IMMANUEL CHURCH-ON-THE-HILL
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Advent and Christmas
​at Immanuel​

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.
​Click below to learn about the Advent wreath and how to use it in worship at home:
advent_wreath_guide.pdf
File Size: 822 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Click at right to see a Godly Play lesson for Advent.
(More Godly Play videos available here)
CLICK HERE to go to The Rev. Sam Sheridan's special series of Sunday School  lessons for Advent.
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CHRISTMAS FAMILIES 2020

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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:

Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill

Episcopal/Anglican


3606 Seminary Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22304
(703) 370-6555
​office@icoh.net

  • WELCOME
    • Contact Us
  • ABOUT US
    • Clergy & Staff >
      • The Rev. J. Randolph Alexander, Jr.
      • The Rev. Susan Parsons
      • The Rev. Sam Sheridan
      • Dr. Jane Tavernier, D.M.A.
    • Vestry >
      • Previous Vestries
    • Parish Directory 2020
    • Parish Banners, Crosses, and Seal
    • Virginia Theological Seminary
    • Valley Drive Cooperative Preschool
    • Annual Pumpkin Sale
    • Annual Report
    • History >
      • 75th Anniversary
      • Coronavirus Response >
        • Community Reflections on the Pandemic
    • Memorial Garden
  • WORSHIP
    • Advent and Christmas 2020
    • Worship Schedule
    • Lectionary
    • Sermons
    • Worship service bulletins >
      • Service Bulletin Archive
    • Music at Immanuel >
      • Immanuel Choir
    • Worship Ministries >
      • Immanuel Flower Guild
    • Ministry Scheduler
    • Ministry Scheduler Update
    • Blessing of the Animals
  • GIVE
    • Ways to Give
    • Online Giving >
      • Legacy Online Giving
    • 2021 Every Member Pledge >
      • 2021 Online Pledge Card
      • Downloadable 2021 Pledge Card
    • Planned Giving
    • Practical Matters & Faithful Giving
    • Tax Questions
    • Trust Funds
    • Amazon Associates
    • Tithe.ly
  • SERVE
    • Outreach >
      • Pumpkin Patch >
        • Resources for Pumpkin Patch Volunteers
    • Pastoral Care
    • Fellowship
    • Newcomers and Evangelism Committee
    • Senior Adult Ministry and Fellowship >
      • Stewardship of Retirement
    • Administration
    • Lay Committee for Seminarians
  • LEARN
    • Children, Youth, and Families >
      • CYF-Updates >
        • Past EYC Grams
        • EYC Mission for Dignity
      • PYM & Shrine Mont Camps
    • Adult Education >
      • Breakfast Bible Study Brochure
      • Forum Hour Videos
    • Benedictine Community
    • Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
  • CALENDAR
  • Almond Tree Quarterly & In Brief
  • Simple Gifts Newsletter
    • Simple Gifts Archive
  • Episcopal News Service
  • Subscribe