Advent Begins

We celebrate the beginning of the Advent Season at 5pm, November 28, with the Hanging of the Greens service.

Please join us for this warm, casual, cozy, friendly, family service that helps us remember the true spirit of the holiday season.   Click Here for a Complete Holiday Schedule

Advent comes at the darkest time of the year.  

We light the candles for hope, peace, joy and love.  We hang the star atop the tree and flip the switch to light its branches.  It is Advent, the season when we await the coming of the Christ child, the light of the world.  It is a season of darkness transformed by the hope of light.

When the sun rises in the morning and the new day arrives, we get up.  It is time to put the darkness, with its unknowns and fears, behind us and to get on with the work of our lives.  So it is with Advent and the coming of Jesus.  It is time for us to put aside the petty pleasures and grievances that separate us from God and from each other.  It is time to devote ourselves, not to those things that we would do only under cover of darkness, but to those things that celebrate all that is bright and blessed.  It is time to strengthen ourselves with the light of God's Word and grace.  Let us live each day in Advent and beyond as though we truly believe that with God's miraculous gift to us "joy cometh in the morning."

Romans 13:11-14

Sarah Tarpley, December 2, 2009

Hanging of the Greens

Thanksgiving dinner - the recipe for the stuffing is from grandma, uncle Phil always takes care of the turkey, the pumpkin pie travels about 500 miles, and everybody at the table knows the story about aunt Rachel's squash casserole.

We know the traditions, and when the children are old enough to sit at the "big" table, they have learned the stories that go with every dish. Yes, it was Jan who introduced the cranberry sauce whith horseradish in it - must have been 1987 or 1988. She heard it on the radio.

At Vine Street, we have a beautiful tradition to mark the beginning of Advent. On the Wednesday night after the first Sunday of Advent, we gather in the sanctuary for the Hanging of the Greens. We sing some of our favorite carols (before we get tired of hearing them in every mall, bank lobby, and gas station); we hear stories about bells, stars, evergreens, and poinsettias; we deck the sanctuary with wreaths, garlands, and candles; we watch the great star as it rises over the baptistery; we say a prayer or two that our hearts may be prepared to welcome the birth of Christ. And afterwards, we enjoy some cookies and cider.

This is a festive and yet quite informal service we all enjoy - from our little three-year-olds to our eighty-three-year olds. It's a great way to enter the gates of Advent. It's a great way to learn the stories behind some of our Chrismas traditions. And it's a great way to make new friends. Come and join us on Wednesday, December 2, at 6 PM for the Hanging of the Greens.