What is your church doing for Advent and Christmas?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

It's the second busiest time of the year for us choir members. We start with a special Advent evensong on the First Sunday in Advent, featuring readings and five anthems. For each of the four Sundays, there's an evening candlelight Compline with participatory chanting to Gregorian chant.

This past Sunday, my choir did two performances of its King's College-style Lessons and Carols service under the direction of our genuine English music director, and if I do say so myself, we were good. There were moments when the voices caught the acoustics of the building perfectly, and it was amazing to be in the middle of it. People come from around the diocese to hear it, and the feedback was overwhelmingly rave reviews. As a participant, I heard no major mistakes, unlike last year, when the first performance was plagued by things that were just a bit off.

On Christmas Eve, there will be three services: a 4PM children's service and a 7:30PM service with a free dinner in between, and then the main service with congregational singing at 10:30PM and a Eucharist at 11:00PM.

The next morning, there's a Christmas Day service at 10:00 AM, with the participation of bleary-eyed choir members.

This is in addition to the regular Sunday service on the 26th.

I love the more non-traditional Christmas music, especially the Renaissance motets, the whole English cathedral repertoire, and the Continental European carols that have mercifully been left off the department store Muzak systems.

[quiet.american]

1. All-Day Christmas Meditation

Wow! You sure are busy, busy, busy during the season!

Well, where I worship is actually the "yin" to your "yang" I suppose
you could say. :)

We hold what we call an "All-Day Christmas Meditation," on the second
or third Saturday of December. Beginning at midnight on the Friday
before the service, we fast.

On the Saturday of the service, we sit in silent contemplation and
meditation on the qualities, message, life and Spirit of Jesus
Christ, and reflect on how we may attune with Him and come to express
more of His Way in our own lives. Every hour or so, we sing a
devotional hymn and then retire deeper into individual meditation.
Near the end of the day, we sing very sweet songs that are our
traditional holiday favorites.

At the end of the service, we break our fast with a piece of fruit
which each individual has brought and which has been blessed with a
prayer of grace before we partake of it.

Then, on Christmas Eve, we also hold a two-hour meditation service.

Have a wonderful and Merry Christmas!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Wow, that is different.

What denomination do you belong to?

[quiet.american]

5. Non-denominational path

"Self-Realization Fellowship."

We have members from a diversity of religious paths who make up our congregation. One of our precepts is:

To encourage "plain living and high thinking"; and to spread a spirit of brotherhood among all peoples by teaching the eternal basis of their unity: kinship with God.

[yellowdogintexas]

2. Advent themed Sunday worship, of course.

"Deck the Halls" children's party on evening of first Sunday of Advent, with lighting of Christmas tree

Choir concert by Choral Union (our Sanctuary choir) and Youth choirs combined.

Children's/Junior choir concert

Chili lunches served every day for the week before Christmas, our honored guests are the homeless, destitute, extremely poor and otherwise down and out persons in Fort Worth. I worked this event yesterday..it was wonderful, and so terribly sad all at the same time.

Thanksgiving baskets sent out to about 1000 underprivileged families two days before Thanksgiving.

Special offerings taken for Christmas..go to fund community needs.

various adult Sunday School classes hold Christmas charity auctions to raise money for their upcoming service projects in the coming year.
The projects usually include Christmas shopping for needy families..my class did about 12 families this year.

various Advent Bible Studies.

Women's Circle groups also have a variety of projects. My circle has a big Christmas party with gifts, a big home cooked meal and lots of fun for young women who have aged out of foster care and are living at the YWCA (next door to the church)

Year round our church funds day care for children of the homeless so they have a safe place to be in the day time while the parents are looking for work, or working to get it together to get back into a home. They are bussed over to the YWCA from the various shelters .

Oh yeah, we will have Candlelight Communion on Christmas Eve at noon,
5 pm, 7 pm, 9 pm and 11 pm, and worship services on Sunday at 9:30 and 11. at 5 pm the Children/Junior choirs are the main choir; at 7 pm it is the Youth Choir's turn; 9 and 11 are the Choral Union.

