Advent

What is Advent?

Advent is celebrated during the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. It is a period of waiting and preparation for the coming of Jesus as newborn king.

Advent Worship (Sunday Mornings)

We will worship online each Sunday during advent at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. Our 9:00 service and 11:00 service will be in the Sanctuary.

We will livestream our services. Find us online here: 
          Trinity Livestream   |  YouTube   |   Vimeo

Advent Celebration (Sunday Evenings, 4 – 6 pm)

Our Advent Jubilee will feature 3 weeks of being together for a meal and activities, all beginning at 4pm. All activities are family-friendly and we encourage you to bring friends and neighbors with you as well.

• Week 1, December 3:

  Christmas is coming! To help us prepare, we have a series of Advent special events planned. The first is an evening of fun, crafts, food, and the usual mayhem associated with all of that. Come join us Sunday, December 3! We’ll create beginning at 4pm, followed by a shared potluck meal together.

  Come, eat, be merry, and leave with some great crafts to help put you in the holiday mood!
• Week 2, December 10

  Trinity’s choir (and friends) will present a service of Lessons & Carols on Sunday, December 10 at 4:00PM in our beautiful Sanctuary. This year’s program will feature several guest musicians and vocalists as well as Trinity’s handbell choir. A reception with a live Jazz ensemble will follow, featuring special guest musicians from VCUarts.

  The traditional “Lessons & Carols” service traces its roots to Victorian England, where it was inaugurated at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. The service includes select scripture readings and carols that tell the Christmas story with grace and power. We hope that you and your loved ones will join us for this most meaningful service.

• Week 3, December 17

  There’s something brewing at headquarters. Nothing will ever be the same. Of course we all know that the shepherds were the first to know about the birth of Christ. Or were they? After all, there were a lot of details that needed attention to make sure that the first Christmas went according to Scripture. It’s up to an elite band of angels to make sure everything goes as planned, from arranging accommodations (or the lack thereof) for the holy family, to hanging the star, to informing everyone of the event, to … well, you get the picture. Join us on Sunday, December 17, at 4 pm as we consider that it might have been like two thousand years as we look into life B.C. (Before Christmas). Come with us for a behind-the-clouds look at what might have been during the planning of … Operation Christ Child.

  We’ll have the play at 4pm, followed by a pot-luck (covered-dish) dinner. Come, eat, laugh, celebrate, and enjoy the season!

• Week 4 is Christmas Eve!

Additional Advent Events

• Longest Night Service, Thursday, December 21

Join us on December 21, 2023, at 6:00pm, in the chapel for our Longest Night Service.

Our Longest Night service acknowledges that Christmas can bring feelings of sadness, pain, and loneliness for those who have lost a loved one, struggle with feelings of despair and disappointment, faced life after divorce or separation, coped with the loss of a job, received an unwelcome diagnosis, or experienced other forms of loss. The service takes place just prior to the Winter solstice, a natural phenomenon that ushers in the longest, darkest night of the year, symbolic of the “dark night of the soul” that often precedes our Christmas hope.

This service will be reflective, a time for us to join together and acknowledge the range of emotions this season can bring. Whoever you are, and wherever you find yourself on your journey, you are welcome to join us for this service of prayer and reflection, as we remember together Jesus’ promise. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.