Lutheran and Episcopal Campus Ministry at UMBC

Please join us!

Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”) is a period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus. It begins the Roman Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran and other western Christian liturgical years. It includes the four Sundays before Christmas, the first one of which is called Levavi. The progression of the season may be marked with an Advent calendar, a practice introduced by German Lutherans as well as an Advent wreath with four candles representing each of the Sundays of Advent plus a fifth “Christ candle” to be lit on Christmas.

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland invites you to obverse a few moments of reflection each day using its online advent calendar, at http://www.ang-md.org/

All are welcome! We’ll conclude our current discussion of Ephesians…

Join us as we continue our study of Ephesians. Bring a friend!
Stop by between and 5:30 – 7:30 pm; come late/leave early as your schedule allows. All are welcome!

Join us for food and fellowship as we embark on a study of Ephesians. We meet from 5:30-7:30 pm in the Commons’ MOSAIC center.

John F. Nicoll Pipe and Drum Band will play during the 10:30 service and play a concert afterward. For more info, go to http://www.stbartholomew.ang-md.org/

Saturday, November 14th, Faith and Science Symposium:  “Are We at Home in the Cosmos? Rethinking the place of Humans in Creation.”

The Greater Homewood Interfaith Alliance and The Baltimore Science/Religion Group:  A Local Society of the Metanexus Institute, are pleased to present this event @ the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation, 4 East University Pkwy, Baltimore, from 9 am – 1 pm.  No Charge, but advance registration is requested.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Ilia Delio (doctorates in pharmacology and historical theology), is professor and department chair of Spirituality at Washington Theological Union and associate professor with the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.  Responses will be by Dr. George Fisher, Prof. Emeritus of Earth and Planetary Sciences at JHU, Dr. Richard Blum, Prof. and Higgins Chair of Philosophy, Loyola University, and Dr. Maren Blohm, Asst. Prof. Biology, Loyola University.

Please rsvp to Mary Beth at mbcollins03@comcast.net (indicate whether you’d like a ride), by November 9th, or rsvp directly to Ari Witkin at awitkin@greaterhomewood.org.

Monday, December 7, 2009:  Labyrinth Walk in the UMBC Commons’ Ballroom

Please plan a few moments of quiet time between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to walk the labyrinth.  More information about labyrinths will be posted here in the near future, so check back if you have questions.  No experience needed!

Saturday, December 12, 2009:  Labyrinth Walk (off-campus) at the Cathedral of the Incarnation

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Cathedral will hold an open labyrinth time with live music.  Rides to and from UMBC will be available.

Check back often for more events to come…

This description of the Apocrypha might be helpful:

“From the Greek word for ‘hidden.’ It normally refers to fifteen books not found in the Hebrew canon of the OT and includes the following: Tobit, Judith, Additions to the Book of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (the Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach), Baruch, the letter of Jeremiah, the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Children, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 and 2 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 2 Esdras. Eastern Orthodox churches recognize other books in this category, including 1 Esdras, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 3 and 4 Maccabees. All of these books, with the exception of 2 Esdras, are found in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the OT. However, most of them were almost certainly originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic by pious Jews in the period between c. 250 B.C. and 100 A.D. The Roman Catholic Church as traditionally included the fifteen books in their authoritative canon. These books are called deutero-canonical in the Roman Catholic Church, as distinguished from the 39 prot-canonical books of the Hebrew Bible. Since the Reformation, Protestants have recognized only the proto-canonical books as belonging to the authoritative canon.”

From An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, by Armentrout & Slocum, eds.

The Feast of All Saints is November 1, and the Feast of All Souls is November 2. These two feasts are tied directly into Halloween/All Hallows Eve on October 31.

So this weekend, we do two things. When we give our loved ones over into God’s hands, we reverence death as a part of the fabric of life. And when we dress in ghoulish costumes and act a little crazy, we mock death for its impotence in the face of Christ’s Resurrection!

Many Episcopal and Lutheran churches either set aside All Saints Day as a day of remembrance for those who have died in the past year, or hold a special liturgy to remember them. Find out what your local church is planning, and then be a part of it.

And whatever else you may do, don’t forget that it’s “Fall Back” time change weekend in most of the U.S.