Dear Church Family, On Wednesday evening I attended the vigil on the Salisbury green marking the 10th anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School which took the lives of 20 students and 6 educators. It was a solemn and sacred occasion, made more poignant by the realization that gun violence remains an enormous problem in our culture. Although the reasons for gun violence are complex and no one remedy will provide a solution, polls show a significant majority of Americans favor some form of gun safety regulation. I, for one, welcomed the first federal gun safety law in decades that was passed in June and take heart that numerous states continue to work on proposals consistent with Constitutional protection. In this season when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, who entered our world as Prince of Peace, we as Christians cannot help but be deeply saddened by the tragedy of widespread gun violence. We who are followers of the Prince of Peace have a powerful calling to encourage multiple concrete approaches to reducing the senseless violence which surely brings such sorrow to our Lord. This Sunday we will light the 4th candle of our Advent wreath. The sermon is “What’s in a Name?” and the texts are Deuteronomy 10:17-19 and Matthew 1:18-25. There will be an open Trustees meeting following worship as they begin to develop a budget for 2023. The Outreach Board will also meet. On Sunday as well, at 3 p.m. at the Salisbury Congregational Church there will be a concert of Christmas music you might enjoy., The bell choir, which includes both Rich and Lynn, will be playing. Lynn also will be singing with the choir and orchestra as they perform John Rutter’s Magnificat. Looking ahead, there will be a Christmas Eve service at 7:30, where we will look forward to our musician Liz Allyn being with us. There will also be an informal service on Christmas Day at 10 a.m. See you in church, Rich