A warm welcome to our visitors! Those of us who worship and minister in this church pray that your visit to St. Matthew’s will bring you closer to the Christ whom we love and serve, and that the Holy Spirit may fill your life with the love, joy and peace of Jesus Christ. Please fill out one of the visitor cards and visitor name tag available in the chairs in front of you so that we may identify you and welcome you. For newcomer information, call Dedee Norman at 345-8314 Ext. 229.

St. Matthew’s offers nursery care from 8:00 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. on Sundays. Nurseries for children 0-18 months are located in Huffman Hall on the parking lot side of the hallway. The nursery for children 18 months - 4 years is in the Education Building. There is also a cry room upstairs for parents with unhappy babies.

When life's challenges appear overwhelming, we encourage you to call on your St. Matthew's family for love, prayer, the support of a friend, or a meal in time of need. With loving respect and confidentiality, we offer these and many other pastoral care services to our church family. Contact the church office,

345-8314, with needs and requests. In case of emergency Fr. Joe Di Paola may be reached by calling 345-8314 x 214, 231-1206, or 771-0680.

Homebound? If you or someone you know are unable to come to church and would like Holy Communion brought to you on Sunday, please call Jim Sparks at 345-7757.

The Advent Greenery on the Altar is given to the Glory of God Judy and Tom DeWitt with thanksgiving for the birthdays of Jill, Tammy and T.K.; and by Judy and Don Neely with gratitude and thanksgiving for family and friends near and far and for God’s most precious gift of His Son.

*All Children and Adults with speaking parts in the Children’s Pick Up Pageant on Christmas Eve, please come to a rehearsal today, December 23, immediately after church in the Sanctuary. See you there! Tracey Nichols

*Music for the Pick up Pageant: If you are bringing young friends or family from out of town to the 4:00 Christmas Eve service, feel free to pick up a copy of the music from the Commons today, so they can practice and be part of the "pick up choir"! For questions call Lisa Thompson, 388-9626.

*To Whom It May Concern: Incense will not be used at the 4:00 p.m. or the 7:00 p.m. services on Christmas Eve. Incense will be used at the 10:30 p.m. service on Christmas Eve.

*It Seems Everyone Needs Cookies! We need cookies for visitors, cookies for Diocesan Council Meeting in February, and for Kairos. When you are baking, please bag up a couple of dozen and drop them by the church office. Thanks!

*Job Applications are currently being accepted for the part-time positions of Children's Worship Coordinator and Children's Special Events Coordinator. If you are interested in either position, please contact Barbara Pitts bdpitts@mail.utexas.edu 419-1434, home; or 345-8314, x 221, office.

*The Children's Communion Class calendar has been set for Wednesday, January 23 through March 3. A required parent meeting January 20, will precede the classes. For more information, see the December issue of The Word. Contact Barbara Pitts at bdpitts@mail.utexas.edu 419-1434, home; or

345-8314, x 221, office, to register your child.

*At the Annual Parish Meeting on January 13, at 5:45 p.m., five people will be elected to serve on the vestry. As of December 12, these are the candidates: Pat Boon, Kate Canby, Charles Cole, Jonathan Decherd, Jerry Marshall, Debbie Meleski, Don Neely, Jay Robison, and Bob Wood. If you would like to run for vestry, it is not too late, just call pick up a nomination form in the church office. There are currently two candidates for Diocesan Council Representative, Kathleen Niendorff and Bill Kjellstrand.

*FRIDAY, JAN. 4 - YOUNG AT HEART. Speaker 11.00, covered dish luncheon 12:00.

The next Baptism Sunday will be January 13, one week after Epiphany. If you or someone you know would be a candidate for Holy Baptism, please email betty@stmattsaustin.org or call me at 345-8314 x 215.

An invitation from the Flower Guild to "Green" (Decorate) the Church for Christmas: Immediately after the 10:30 a.m. service today. We will decorate for our very special Christmas Eve Services and the Christmas season. Jobs for men and women. No experience necessary, all hands welcome!

PhoneCare: A New Ministry Do you know someone who lives alone, is house bound and could benefit by having frequent calls from someone who cares, just to determine if they are okay? Two recently commissioned Community of Hope volunteers are in the process of setting up such a ministry. If you know about someone who needs this service, please call either Joanne Cage at 346-5203 or Louise Waddill at 343-7696.

The Nursery is missing several pagers. Parents, please search your purses, houses, cars, diaper bags for any stray pager you may have gotten home with. It is extremely important that we recover these lost pagers! Please return to Nursery at your earliest convenience! Tracey Nichols, Nursery Coordinator.

Give Yourself a Present for Christmas! February 17, 2002, St. Matthew’s is getting together a mission trip to El Paso to build a house for a family across the border. For $560, you help provide their home and get housing, local transportation and meals for yourself for the week, Sunday through Friday. Men, women and children can all be useful, but twelve are needed to make the trip work. Steven Tighe, a St. Matthew’s missionary, is our contact there. If interested call Holly Decherd, 328-3944.

The Search Committee needs your help and your frequent flyer miles. If you have enough frequent flyer miles for a round trip, and you will not be using them, we would love to talk with you. We will begin to travel in the not-too-distant future. Please call Woodie Jones at 327-8460 (h), 495-6300 (w) or email him at jwoodfinj@aol.com

*7:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II

10:30 p.m. Festival Music Begins

11:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II

10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite I

Services at *8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I

*10:30 a.m. Lessons and Carols

Monday, December 31 New Year’s Eve Service

11:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II

Regularly scheduled services at *8:00 a.m. and *10:30 a.m.

*7:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II