TSPC Newsletter Advent 2025
The St. Paul Center for Theology and Prayer exists to form disciples of Jesus in every congregation. It seeks to do this by equipping and resourcing local congregations for the tasks and joys of faith formation, teaching and learning, catechesis, and the life of prayer.
As we journey through Advent towards Christmas, we are drawing to a close our year of exploring the theme of Wilderness. What could be a better theme for Advent than voices crying in the Wilderness? This newsletter contains ideas for resources for Advent, Christmastide and Epiphany - plus news of happenings to come in 2026!
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A THOUGHT FROM TSPC
A Voice in the Wilderness
Following the great Benedictus in Luke 1, Zechariah’s song at the birth of John the Baptist, we get a single line about John before he comes on the scene as an adult and we hear that “the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (Luke 3:2). The joyous shout of salvation that comes at John’s birth seems to lead to only more waiting. This one who prepares the way of Christ, who was “filled with the Holy Spirit, even in his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15), grows up, goes into the wilderness, and it is years and years before his life as a prophet, as the preparer, begins.
St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness, by Hieronymus Bosch
And as the word of God came to Elizabeth in what was counted as her disgrace (being barren into old age), and to Zechariah in his isolation, fear, and great silence (made mute until John’s birth), so it now comes to John in the midst of the wilderness. Luke quotes Isaiah 40:3–5 in reference to John: “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” John is the prophetic voice preparing the world for the light that is to come, but he is that voice from the wilderness. He is so identified with the wilderness that he can simply be known as “the wilderness one,” and so identified with his message that he is “the voice crying out”—not, he has a voice, he is the voice in the wilderness.
John the Baptist’s life is so intertwined with the story of Jesus that he can only be known or understood, even thought of, in relation to Christ. And John knew this of himself as well: “Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29–30). For John, the increase of Christ and the decrease of himself—welcoming Christ as a practice of self-denial, is not only essential, it is his joy. This from the one who lives the life of the wilderness.
Too often we find ourselves believing we are the center of our own story, that we must constantly and in every conceivable way continue to increase, increase, increase if we are to survive. And there is no joy there, only exhaustion, anxiety, pressure, and disappointment. John shows us what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus, and what it looks like to be able to prepare others, to bring others along to the wondrous love of Christ. We have to let go of the pretence that we are the single most significant person in our lives. This isn’t to think poorly of ourselves or devalue ourselves. It’s the opposite, actually. It is to realize ourselves for who we are: the fruits of God’s mercy, the gifts of God’s grace.
It seems in a way illogical that turning outward away from ourselves and living toward another is where we find joy, but this is part of the inexplicable poetry of life. It is also entirely coherent given the God who loved us into existence. We come from, we are made out of, God’s self-giving love, and as such, magnifying that love, turning outward toward another, Christ increasing as we decrease, is our most natural state. It is living as most authentically ourselves.
Just before John makes his glorious statement that he must decrease and Christ must increase, he says this: “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given them from heaven.” It’s here, when we know ourselves to be pure gift, that we can join John to say: “this joy of mine is now complete.”
Wishing you a blessed Advent,
Jarred
The Rev. Dr. Jarred Mercer, Rector, St. Paul’s Newburyport
WHAT’S ON AT TSPC - and beyond!
EARLY 2026
‘Forgiveness: An Alternative Account’ - with Guest Speaker The Rev. Matthew Ichihashi Potts.
January 21st 6-8pm
During the week of Christian Unity, we are delighted that the Rev. Dr. Matthew Ichihashi Potts will be joining us at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, to speak on the subject of ‘Forgiveness: An Alternative Account’. The ‘blurb’ from his book of the same name tells us:
Matthew Ichihashi Potts explores the complex moral terrain of forgiveness, which he claims has too often served as a salve to the conscience of power rather than as an instrument of healing or justice. Though forgiveness is often linked with reconciliation or the abatement of anger, Potts resists these associations, asserting instead that forgiveness is simply the refusal of retaliatory violence through practices of penitence and grief. It is an act of mourning irrevocable wrong, of refusing the false promises of violent redemption, and of living in and with the losses we cannot recover.
Join us at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (138 Tremont St, Boston). We’ll have refreshments from 6pm; the talk will begin at 6.30pm, and will include time for questions. The event is free and all are welcome; please help us to plan by signing up HERE.
