It's time to collect our monthly 5 Cents A Meal offering. It is also Special Music Sunday where we combine both worship services into one unity service beginning at 10:00 am. For this Sunday only, please place your special 5 Cents A Meal offerings in the collection baskets located in the Narthex before or after worship. Thank you for accommodating this change in our regular worship schedule.

This Sunday, we will offer one worship service at 10:00 am led solely by our Music Ministry. This is our Advent unity worship experience where we come together using the power of music to help us reflect, connect, and prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus Christ. During this Special Music Sunday, you can expect a blend of traditional hymns, contemporary pieces, children’s voices, and perhaps even some surprises along the way. The music has been thoughtfully chosen to capture the essence of Advent - a time of anticipation, hope, and joy.

PLEASE NOTE:  Sunday School will be at 9:00 am.

Lifelong SACPC member and retired Naval Reserve officer Wilbur D. Jones, Jr. is well known for having spearheaded the successful campaign to have Congress designate Wilmington America's First World War II City.

Wilbur is also the emcee of Wilmington's 25th annual Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 1:25 pm in the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center. Wilbur will describe Wilmington's connection to the events at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and he will be joined by two more of our SACPC family: Rev. Katie will offer the invocation and benediction, and Angela Burns, USAF, Ret., will sing the National Anthem.

The event is free to all and everyone is welcome.

Thank you for supporting this year's Giving Tuesday. Your Extra Mile generosity raised $2,900 for our General Fund and $380 for our Malawi Education Fund. There is still time to give to both worthy causes. 

by Shelley Hobson

SACPC's Malawi Partnership Team is praying you will help us raise at least $25,000 to support children who will need assistance attending school next year.

These children range in age from preschool to primary and secondary school. Donations from our church family provide supplies, meals, book bags, shoes, uniforms, and secondary school fees.  We also support a weekly vocational training program that teaches youth marketable skills such as tailoring, woodworking, and bicycle repair.

Nelson Mandala said,  "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."  Helping a child attend school in one of the poorest countries on Earth is changing THEIR world.

Consider giving the priceless gift of education for Christmas in honor of a loved one.  Gift cards are available for gift wrapping or tucking in a stocking.  You may give online, or place a check in the offering plate.  Please be sure to note your donation is for Malawi education.

Zikomo! (Thank You!)
The Malawi Partnership Team

by Sue McCaffray

Yes, there will be life after the Christmas season! Pencil in Wednesday, January 10th as our first POPS dinner, followed by Bingo night for all. On January 17th,  Katie will offer "Confirmation for All," in one 60-minute session. And on January 24th, we will hear "A Psychologist's Ground Rules for Communicating in Hard Conversations," with our own Ben Rigby. All programs run 6:30 pm-7:30 pm after dinner.

by Lynn Warners

Thank you so much to John and Catheryn Thomas, Tommy Wallace, Jackie Lewis, and Sam Query who have so beautifully decorated our sanctuary and many church doors for the Advent/Christmas season! This labor of love is much appreciated by all of us!

by Lynn Warner

We have some new activities for our youngest children in the PRAYGROUND located in the back of the Chapel. There are new books, coloring and craft activities, as well as, a Nativity Flannel Board to arrange and a Nativity playset to enjoy. All of these are offered to guide our youngest as you worship with them during the Advent/Christmas season!

by Lynn Warner

Thank you to those who have already volunteered in the church nursery during Christmas so our faithful nursery workers can travel to be with their families. Your response has been great!
We still need the following: 

We are happy to have youth volunteers as well! Thank you in advance!

by Emily Vasser

Please join Soaring As Eagles in our 5th year of Saturday Academy!  If you enjoy working with elementary students, have a love for reading and/or math, and you’re 15 or older, we need YOU!

Saturday Academy is a tutoring program designed to help 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders from Title 1 schools with reading and math in preparation for the EOGs.  We will meet two Saturday mornings a month, January through May, at Rachel Freeman School of Engineering, 2601 Princess Place Drive.

Not only will the students gain 1-to-1 tutoring, but also receive a hot breakfast and learn stress management techniques. The most important part of the experience for our students is knowing that one more person cares about their success … you’re the heart of the program!

Below is the Sign Up Genius link for more information and to sign up.  You can sign up for one session or more, whatever is convenient for you.  

