Why Christmas?
During the month of December, Christians around the world spend their days preparing for and celebrating the story of Christmas – the story of God entering into our world as one of us in order to save us. During the season of Advent (the four Sundays leading up to Christmas), Christians focus on preparation – making ourselves ready, yet again, for God to enter into our world and into our lives.
Then, at Christmas, we celebrate the Good News that God has done precisely that – that, with Jesus, God has entered into our world and is here to stay – that God is with us now and forever. That good news is central to the Christian story, and so we at Haymarket Church are spending December celebrating it.
Christmas Eve: Saturday, Dec. 24
4:30 PM
Candlelight Communion Service
with Pop-Up Kids Pageant
We will gather for a family-friendly candlelight communion service at 4:30 PM at Haymarket Elementary School (15500 Learning Lane, Haymarket, VA) on Saturday, December 24.
Our family-friendly candlelight communion service will begin at 4:30 PM and include carols, Scripture reading, communion, and candlelight. Nursery care will be provided. Worship will also include a special pop-up children’s Christmas pageant—all children who attend will be able to participate, and no rehearsal will be necessary.
This service will NOT be livestreamed.
7:00 PM
Candlelight Communion Service
We will gather for a candlelight communion service at 7:00 PM at Haymarket Elementary School (15500 Learning Lane, Haymarket, VA) on Saturday, December 24.
This service will be a quieter, more reflective service. It will begin at 7:00 PM and include carols, Scripture reading, communion, and candlelight. Nursery care will be provided.
Visiting Haymarket Church on Christmas Eve?
Here are a few things you might find helpful if you are a new or returning visitor to Haymarket Church.
- Our online worship service can be found in 3 places: website, YouTube, & Facebook. The service will be the same in all places but the user experience may be different. For example, we have a good number of folks who chat with one another using the Facebook comments feature. Others prefer to watch via YouTube on their TV app.
- Our in-person worship services (at 4:30 & 7:00 PM) will take place at Haymarket Elementary School (15500 Learning Lane, Haymarket).
- Weather permitting (as long as it doesn’t rain) our worship service will end outdoors – after the sermon, we will move outside to light candles and sing “Silent Night.” (Be sure to dress appropriately for any potential weather!)
- A nursery is available for children up to 5 years old. Children are also welcome to stay with their family.
- Worship will include communion – this is a meal at which Jesus is the host, and all people are welcome. You do not need to be a member of Haymarket Church or of any other church to participate – all are welcome.
- Wear whatever works for you. Worship at Haymarket Church is usually pretty casual, but some folks get dressed up for Christmas, and you will definitely see people wearing some “fancier” clothes. (Our pastor will be wearing jeans, a tie, and his “preaching sneakers.”) But there will also be people wearing more casual clothes. Whatever feels right for you is great!
- We will livestream our 7:00 PM service. We will NOT be livstreaming our 4:30 PM service.
You can learn more about Haymarket Churh on our I’m New page. We look forward to celebrating Christmas with you!
Giving Back this Christmas Season
One of Haymarket Church’s Core Values is SERVICE. We believe that the lives of others should be better because our church exists. With that in mind, we have an ambitious 3-part generosity plan for the seasons of Advent and Christmas.
Will you help us care of others this holiday season?!
Advent-Christmas Mission Offering
We love our partners at The Sweet Julia Grace Foundation (SJGF) – they do amazing work in our local community (and beyond) caring for children (and their families) who are seriously ill, have special needs, or are facing a crisis. And, so, we are proud to announce that, for the whole month of December, all money donated to the Haymarket Church Mission Fund will be given to our partners at SJGF. In addition, all “undesignated” money from Christmas Eve will be donated to SJGF.
Last year we were able to raise $5,000 for SJGF during the month of December. We’d love to be able to give even more this year!
If you want to support their awesome work – and help children who are facing storms dance in the rain – go to HaymarketChurch.org/give, choose the “Mission Fund” line item, and make a donation using credit card, debit card, or bank transfer. Thank you for your generosity!
For more information about who they are and the awesome work they do, visit their website.
Boxes of Basics Clothing Drive
We are also very excited to partner with our friends at Boxes of Basics this holiday season.
