{"id":14362,"date":"2020-11-22T17:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-22T22:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/?page_id=14362"},"modified":"2025-09-01T10:01:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T14:01:00","slug":"advent","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/advent\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advent 2020<\/h3>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Christmas Eve Services<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

There will be two distinct Christmas Eve Services this year. Both will be available online any time after 6pm on Christmas Eve and can be accessed from the homepage of this website. Read below for details of the services, and how to watch together as a community.<\/p>\n

For both services: \u00a0Have candles at home ready to light so that we all may still enjoy this ageless tradition sharing one of the most amazing and world changing narratives ever.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

Family Friendly Service<\/span> at 5:00 pm<\/span><\/strong> – As always, Rev. Mark, Rev. Josh and Laurie Chipman will be in costume and in character as they bring the age-old story of Christ’s birth to life. The three of them will be bringing you their message from various locations around the globe and then all come together to spread the light of Christ. There will be some great music with a special performance of Silent Night by the Stapleton Trio.<\/p>\n

We can watch this service together at 5:00 pm on the church YouTube channel, which will give us the ability to chat while watching like we can do at Sunday worship. You can watch the video at any time after 6:00 if the “live” session time is inconvenient.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

Service of Lessons and Carols<\/span><\/strong> (traditionally held at 9:00 pm) – Our traditional service where we hear the story of Christ’s birth read by various members of the church and listen to tremendous music from our various choirs.<\/p>\n

The video will be available on the church YouTube channel at 6:00 pm so you can watch at any time. At 9:00 a Facebook Watch Party will be available HERE<\/a> to watch together as a church community and enjoy chatting while we watch.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n

Other Special Advent Happenings<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

The Christmas season in 2020 will be like nothing in recent memory. The pandemic has caused all of us to make major changes in our lives, and this Advent will be different, too. However, First Church is meeting this challenge by re-imagining some old traditions and adding new ways to connect and celebrate during the 4 weeks of Advent. Additional celebrations of the season may be added, and these listed may be updated, so please check back here for changes.<\/p>\n

Please join us for any or all of these offerings, the details for each is below:<\/p>\n

Household Advent Sanctuary Time<\/a><\/p>\n

Christmas Poinsettias<\/a><\/p>\n

Giving Tree<\/a><\/p>\n

Advent Candle Lighting<\/a><\/p>\n

Christmas Pageant<\/a><\/p>\n

View the Decorated Church<\/a><\/p>\n

Advent Safe Outing<\/a><\/p>\n

Not-So-Secret Santa<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Christmas Poinsettias<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

Help decorate the Sanctuary this season – Christmas Poinsettias are available for purchase! Each one costs $12.95 and comes in one of four colors: red, marble, pink, or white. The deadline to order is Thursday, December 10th.<\/strong>\u00a0Due to the pandemic, supplies are limited so order yours today!\u00a0Questions or concerns?<\/em>\u00a0Email\u00a0welcome@fccej.org<\/a> for details.<\/p>\n

***Payment: Please mail your payment to:<\/p>\n

attn: Financial Secretary, FCCEJ, 1 Church Street, Essex Junction, VT 05452<\/p>\n

Include the words “Xmas Poinsettias” with your payment (or write it within the memo line of your check.) ***<\/p>\n

Update: <\/span><\/strong>Thank you to everyone who purchased poinsettias to help decorate for our Christmas Eve services. All of the in-sanctuary recording is complete and you can now pick up your poinsettias to decorate your home. Please email the church administrator at welcome@fccej.org<\/a> to arrange pick-up.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n

Giving Tree<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

Help us spread the love of Christmas to young people within our local community by giving them a Christmas gift.<\/p>\n

Update Dec. 1st: All SignUp gift requests are claimed – thank you so much!!!<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you to everyone that provided gifts!<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This year there were 52 children who were given Christmas gifts through this program. It is difficult to describe the feelings expressed by the parents as they pick up the gifts. They are so very appreciative of the generosity of this church. Many express that they would have no gifts for their <\/span>kids <\/span>without our assistance. For each of you who helped to make this a time of joy for so many children and their parents, we thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Lighting Advent Candles<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

Lighting the Advent candles each week is one of the many traditions that we honor each year in this season. This year we will be including a recording each week from various members of our church family. One of the benefits of following this tradition in a new way is that we can enjoy the candle-lightings even after the worship service is over. Each week, the video for the candle lighting will be added here so you can enjoy the messages over and over.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n

The First Advent Candle – Hope<\/h3>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n

by Beth Volker<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n