Coming in Lent: ‘Transformative Prayer: Ancient Practices from the Monastic Tradition: Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina and the Gospel of Thomas’ - an online course with the Rev. Steven Bonsey
Please join us for this ONLINE course, exploring Wisdom prayer practices. The course will run on five Wednesdays during Lent, 7-8pm:
February 25th, March 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th
The Rev. Steven Bonsey is a spiritual teacher and retreat leader with a calling to share in communities where contemplative practice and active service to the world are held together. Rev. Bonsey served in several Episcopal communities, including as Canon Pastor at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (Boston) and as Episcopal Chaplain at Tufts University.
Find all details and sign up to attend this free course, HERE. All are welcome!
RECENT EVENTS
Sacred Journey to Deer Island - a Finding a Way walking journey
This past October, 16 students, young adults, and friends from the Harvard Episcopal Chaplaincy, the Diocese of Massachusetts, Unite Boston, and Province I partners walked over 50 miles to re-trace the traumatic journey of Natick Nipmucs who were taken from Natick, to Watertown, and then by boat on the Charles River out to Deer Island to be left to die over the winter in the first year of the conflict known as King Phillip’s war, 350 years ago. The walkers were hosted, fed and watered, and prayed for by some 50+ parishioners at St. Paul’s Natick, Good Shepherd, Watertown, and St. John’s Winthrop. The Rev.s Becky Binns, Andrew Goldhor, and Walter Connelly were invaluable partners in the journey.
At each stop we shared a meal with members of the parishes, prayed for the church and the journey, and shared conversation about the history and the work of dreaming of healing. Our walking took us through woods and meadows, busy streets, and even on a small sidewalk across I-95! The pace and the beautiful weather gave us time to reflect on the goodness of creation even as we tried to reckon with the sorrow and wickedness of the story we were listening with. We met members of the Coptic Orthodox church in Natick as we walked. We picnicked by a reservoir, walked amidst crowds along the Charles on a beautiful Saturday, and sat in the wind of the sea when we finally made it to Deer Island. Connecting the landscape in this way, in our own bodies and with the churches who welcomed us, made participants feel powerfully connected to each other, to God, to the land, and even to the possibility of the church in new ways.
When we arrived by foot to the Monday event organized by the Nipmuc families, we felt honored to be there. To dance and pray after so much walking was a gift. To be with the busloads who had come that day from Natick swelled the community. We remembered the iniquities of our past as a church as we honored the ancestors of the Nipmuc and others on Deer Island. Peter Silva, who led the ceremony, said “Our healing is bound up together. We must learn how to walk together.” That blessing had a special meaning for those who were able to walk some days with the memory and the place.
I’m looking forward to the next opportunities to walk with and explore the history beneath our feet in New England, the Dawnland. Stay tuned for details to come.
Resources for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany
In 2022, the Center for Spirituality created a beautiful devotional guide for Advent called "Even Now, Come Lord Jesus." The guide centers on the Book of Revelation and invites deep reflection on what it means to watch and wait for the coming of Christ.
You can see and download it here.
Suggested Advent reading:
Glad and Golden Hours by Lanier Ivester (maximalist approach to Christmas preparation)
Hundred Dollar Holiday by Bill McKibben (minimalist approach)
The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder (great for reading with children)
Suggested Christmas reading:
What Are Christians For? by Jake Meador
For Epiphany - Many churches chalk the doors at Epiphany, an ancient and fun way to mark this great feast. You can read more about this tradition in a note (from 2021) from the Anglican Diocese of Leeds (UK), here.
This year, consider also adding a Blessing of the Waters to your Epiphany observances. Gather at the edge of the river, lake, ocean, or water purification center near your church, and offer a service that connects your theology of creation, the Baptism of our Lord, and the light of Christ shining into your community. Click here to learn how and why Christ Episcopal Church, Tacoma WA did this.
Suggested Epiphany reading:
Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
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CLOSING WITH … ADVENT THOUGHTS
Question for contemplation: I love walking at dusk in the early winter evenings, looking in at lit windows. What does home look like from the wilderness? What do we most cherish about it, when we are at a distance from home?
The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Please share your thoughts - or your questions! - with us. Our email inbox is always open! tspc@diomass.org
