The scrolling heading across the homepage of the Occupy Movement (occupytogether.org), after announcing they are the 99%, states, “Together we find strength and commonality within our diversity. We stand together. We will advance together and we will occupy together.” As most of you know, this movement to occupy public, mostly corporate and governmental spaces, in protest of economic disparity and social inequality has swept the nation. Protesters gather together to do what the heading on the website announces, to gain strength, to acknowledge commonality and diversity, to stand for what they believe in, to be a community that seeks another way for the world to operate.

On Thursday night, January 19, 2012, the Administrative Council unanimously approved the budget for 2012, including the vision of an associate pastor as of July 1 2012. Our discussions have examined this issue and shared concerns and possibilities. We felt that the last few years we have preserved and strengthened the Bell Tower and church structure inside and out. We felt perhaps now was the time to look to the future and strengthen and build that future by investing in the children, youth and young adults in the church and community. The children of today are the future of tomorrow in our church, communities and nation, and we have a responsibility to focus on their spiritual growth, mission and ministry. We are asking you to please prayerfully consider your role as we move forward with the budget and effort. The following information is provided to help you understand some of our considerations about this issue.

Two poems by Ann Weems are offered here for an Advent Meditation: Yesterday’s Pain and Not celebrate?.

Advent blessings to you! As I move through this season, I've been thinking about
Mary. Fierce reader that I am, I'm fond of the way that so many medieval artists
depicted her in the moment of the Annunciation. When the archangel Gabriel
swoops in with his outrageous invitation, as these artists would have it, he finds
Mary with a book. Some artists portrayed her reading from the Hebrew Bible, specifically the passage in Isaiah that tells of a young woman who will bear a son
named Immanuel.