If you have any questions, call Emily Vassar at (910) 274-4788.  Thank you for your interest … and thank you to all the SACPC tutors who’ve helped in past years!  We appreciate you!!!

by Sue McCaffray

One great book that's available on the display shelf is Brian D. McLaren's Naked Spirituality: A Life With God in 12 Simple Words. McLaren is the author of many best-selling books on Christian life and faith. In Naked Spirituality, he offers great wisdom along with a practical approach to a prayer life that evolves over the course of a whole lifetime. Check it out!

Advent is a time of anticipatory waiting for the incarnation--for God to burst into our lives. So while we are waiting, there is work and preparation God is calling us to do. Each Sunday in worship, through Scripture and song, we will explore themes of what we do while we are waiting for Jesus to come. 

by Susan Dykes

Poinsettias add to the beauty of the Chapel and Sanctuary during the Advent season. You have the opportunity to purchase these beautiful flowering plants in memory or honor of a special person. Use the white envelopes in the pew racks prepared for this use or click the button below to order online. Poinsettias are $12 each. Orders are due by Sunday, December 10th.

The Longest Night of the Year is almost upon us--and sometimes it feels like the weight of the world is wrapping us in a different kind of darkness.  Join us for a special candlelight service prepared in collaboration with our Worship and Earth Care Teams. This service is designed to acknowledge our journeys through the darkness and celebrate the coming Light. Through meditation and reflection, we will honor personal grief, collective grief, and anxiety often felt during this time of year and together celebrate the promise of brighter days ahead. Afterwards, enjoy light refreshments in the Narthex.

by Jen Phelps

It's not too late to join our Reverse Advent!

Reverse Advent is the practice of GIVING daily while we are waiting. Calendars are available in the Narthex and at the 15th Street entrance - or you can download a copy by clicking the button below. Return your basket, bag, or box filled with the donations to the church on Christmas Eve!

The Christmas Joy Offering will be received twice this Advent season. Once on Sunday, December 17th during both worship services, and again at all Christmas Eve services. This is a special offering that has been received by Presbyterian Churches throughout our denomination since the 1930s.

The offering helps fund the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions, which provides current and retired church workers with the help they need to get through life’s unexpected challenges. The offering also supports Presbyterian-related schools and colleges equipping communities of color. These schools include Menaul School (Albuquerque, NM), Presbyterian Pan American School (Kingsville, TX), and Stillman College (Tuscaloosa, AL).

Ways you can give this Advent season:
In the church: Use the special envelopes provided and place them in the offering plates.
Online: pcusa.org/give/christmasjoy.
Via phone: text CHRISTMASJOY to 91999.

Thank you!

Our youth will present a Living Nativity again this year on the 15th St. lawn - join us on this special night following or between our Christmas Eve worship services. See Jen Phelps for more details.

High School students have an opportunity to travel together to Wintergreen Ski Resort.
Never been skiing - we will teach you! Don't want to ski? - we have an option to go and just hang out!

Cost:
Skiing - $595/person
Not Skiing - $350/person

We will be leaving BEFORE DISMISSAL on Thursday, February 1st, and will require an early checkout that day.

Registration opens Wednesday, December 13th at 8:00 PM via our mobile app!

The Lord gives his people strength.  The Lord blesses them with peace. 
Psalm 29:11

Carlton Kimbro has covid and is not doing well.

Billy Purdom (USS Stout DDG ), Smith Beacham (Fort Richardson, Anchorage, AK), Jack Looney (USS Carl Vinson, San Diego, CA) , Samuel Makepeace (Fort Polk, Louisiana), Brennan Litzinger (Fort Bliss, Texas), Mikayla Reifert (Kadena, Japan), Bradley Garrett (Coast Guard, Elizabeth City)

Prayer requests: Click here to tell us about your need.

Hospitalizations: Please click here to email Ann Benson or call 910.762.9693 x202 to leave a message.

December 5: Chris Brownfield, Aidan Flynn, Louise Heidenreich, Steve Wallace
December 6: Bradley Garrett, Dwight Lysne, Paula Sewell, Hamilton Tincher
December 7: Emory Curtis, Charles Johnson, Dick Pensinger, Jennifer Rigby, Rene Sasser
December 8: Jake Bron, Judy Hartz, Nancy Jackson, Bethel Paris, Holly Pilson
December 10: Kelli Fankboner, Ed Hobson, Roxana Miller
December 11: DJ Black, Sandy Garner
December 12: Betty Aman, Charleigh Gray Bagley