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December 23, 2025

 This week's release at a glance:

• Pastor’s Message
• Christmas Eve Services
• A Christmas Eve Kindness Call
• Browse Our Advent Brochure
• Medical Professional Volunteers Needed
• Sunday Fellowship Help Wanted
• Middle School Tubing Trip
• High School Ski Trip
• Save the Date for WoodsWork 2026
• Weekly Bible Study During the Holidays
• Urgent Food Drive for SPAN
• Mission Trip to Guatemala
• Revisit Our Holiday Concerts

Pastor's Message

The poet W.H. Auden summed up how many people view the week after Christmas in his poem, For the Time Being. As he sits in the aftermath of Christmas celebrations, he reflects:

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,

putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes –

Some have got broken – and carrying them up to the attic.

The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt,

And the children got ready for school. There are enough

Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week –

Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,

Stayed up so late, attempted – quite unsuccessfully –

To love all of our relatives, and in general

Grossly overestimated our powers.

It was written in the early 1940s, but it sounds like it could have been written yesterday! Many people feel like Christmas ends after the big celebration on December 25, and the last week of December devolves into a time of putting decorations away, exchanging and returning gifts, and trying to eat up leftovers before they go bad. With that understanding of the aftermath of Christmas, no wonder people often feel tired and even a bit downhearted.

That’s part of why I think there’s wisdom in the old liturgical tradition of the Twelve Days of Christmas. For much of Christianity, including Presbyterians, Christmas Day is the first day of Christmas, not the last. In fact, Christmas as a season last twelve days up to Epiphany, when we celebrate the arrival of the Magi (Wise Men) who come from the East bearing gifts for Christ. And so the decorations stay up because we have just started celebrating Christ’s birth, and we don’t get the immediate letdown of an end on December 26. The aftermath of Christmas Day, then, is an ongoing celebration of Christ’s birth.

But the aftermath of Christmas also has a much deeper power, as well; the birth of Jesus Christ as Emmanuel, “God with us,” provokes more consequences and reactions from the world than just joy and celebration, because in Jesus Christ, God is re-announcing God’s claim upon this earth and all that is in it, including us. This Sunday we’ll be looking at why and how the aftermath of Christmas is both provocative and very much good news, a crucial part of the gospel that we sometimes pack away too early with our decorations. So I hope you will be here in worship on Sunday if you are home, and if you are on the road, you can join one of the livestreams or play one of the recorded services and worship with us that way. In any case, I hope you continue to have a very blessed and merry Christmas!

Peace and blessings,

—Pastor JC

Church News

Worship at Woods this Sunday

As a reminder, there will only be one worship service on Sundays, December 28 & January 4, at 9:30AM. Please join us as we continue celebrating the birth of Jesus.

A Christmas Eve Kindness Call, an Opportunity to Serve!

On Christmas Eve, as bells ring clear,

Our church will welcome far and near

The pastors and staff will serve all day,

in worship, prayer, and joyful display

With faithful hearts and hours long,

they’ll work and serve from dusk till dawn

No time to leave for lunch or cheer,

so meals can be a challenge here

In years gone by, with love so true,

our church family came right through

Home-cooked dishes, shared with care,

a gift of kindness beyond compare

This Christmas season, bright and dear,

we hope you’ll help again this year

A meal prepared, a dish to share,

a simple way to show you care

If you are able to help, we’d love for you to sign,

use the link below as it helps us align

In the comments, please share what you’ll bring,

so others can plan with this thoughtful thing

Thank you for blessing, for helping, for cheer—

And Merry Christmas from Woods to all this year!

Browse Our Advent Brochure

Woods Church is pleased to present this year’s Advent Brochure, highlighting all the special events and opportunities to celebrate the season together. We invite you to explore, participate, and experience the joy and hope of Advent at Woods. Click here to download a copy. Enjoy!

Winter Relief

Winter Relief is coming January 19–26. Sign-ups start on Sunday, December 14, 9AM. You will be able to sign up to help after each service in Fellowship Hall or online in Sign-Up-Genius on the Church website. Sign-ups will continue live until we start. 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, please contact Scott Wiley at 410.353.1491 or email wilecoy2us@gmail.com.

Thank you for helping with this important Mission.

Medical Professional Volunteers Needed

Woods is looking for members who are either physicians, physician's assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, anyone in the medical field, who would be willing to note their presence in a particular worship service or church event (musical production, etc.)—in the event there is a medical emergency—and would be able to help assist until the EMTs arrive.

A notebook and sign will be placed in the Narthex just outside the Sanctuary (to be monitored by the head usher) for the above person(s) to note their name, cell phone number, and presence in the service or particular event being held in the Sanctuary.

Email Jason Jackson at jjackson@woodschurch.org for more information.

Youth News

Save the Date for WoodsWork 2026

WoodsWork 2026 will be held June 22–30. We are still finalizing our location, but we are hoping to open registration by the end of the year! Download the flyer for more details.

Children's News

Everyone is Welcome in Worship at Woods

Sometimes little ears are sensory sensitive. Therefore, the Children’s Ministry has noise dampening headphones available on Sunday mornings. See Kat or Lindsey to sign out a set of headphones. Return them after the service. The headphones are cleaned after each use and ear guards will be changed.

This is one way that Woods Church works to be inclusive of all from the tall to the small!

Education & Small Groups

Weekly Bible Study

Our weekly Bible study will continue during the holidays! Sarah Wilson will lead us on Wednesdays, December 24 & 31, 11AM, to examine the upcoming Sunday’s scripture readings before they are presented in worship.

Join us on Zoom and gain a new understanding of scripture and enhance your worship experience.

Music News

Revisit Our Holiday Concerts

Mission News

Urgent November Food Drive for SPAN

Did you know 1 in 9 Marylanders may no longer receive SNAP benefits due to impending stoppage of federal food aid? This will have an immediate effect on food requests above and beyond our typical needs.

Please donate canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, beans, pasta, rice, instant potatoes, broth, bouillon, canned fruit, laundry detergent, dish soap, deodorant, and toothpaste. Place donations in SPAN bins behind the Welcome Desk in the Church lobby.

Mission Trip to Guatemala

The Baltimore Presbytery Guatemala Partnership Spring Mission Trip—in collaboration with the Protestant Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPA)—will take place March 14–20, 2026.

The cost is approximately $2,200. Adult and youth scholarships are available. The deadline to sign up is December 31, 2025.

The CEDEPA is an ecumenical educational organization headquartered in Guatemala that works to transform lives in Central America. They have four areas of focus: Biblical and Theological Training, Women’s Ministry, Disaster Ministry, and Intercultural Encounter.

For more information, contact Michelle Wallen at mwallen@baltimorepresbytery.org or visit BaltimorePresbytery.org.

Church Family News

Watch for Email Scammers

Alert! Emails from scammers have been circulating through church member emails, as well as Woods staff. Most times, these emails look very legitimate.

Woods will never email you asking for gift cards, Amazon orders, or money. All emails from Woods Church end in “.org” (not “.com”).



Please use caution and always call the church for verification at 410.647.2550.