always a powerful experience.

-- 
Dawn Hewitt
Office assistant
First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta
232 Third St.
Marietta, OH 45750
(740)373-1238
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 10 a.m.--2 p.m.
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