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Advent and Christmas at Immanuel 2020
Events and Worship Services Saturday, December 5th, 5-6PM Outdoor Reading at Zabriskie: "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" An outdoors, mask-wearing, socially distanced activity on the Zabriskie grounds, Whoville residents will gather in a wide circle with our own Grinch in the center. December 5th, 5:00 p.m. -- this will last about 45 minutes. Raindate will be announced if needed. You can make your own Whoville Hat. Click here for Martha Shimkin’s how-to video! You can also click here to learn the words and click here to learn the melody to “Welcome Christmas” which all will sing at the end of the storytelling. Please come! This is purely fun to get into the Christmas spirit. And please feel free to invite friends, kids, and kids at heart. Sunday, December 6th, 10:30am Worship for the Second Sunday of Advent, Holy Eucharist, Received Spiritually Available live on our YouTube channel. Zoom Coffee Hour to follow. Saturday, December 12th Living Nativity + Walk Around Christmas 4:00-5:30pm: Visitors in vehicles 5:30-7:00pm: Visitors on foot (park in the lot by the Post Office) Make your family’s Christmas merry and bright this year: walk or drive through a dazzling display of sound and light, and herald the long awaited birth of the Christ Child, our Savior. Mask up, join the celebration and let’s bring Joy to the World! Admission to this event is free for all. We will collect cash donations for ALIVE!, to help support their ongoing service to Alexandria's residents. Those who arrive between 4 and 5:30 will enter at the post office in their cars, drive to Wilmer Lane and enter the loop. They will go around the loop in their cars and exit where they entered. Those who arrive between 5:30 and 7 pm will park in the lot near the Post Office and walk to the courtyard in front of Scott Lounge. They will walk the loop and exit where they entered to get their cars. Sunday, December 13, 10:30 am Worship for the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday Lessons and Carols Please join us for the beloved tradition of Lessons and Carols, celebrating the birth of Jesus through stories, poems, and music. We will be broadcasting this service from Immanuel Chapel, Available live on our YouTube channel. Zoom Coffee Hour to follow. Thursday, December 17th, 10:30am-noon Two Christmas Stories We all know the Christmas story -- or do we? Join the Thursday Bible Study group as we read and compare the two nativity narratives in the Bible, in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. How did it all start, and where did the birth actually happen? Who came to celebrate? Just who were the authors trying to reach with their stories and why? All are welcome to share in this exploration -- no prior study or participation necessary! Zoom link will be emailed and posted on Facebook. Visitors welcome! Contact office@icoh.net for information. Wednesday, December 23rd, 7:00pm Christmas Pageant, and Holy Eucharist, Received Spiritually Fr Sam and the EYC wrote this year’s online Christmas pageant, which will serve as the Liturgy of the Word for this Christmas Eve-Evening worship service. This service will be a Zoom meeting, much like the Godspell Evensong from earlier this year, though recorded so that an edited version can eventually make its way to our YouTube Channel. We hope you’ll check out the Pageant. Zoom link will be emailed and posted on Facebook. Visitors welcome! Contact office@icoh.net for information. Download the Christmas Pageant Bulletin by CLICKING HERE Thursday, December 24th, 5:00pm Worship for Christmas Eve, Holy Eucharist Because of the expected adverse weather, the outdoor in-person Christmas Eve service will be moved to livestreaming on Immanuel's YouTube channel here. Friday, December 25th, 11:00am Worship for Christmas Day, Holy Eucharist, received spiritually This service will be recorded on and broadcast Christmas morning on our YouTube channel |
See Advent unfolding at Immanuel in the slideshow above.
As with so many traditions that have changed or been deferred due to the COVID Pandemic, the Immanuel Christmas Families Ministry is being handled differently this year. We will be unable to distribute gifts directly to families, but Alexandria Office of Community Services will still provide holiday cheer to children and families who have very little means. The safest way to do this is with gift cards which will be purchased by the city staff. While we have to defer the joy of purchasing and wrapping toys for specific children, the gift cards we directly fund by contributing to Immanuel Christmas Families Ministry can still make it possible for struggling families to provide their children with Christmas gifts – gifts the parents know their children will treasure. We know this will be a rough winter for many of the families that our ministry supports, but we can all still light a flame of hope and joy on Christmas morning for these families. We can be the hands and hearts that show the love of Jesus for all children of God. Therefore, we ask that you help this ministry by contributing to the Immanuel Christmas Families Fund. Please mail your contribution to the parish office making your check payable to Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill. IMPORTANT, please write “Christmas Families” on the memo line. Alternatively, you may donate online with a credit card by using Immanuel's secure payment page: Click here and indicate “Christmas Families” in the memo line. Please do not buy or send gift cards yourself. Thank you for contributing generously and soon to the Immanuel Christmas Families Ministry. -- Dagobert Soergel and Your Immanuel Outreach Committee Advent and Christmas through the years at Immanuel:
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