Tonight, Dec. 1 we will be having our final church dinner together for the year along with our Children’s Christmas Program in Patterson. The kids and adult volunteers have been working very hard this fall and we’re looking forward to celebrating the Advent season together! 

On Sunday, December 5th at 6:00 pm EST the St. Giles concert series will present a program including the Johann Georg Albrechtsberger Organ Concerto in B Flat Major and the Antonio Vivaldi Gloria with orchestra at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, 5200 Grove Avenue, Richmond, Virginia.

This will be the American premier of the Albrechtsberger Organ Concerto even though it was written in 1762. It is a fine example of an early Classical period concerto and deserves a much wider presentation than it has received so far. It's a great study of the development of the classical period concerto style by probably music history's most prolific composer.

The Vivaldi Gloria RV 589 for chorus, soloists, and orchestra is well known to American audiences and hardly needs an introduction. It was written around 1716 and is the second of three of his settings of the text. The first is rarely performed and the third has been lost. The Gloria is widely performed for the Christmas season and is our choir's presentation for this year.

For those unable to attend in person, the performance will be live streamed on YouTube at our site St. Giles Concert Series

Dec. 19 & 26 we will return to a unified service at 10:30.

This year on Christmas Eve we will be holding two services:

4:00 PM - This service will be a time of celebration in the Greenway parking area with songs, a spontaneous nativity for kids, snacks and hot beverages with fire pits. 

8:00 PM - Traditional Candlelight Service in the Sanctuary.

The Sunday 9:30 class is continuing their study by Max Lucado entitled "You are Never Alone" in the Robins Room.

James Anderson is teaching from Romans on Sunday mornings at 11:00 in the upstairs classroom.

Bill Sneddon is teaching on the Christian Worldview on Wednesdays at 6:30 in Common Grounds.

In keeping with the St. Giles tradition of placing poinsettias in the Sanctuary in memory or honor of loved ones we will be taking orders until noon on December 9th. The price this year is $12 and you may place your order with Rachel at rachel@stgiles.org.

We will be holding a wreath making event on December 4th from 10 AM to 12 PM. Please let Patience know if you will be attending and if you need child care.

Our annual Women's Christmas Brunch will be held on December 7, 2021 at 9:45 A.M. In addition to enjoying food and Christmas music together, we will be writing Christmas cards for shut-ins and filling Christmas bags for nursing homes. Bring your favorite dish to share!

Contact Gail Yancey at gryancey@gmail.com with any questions.

We will be meeting for a special time of worship and reflection for a "Blue Christmas". For those who might not be familiar with what this is, we would invite you to come support those who find this time of year particularly difficult. May we gather together and stand alongside those who are carrying grief and are mourning. This may be for a loss due to death (either recently or in years past), or it may be for those who are experiencing painful relationships for whatever reason, or something similar, etc. We want to be supportive and create a healing space for those who are experiencing sadness or grief in any form this holiday season. Come and join us for this special service at our women of the church fellowship meeting on Tuesday, Dec 14th at 9:45.  

First Thursday Book Club will meet December 2nd at 10 AM in the welcome center. Sharing Christmas thoughts, poems, and stories is the theme. This will include discussing ideas from the classic "A Christmas Carol". Afterwards those who can will continue fellowship over lunch.

We are now live-streaming many of our events, including Sunday worship and some of our classes on our YouTube channel. These can also be viewed later at the same YouTube channel. Take advantage of the opportunity to catch up on anything you’ve missed, or to share these ministries with friends who might benefit from them.