Working Christmas
A staff-perspective on stepping into Advent — the holy, the hectic, and the hope that carries us.
As we stand on the edge of another Advent season, the building is already buzzing — not loudly, but quietly, with the kind of hum that comes before something beautiful. Long before the first candle is lit, long before Christmas Eve fills the sanctuary with candlelight, the work has begun.
For church staff and ministry leaders, Christmas isn’t a day — it’s a whole season.
A long, meaningful, exhausting, holy season.
And while our hearts are as ready for the magic as anyone else’s, we also feel the weight of everything this season asks of us.
Preparing for a Season That Starts Before Anyone Sees It
The truth is: Advent doesn’t begin for us on the first Sunday.
It begins weeks earlier — with planning, scheduling, organizing, and praying.
We’re writing liturgies and printing bulletins.
We’re prepping curriculum and coordinating volunteers.
We’re sorting mission projects, checking supply lists, and trying to remember whether the new Advent banner is in the basement, the closet, or the top shelf no one can reach without a ladder.
There’s joy in this work — real joy.
But there’s also pressure, holy responsibility, and more than a few “Didn’t we just do this?” moments.
The Challenge of Holding the Magic While Holding the Details
We love this season deeply.
We believe in it.
We want to feel the wonder of it.
But as staff, we’re also the ones:
- making sure every calendar item is covered,
- tending to the details no one else sees,
- creating space for families to worship,
- offering care to those who struggle this time of year,
- stepping into extra roles,
- and trying to keep our own households afloat at the same time.
Our hands are full with ministry.
But our hearts are still longing for the quiet beauty of Advent — just like everyone else.
It’s a tender tension: wanting to experience the season while carrying so much of it for others.
We Know the Weeks Ahead Will Be Full
The Sundays of Advent will come quickly, one after another:
Hope. Peace. Joy. Love.
Each candle, each reading, each moment crafted with intention.
Each Sunday asking something new of us — new volunteers, new messages, new logistical puzzles to solve before the next one arrives.
And yet, in the middle of all the movement, God has a way of showing up.
In hallway conversations.
In the laughter of children practicing their lines.
In the quiet minutes before worship when the sanctuary is still and the lights softly glow.
And Then Comes Christmas Eve
We know it will be beautiful.
We also know it will be long.
Christmas Eve is a night of deep meaning for the church — and for us, too. It’s the culmination of weeks of preparation, prayer, and pouring ourselves out.
We’ll triple-check microphones.
We’ll hand out candles with a smile.
We’ll help families find seats.
We’ll remember batteries, communion elements, pageant props, and (hopefully) where we put the extra matches.
And then…
when the lights dim…
when the first notes of “Silent Night” fill the room…
when candles pass from hand to hand…
the moment will find us too.
Even tired.
Even stretched thin.
Even with glitter on our shoes and a to-do list still full.
God’s presence always reaches us.
Looking Ahead With Honesty — And Hope
We’re stepping into Advent with full calendars and full hearts.
We’re balancing ministry life with real life — families, responsibilities, and bodies that sometimes whisper for rest.
We won’t pretend it’s always easy.
We won’t pretend we always feel the magic instantly.
But we believe this:
God meets us in the work just as much as in the worship.
In the preparation just as much as in the celebration.
In the behind-the-scenes hustle just as much as in the candlelit beauty.
And as a staff, we are grateful — deeply grateful — for the chance to help create the spaces where our community encounters hope, peace, joy, and love.
This Season, We Invite You to See the Sacred in the Busy
As we enter Advent, know this:
We are preparing not just events, but holy ground.
We are praying over every piece of this season.
We are tending to the details so that our congregation can step into the wonder without worry.
We are working, yes — but we are also waiting. Hoping. Watching. Trusting.
Because even when our hands are full, our hearts are still expectant.
Emmanuel — God with us — meets us in the middle of it all.
And that is the greatest gift of this season.
P.S. We don’t share any of this to invite sympathy or to make anyone feel sorry for us. We share it simply to offer a glimpse of what the behind-the-scenes work often looks like — the real rhythm of ministry that quietly supports the beauty our congregation experiences each Advent.