Newsletter
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CHRISTMAS SERVICES
Saturday 24th December, 6pm - Christmas Eve Christingle Service Join us from 6pm for mulled wine and non-alcoholic alternatives in the church. Our short service will start at 6.30pm, and if the weather is ok we'll be outside, so bring a torch/warm clothes/candle in a jar/Christingle.
Sunday 25th December, 10am - Christmas Day Service A short worship service for Christmas Day
The collection money from the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services will go to the charity Abernecessities, which supports children and families in Aberdeen city and shire.
Lectionary Daily Readings: Monday, December 26: Psalm 148; Wisdom 4:7-15; Acts 7:59-8:8 Tuesday, December 27: Psalm 148; Proverbs 8:22-31; 1 John 5:1-12 Wednesday, December 28: Psalm 148; Isaiah 49:13-23; Matthew 18:1-14 Thursday, December 29: Psalm 20; Jeremiah 31:15-22; Luke 19:41-44 Friday, December 30: Psalm 20; Isaiah 26:1-9; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Saturday, December 31: Psalm 20; 1 Kings 3:5-14; John 8:12-19 FIRESIDE REFLECTION
Anne Horsefall shares the story of Rudolph with us:-
As the holiday season of 1938 came to Chicago, Bob May wasn’t feeling much comfort or joy. A 34-year-old ad writer for Montgomery Ward, May was exhausted and nearly broke. His wife, Evelyn, was bedridden, on the losing end of a two-year battle with cancer. This left Bob to look after their four-year old-daughter, Barbara.
One night, Barbara asked her father, “Why isn’t my mommy like everybody else’s mommy?” As he struggled to answer his daughter’s question, Bob remembered the pain of his own childhood. A small, sickly boy, he was constantly picked on and called names. But he wanted to give his daughter hope, and show her that being different was nothing to be ashamed of. More than that, he wanted her to know that he loved her and would always take care of her. So, he began to spin a tale about a reindeer with a bright red nose who found a special place on Santa’s team. Barbara loved the story so much that she made her father tell it every night before bedtime. As he did, it grew more elaborate. Because he couldn’t afford to buy his daughter a gift for Christmas, Bob decided to turn the story into a homemade picture book.
In early December, Bob’s wife died. Though he was heartbroken, he kept working on the book for his daughter. A few days before Christmas, he reluctantly attended a company party at Montgomery Ward. His co-workers encouraged him to share the story he’d written. After he read it, there was a standing ovation. Everyone wanted copies of their own. Montgomery Ward bought the rights to the book from their debt-ridden employee. Over the next six years, at Christmas, they gave away six million copies of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to shoppers. Every major publishing house in the country was making offers to obtain the book. In an incredible display of good will, the head of the department store returned all rights to Bob May and four years later, Rudolph had made him into a millionaire. Now remarried with a growing family, May felt blessed by his good fortune. But there was more to come. His brother-in-law, a successful songwriter named Johnny Marks, set the uplifting story to music. The song was pitched to artists from Bing Crosby on down. They all passed. Finally, Marks approached Gene Autry. The cowboy star had scored a holiday hit with “Here Comes Santa Claus” a few years before. Like the others, Autry wasn’t impressed with the song about the misfit reindeer. Marks begged him to give it a second listen. Autry played it for his wife, Ina. She was so touched by the line “They wouldn’t let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games” that she insisted her husband record the tune.
Within a few years, it had become the second best-selling Christmas song ever, right behind “White Christmas.” Since then, Rudolph has come to life in TV specials, cartoons, movies, toys, games, colouring books, greeting cards and even a Ringling Bros. circus act. The little red-nosed reindeer dreamed up by Bob May and immortalised in song by Johnny Marks has come to symbolise Christmas as much as Santa Claus, evergreen trees and presents.
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Pastoral Care If you know of anyone who is in hospital or would appreciate a card or a phone call, please let a member of our Pastoral Care Team know. (Jean Haslam, Judy Taylor, Val Ramshaw, Mary Taylor, Maureen McLellan - 01224 58249
Fireside Reflection Appeal Thank you for those who have contribute to our Fireside Reflections. We are always looking for contributions so if you have a prayer, poem, story or thoughts you would like to share please send it to Roger Ramshaw at roger.ramshaw @btinternet.com
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