I am certain there is more, this is what I can remember just sitting here at the desk.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Yes, we do the charitable work, too

including a "giving tree" for the people who come to our meals for the poor and the families with AIDS whose children we provide with winter clothes and school supplies.

It has been heartbreaking the past two years to see how many people ask for grocery gift certificates for Christmas! Those are the ones I've chosen to help. I figure that anyone who is so desperate that they want food for Christmas really needs my support. :-(

[yellowdogintexas]

7. I told the Mission Director yesterday that the good day is the

day we get this chili lunch all ready and nobody comes because the need is gone. She said that would be the happiest day of her life.

We served 400 meals yesterday to homeless and other types of underprivileged persons in our area, and will do it every day this week.It is a wonderful experience and at the same time so sad, to work as a volunteer for this event.

Yesterday, I felt like "Welcome to the Winter in BushAmerica"

[Cheswick2.0]

6. We observe Advent by lighting candles

and of course sermons, hymns etc all center on the subject.
Christmas Eve we also have three services. The first is the "Friendly Beast" service with the kids doing the story of Christs birth. At 9 there is a lessons and carols service. This year we are doing spirituals where the carols go.
Then at 11:00 there is a Jazz service. My Pastor is a jazz pianist and brings in his quartet to play. The jazz service is always good and this year I think I have my son convinced to go with me to that service. He actually asked me to have his suit cleaned.

[pelagius]

8. Lots of services!

Last weekend we had a "La Posada" procession around the neighborhood. If you're not familiar with La Posada, it is a lovely Mexican tradition where children portraying Joseph and Mary go and knock on the doors of homes, begging for admittance for themselves and the soon-to-born Christ child. At each door, they are refused entrance and told roughly to move along.

At the final door (in our case, the parish hall), they are welcomed in and prayers and songs are raised in thanksgiving. A enchilada feast is served and much merriment is had.

These is a deeply treasured tradition in our church. On a serious note, it reminds us of the plight of poor and homeless and recollects our baptismal vow to "seek and serve Christ in others."

On the lighter side, every child who attends get to wear a costume and participate in some way. You can never have too many angels, shepherds, and sheep. And scripture never says there were three magi; it speaks only of three gifts -- why not have ten wise men and a few wise women to boot? A live donkey to round it out and we're having some real fun!

On the first Sunday of Advent, we all went into the parish hall and made Advent wreathes for our homes. We were given a little liturgy to pray together with our families as we lit the candles each week.

Each week the service reminds us of the coming King as foretold by the prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the angel Gabriel. We do not sing "Christmas carols" but songs of anticipation. Last Sunday we sang a metrical setting of Psalm 24 crying "Lift up your heads, ye gates, be lifted up ye everlasting doors, for the King of Glory shall soon come in!"

Then Christmas itself is upon us! Friday (Christmas Eve), there are two celebrations -- a Creche family service centered around the children, who carry statues of Mary and Joseph and the Christ Child in procession and place them lovingly in a side chapel decorated as a stable. Then comes the Midnight Mass replete with carols and bells and the first Eucharist of Chrismas Day.

Saturday (Christmas) has a smaller, more intimate Eucharist in the morning, then Sunday resumes with the regular celebration, this time attended by many who will see perhaps next Easter again! The singing is loud and joyous, old-timers grump about the changes in the liturgy -- even though the "new" prayer book is a quarter-of-a-century old -- and there is mulled cider, wine, and many things to nibble in the parish hall afterwards!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Except for the Lessons and Carols Service, we sing only Advent music

before Christmas, too.

When my father, a Lutheran pastor was still alive and serving churches, it was an annual struggle. People wanted to start singing Christmas carols during the service starting right after Thanksgiving. I guess they were influenced by the department store Muzak.

It's a shame, because the Advent music is so wonderful and profound.

[pelagius]

9. The "Lessons and Carols" ala Kings Chapel is such...

...a wonderful service! What a treat!