The Pet food Pantry volunteers get into the Spirit!
.Advent begins at St. John's with Lessons and Carols on the First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2024. Join us to hear your favorite Advent Carols and scripture that tells the story of God's love. Each Sunday in Advent we light another candle in our Advent Wreath reminding us of a world waiting in expectation for the birth of Christ.
Mid week following the third Sunday of Advent we hold a Blue Christmas Service. This service allows us time to acknowledge the “blue” feelings many experience at Christmas time, honor the reasons for them, and offer them to God. If Christmas time is difficult for you this year, we invite you to reflect on the pain, the loneliness, and the sadness you may feel and offer it all in prayer to our great sign of hope, the Christ child. This year our Blue Christmas services are on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 at noon and 6:00 pm.
December 24, Christmas Eve, is on a Tuesday in 2024 We offer two Christmas Eve, celebrationsof Christ's Nativity at 5:00 and 10:00 pm. All ages are included and welcome at both festival services. At 5:00 pm we hold a shorter service meant to allow families with small children to enter into the beauty of Christmas Eve. Children are invited to help build our nativity scene as they hear the story of Christ's birth. We have Holy Communion together and sing silent night by candle light. At 10:00 pm we begin our traditional evening service with 30 minutes of traditional Christmas eve hymns to warm up our hearts and our voices followed by our Rite II celebratory Eucharist. This service includes communion and ends as we sing Silent Night by candlelight. On Christmas Day St. John's celebrates the Incarnation with Holy Communion, at 9:00am.
Decorating the Jesse tree for Advent helps us learn the whole story.
Our Christmas decorations go up right before Christmas Eve when we transfer our Jesse tree ornaments and add ornaments that tell the Christmas story.