Messenger | December 4, 2024

 This week's release at a glance:

• Pastor’s Message
• Christmas Eve Worship Schedule
• Nourishment for Staff and Volunteers
• Christmas Eve Greeters Needed
• Remember a Loved One this Holiday Season
• Woods Church Crosses for Sale
• Winter Relief is Coming

Pastor's Message

Friends, I am thrilled to be with you as our Advent season crescendos into Christmas in the next week! I have been eagerly anticipating this whole season since I first arrived at Woods. I feel like that, as soon as I walked in the door, people were telling me about the Bazaar, about the glorious music in both worship and in special concerts, about the Pageant, and about the wonderful opportunities for celebrating on Christmas Eve. It has been a joy to already experience many of those with you for the first time, and I can’t wait for the rest still to come!

We will conclude our Advent observances this coming Sunday, December 22, with the Fourth Sunday of Advent. It is fitting that the theme of the Fourth Sunday of Advent is “Love,” as we begin to turn in anticipation towards the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve, whom God sent to us because “God so loved the world” (John 3:16).

On Tuesday, December 24, of course, we will have extensive opportunities to celebrate Christ’s birth on Christmas Eve. The legendary Woods Christmas Pageant will be offered at both 3PM & 4PM, followed by three worship services. Each of the worship services will include the Christmas stories from Scripture, along with wonderful music, the same short homily, and candlelighting. There also will be some differences for you to choose from.

• At 6PM, we will hold the Contemporary Christmas Eve service, which will include contemporary Christmas music and a more informal ambience, as you might expect.
• At 8PM, we will have a Traditional Christmas Eve service, with special traditional music.
• At 10PM, we will have another Traditional Christmas Eve service, but this one will include the Sacrament of Communion.

So, you can choose which option(s) suit you best, but also know there is a wonderful common thread of Word and Christmas music running throughout all our worship opportunities.

I’m very much looking forward to celebrating Christ’s birth with you in all of these opportunities, whether in person or online!

Peace and blessings,

—Pastor J.C.

Church News

Office Hours During Christmas Week

Our office hours will be modified during Christmas week. See our schedule below. Pastors are available for Pastoral Care needs any time the office is closed by utilizing the after hours on-call voicemail at 410.647.2550.

• Monday, December 23 | 9AM–5PM (normal)
• Tuesday, December 24 | 9AM–2
• Wednesday, December 25 | Closed
• Thursday, December 26 | Closed
• Friday, December 27 | 9AM–5PM (normal)



Christmas Eve Nourishment for Staff and Volunteers

If you love to cook, bake, and feed others during the holidays, here is your volunteer opportunity! The staff and volunteers of Woods work many hours on Christmas Eve covering all the services from 3PM to 10PM with very little time in between to leave or fix a meal. Donations of food, drinks and perhaps a cookie or two will be graciously accepted and displayed buffet style in the church conference room for joyful gathering and time of replenishment.

Sign up online.

Christmas Eve Greeters Needed

Advent is such a special time here at Woods Church! We are looking for some volunteers to help greet and make it even more welcoming.

Please email Nancy Nolan at msmum@sent.com if you are interested in greeting for one of our Christmas Eve Services.

Visit the Columbarium of Your Loved One

Columbariums can be opened by calling the church ahead of time, or by stopping in during office hours.

You also can honor the memory of your loved one by visiting their columbarium from the comfort of your home. You can reflect, remember, and feel connected to their legacy. Our virtual Columbarium offers a serene space to pay tribute, leave a message, or spend a moment in remembrance.

Light a Virtual Candle to Honor Someone Special
this Holiday Season

This holiday season, take a moment to honor someone by lighting a virtual candle on our website. Whether it’s for a loved one, a cherished memory, or a meaningful cause, your gesture can illuminate their importance in your life.

Lighting a virtual candle is simple yet profound, creating a space for reflection and gratitude during this special time of year. Visit our website to light a candle and share the warmth of remembrance and celebration with others. Let your light shine brightly this holiday season!



Woods Church Crosses for Sale

Both small and large, gold and silver Woods Church crosses will be available for sale in the Fellowship Hall between services (10:30–11AM) on Sunday, December 15. You also may come to the church office Monday–Friday, 9AM–4PM, to make a purchase. These crosses are replicas of the forged iron cross hanging in our Sanctuary.



Questions? Contact Liz Pringle at 410.647.8914.

Purchase an “Alternative Gift” this Holiday Season

Make your holiday gifts more meaningful! Check out how you can support our Mission Partners and those in need. Visit our Alternative Gifts table in Fellowship Hall on the Sundays in Advent or browse our online catalog.

