Memories from our Advent & Christmas Season 2022
This flyer below is the information for our 2022 White Gift Service which was held on Sunday, December 4th at 10:15 am.
St. John’s Advent & Christmas Season
The season of Advent – the four Sundays leading to Christmas, and the celebration of Christmas Eve & Christmas & Epiphany is an event-filled time of year at St. John’s. Above all, there are special services as we anticipate and celebrate the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. In addition, there are many opportunities for special mission projects & fellowship with our St. John’s family.
SPECIAL WORSHIP SERVICES: There is special music, worship and the lighting of the Advent candles for the four Sundays of Advent. The second Sunday of Advent we celebrate our White Gift Service, our best-attended service of the year, which includes a traditional Christmas story pageant (see more below). On Christmas Eve, we celebrate with two services, the family service at 5:00 pm and the traditional Christmas Eve service at 11:00 pm.
(Prior to the pandemic, Communion was held Christmas Day between the hours of 8:30 am – 10:30 am.)
White Gift Service – Our Christmas Season Traditional Service, Held Each Year on the Second Sunday of Advent
The White Gift Service has been a beloved tradition at St. John’s since 1959 that reminds us what the Advent season is all about. Here’s how it works: We invite you to bring gifts of all ages and kinds to church with you on the second Sunday of December, the day we hold only one service at 10:15 am. All sorts of appropriate gifts are welcome, but toys and clothing for children & youth are especially appreciated. Gifts should be wrapped in plain white paper & clearly marked on the outside in ink with regard to size, gender & age range for whom the gift would be most appropriate.
Toward the end of the service, after a special program of the telling of the first Christmas story in Bible readings, Christmas music and a tableaux presentation, the gifts are brought forward by the congregation as we sing familiar traditional Christmas carols & handed to the children participating in the program, who stack them around the ‘holy family’.
After the service the packages are sorted for distribution to folks in need at two designated locations: The men’s shelter at Old First Church UCC in center city Philadelphia, & Urban Promise in Camden, NJ. These organizations greatly appreciate our generosity each year.
After Worship on White Gift Sunday: There is a special Fellowship Time with special refreshments and time for fellowship, along with a Soup and Christmas Cookie Sale. in our Assembly Hall. Volunteers to bake cookies are always welcome – watch our November-December publications for details. Note: This event was discontinued in 2020 due to the pandemic and has not been reactivated yet.
Our Family Service is held at 5:00 pm with special music offered by the Sunday School Classes, the Cherub and Junior Choirs and the inter-generational ensemble United Voices. Our Christmas Eve candlelight service begins at 10:30 pm with a half hour of Christmas music as you enter the sanctuary. The worship service that follows at 11:00 pm includes familiar Christmas Lessons, Carols, Christmas music from our Chancel Choir, Christmas Meditation, and Holy Communion.
CHRISTMAS DAY – DECEMBER 25th
Our sanctuary is open on Christmas Day from 8:30 am to 10:30 am with a pastor leading the celebration of Holy Communion. (Note: If Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, then one worship service is held at 9:30 am, otherwise if Christmas is not on a Sunday, there is no formal worship service on Christmas Day).
Special Social Events (Outside of Worship) During the Season
On the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent, the ‘Hanging of the Greens‘ takes place to gather to decorate the sanctuary and church for the season. This event is sponsored annually by our Board Of Deacons. Volunteers are also needed each year for the “Un-hanging of the Greens“, which usually take place after worship in early January after Epiphany Sunday (the closest Sunday to January 6th).
The Women’s Annual Christmas Tea happens on a Saturday in early December, 10 am to Noon in St. John’s Assembly Hall. It features tea & tea cakes at formally-dressed tables by candlelight, with music, speakers, & the singing of Christmas carols! Our 2019 offering went to Hope for Health, a program which focuses on the needs of girls and women in Haiti. More information on the Women’s Retreat page of this website. Note: Due to the pandemic, this event has not been held since 2019.
Poinsettia Donations: If you would like to donate a poinsettia during the Christmas Season in memory or honor of a loved one, this is an opportunity available during the first weeks of December. Watch for information in our publications. After the Christmas Eve services they are distributed to home bound or those in need of some special Christmas blessings that year.
The annual Christmas breakfast in the Assembly Hall is held the 3rd Sunday of Advent, starting at 8:30 am until 10 am, then restarting just after the 10:15 am worship service ends. The menu includes scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, potatoes, juice, coffee & tea for a free will offering. A raffle of Christmas-related gifts and items is also held during the breakfast hours. Note: Due to the pandemic, this event has not been held since 2019.
Special Mission Projects: Some of our seasonal projects begin in November before the Advent season and conclude on or near White Gift Sunday so that the gifts can be distributed before Christmas. Watch for these in our publications. See our Outreach Team page for more information about upcoming projects.
Our annual Warming Tree (in the Narthex from mid-November to White Gift Sunday) collects scarves, caps, hats, gloves & mittens for distribution in area communities by organizations we partner with.
Many years we hold a Coat Drive to collect new or gently-used coats for distribution at CNOC UCC in Norristown, Living Water UCC in Philadelphia, and Urban Promise in Camden, NJ. We have collected thousands of coats over the years. Note: Due to the pandemic, this event has not been held since 2019.
Also, special Christmas collections and our Christmas offering gives donations to Bethany Children’s Home, Our Church’s Wider Mission, Veterans of the Cross, and Manna on Main Street, and gift cards for our pastors to distribute for those with special needs during the year. Check our publications for details.