Boxes of Basics believes that every child deserves to have their basic clothing needs met. Their mission is to provide children in need with a seasonal box of quality new and gently used clothing in their size.
Haymarket Church, in partnership with Haymarket Elementary School is doing a clothing drive for Boxes of Basics. We will be collecting new and gently used clothing sizes 2T-16/18 as well as new underwear and socks to support this local non-profit.
Plan to bring your donations to worship starting on November 27 and continuing through January 1 (including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).
Learn more about the awesome work of Boxes of Basics at boxesofbasic.org.
Reverse Advent Calendar
Our Haymarket Kids (and ANYONE else who wants to participate!) are experiencing Advent by completing a Reverse Advent Calendar.
In partnership with our friends at the Haymarket Regional Food Pantry, our Reverse Advent Calendar will encourage kids and families to put one food item into a bag each day during Advent as a countdown to Christmas. Those bags of food will then be brought to worship and donated to the Food Pantry.
Calendar download and instructions will be available soon!
Christmas Eve Worship Songs
When we go outside for our Christmas Eve Candlelight, we will sing these songs together.
Song for Candle Lighting – “Silent Night”
Verse 1
Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.
Verse 2
Silent night, holy night, shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!
Verse 3
Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
Verse 4
Silent night, holy night, wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing, Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!
Closing Song – “Joy to the World”
Verse 1
Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Verse 2
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! Let all their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains, repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
Verse 3
No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found.
Verse 4
He rules the world in truth and grace, and makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love, and wonders, wonders of his love!
Christmas at Home Playlist
We’ve put together a Spotify playlist to help you celebrate the wonder of Christ’s birth wherever you are – throughout the season.
Christmas Morning Worship
This year Christmas day is a Sunday. We WILL have worship on December 25, but it will look VERY different.
We will worship at 10:00 AM at TOWN HALL ( 15000 Washington Street). We will meet downstairs in the Town Council Chamber.
This will be a simple service of carols, Scripture, and communion.
Kids are encouraged to wear their PJs and bring their favorite gift. We will have cookies and cocoa and will celebrate the JOY of Christ’s birth together, on His birthday.
There will not be nursery available but we will have activity packets available for kids during the service. Children are always welcome in worship at Haymarket Church.
We will NOT livestream this 10:00 AM worship service. We will post our prerecorded service to our livestream page for those who prefer to worship virtually.
Daily Devotional by Text and Email
For those who are looking to “go deeper” and really dig into this season, we’ve put together a daily devotional, written by the people of Haymarket Church.
A mixture of stories, personal reflections, Bible stories, prayer, and more, each morning we send a link (by text and email) that will take you to something that has been written by one of the people of Haymarket Church and that is meant to help you get into the spirit of Christmas – and to help you pay attention to God.
To sign up to receive these daily devotionals by text, simply text “advent22” to (571) 487-8557.
To sign up to receive them by email, simply send an email with the subject line “Sign me Up for the Advent Devotional” to info@haymarketchurch.org.
Join our text list!
Serve on Christmas Eve
Worship One, Serve One!
People of Haymarket Church: For the first time since before the pandemic, we will be returning to two Christmas Eve worship services – one at 4:30 PM and one at 7:00 PM.
We’ve had a fair number of new folks worship with us over the last year – folks for whom this will be their first Christmas Eve with us – and we want to make sure they have a good first Christmas Eve experience. We also want to be at our best in terms of hospitality, since we have a good chance of having a fair number of new people who are with us on Christmas for the first time!
We need greeters, communion servers, Scripture readers, ushers (which will include helping people find seats if the space gets too full and passing out candles to people when it’s time for the candle lighting), folks to count attendance, and folks to greet in the parking lot.
We are encouraging folks to “worship one and serve one” (meaning volunteer for a role during one service and then attend the other service, so you can focus on serving at one and be fully engaged in worship during the other). We are planning to have food between worship services – a little celebration and time to breathe/have fun together for folks who are participating in both. Childcare will be provided at both worship services, so, if you’d like to serve but will need someone to watch your kids, that’s definitely an option