This year’s mission partners are:

• Cecilia McKay Good Neighbor Fund
• Langton Green Community Farm
• Ministry of Hope - Malawi
• PDA Hurricanes Helene and Milton
  

Education & Small Groups

New Adult Education Class

Adult Education is offering a new study on Sundays, January 5–26, 11AM, featuring Which Way Lord by the Rev. Rob Fuquay. As Christians, we hunger to know and live out God's purpose for our lives. But how do we know for certain which way to go? This study aims to help you understand God’s direction for your life. Your guide for this journey is Paul, the missionary hero of early church history.

Through many detours, adversity, and time spent thinking about his life, Paul completely reoriented his understanding of faith and God’s purpose for his life. God placed Paul in a community that shared God’s love with him, and Paul underwent several years of training in his quest to follow Jesus and ultimately follow his call to be an apostle.

We will meet in the Office Conference Room and on Zoom. Books are in the office.

Youth News

Winter Break

Youth programming is on a break over the holidays. Confirmation Class and Youth Group will both return on Sunday, January 5, at their regular times.

Children's News

Christmas Eve Children’s Pageants

Calling all shepherds and angels! Sign up to be a part of our Christmas Eve Children’s Pageants by contacting Kat Green at kgreen@woodschurch.org or Laurel Raymond at lraymond@woodschurch.org. Help us tell the story of the first Christmas!

Continue the Conversation at Home

Let’s Continue the Conversation at Home from Sunday! We were talking about JOY! There is a bubbly good news about to burst kind of joy. There is also a settling, relaxing, totally present kind of joy. That is the space between “almost too much” and “not really enough.” It is the space of "plenty” or “enough.”

That reminds me of Star Mother's Youngest Child by Louise Moeri and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. It tells the story of a lonely old woman, who wishes for just one REAL Christmas, and a star child, who is not ready to take his place in the sky. The star child asks his star mother for just one Christmas like “they” celebrate on Earth.

The lonely old lady and the star child end up making a holiday for each other. It is about making space for others and generosity. When the star child returns, his mother asks, “How was it?” The star child says, “It was enough.”

I hope you have moments after the bubbly good news joy to feel the settling, relaxing, totally present kind of joy. May your days be full of plenty and be “enough.”

Save the Date for VBS!

Vacation Bible Study for all ages—smalls, talls, and all—will be held July 14–17, 4–7PM, with dinner at 6:30PM. More information coming in January!

Mission News

Winter Relief is Coming to Woods in January!

Winter Relief is coming January 20–27. Sign up to help after each Service in Fellowship Hall or online on on the Church website.

There are opportunities for meal prep, brown bag lunch prep, evening and overnight chaperones, drivers, shower escorts, Stephens Ministers, laundry support, youth volunteers, and snack donations.

Please help us help the homeless. If you want more information about Winter Relief and how you can help, contact Scott Wiley at 410.353.1491 or wilecoy2us@gmail.com. Thank you for helping with this important mission.



Winter Relief Supplies Needed

The Winter Relief Shelter at Woods needs various supplies. Please donate new travel size toiletries: deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes. (We do not need soap, conditioner, or combs or brushes.) The shelter also is in need of new men’s and women’s underwear including panties, undershirts and underpants of all sizes. (We do not need socks or men’s large underpants at this time.)

The items can be dropped off at the church office marked “Scott Wiley/Winter Relief.”



Trip to Greece to Walk in the Steps of Paul

We invite all interested parties to commit to joining us on an eight-day pilgrimage to Greece in late October 2025 to visit the places where St. Paul sought to spread Christianity in the first century AD. The deadline for committing to our pilgrimage is December 31—an extension from the original December 1 deadline. Click here for the itinerary details, reservation amounts, and where to mail your reservation checks.

Contact Elder Bill Hadley with any questions.



Information Session for Malawi Summer 2025 Mission Trip

Join us on Sunday, January 12, 10:30AM, in Founders Room to learn about mission trip details, ask questions, and meet the team leaders. Over the past several years, dozens of Woods members have traveled to Africa to learn from and support our mission partner, Ministry of Hope. We would love to have you join us! Trip dates are still being formulated, and we welcome your input.

For more information, please contact Pat Johnson at paj10041949@gmail.com or Karen Bennett at MDKBennett@gmail.com.

In Our Community

Let’s Raise Some Dough

Grab a slice! On Thursday, December 12, 4–9PM, part of the proceeds collected at Squisito's Pizza in the Magothy Gateway shops (147 Ritchie Hwy E, next to Harris Teeter) will support our Music Ministry! Please mention the “Wood Church Music Fundraiser” when placing your order.

A Moment of Prayer

Gracious and Loving God, as we approach the day of Christ’s birth, help us to throw wide the doors of our hearts in preparation. Help us to remember the words of Mary, the angels and shepherds, and the prophets who proclaimed your plan of salvation long before, and to celebrate all the promises that you made through each of them. Help us to take firm hold of the meaning of all these things, to ponder them in our hearts as Mary did, and to know that even now you are seeking to work in us and through us to fulfill the promises you have made. Through Christ our Lord we pray.



Amen.