Church has parishioners do 'work of Christmas' year-round

FINDLAY — Even though it's a week past Epiphany, a Christmas tree is still standing in the narthex at First Presbyterian Church. Ornaments made from red, green, yellow and white construction paper hang from its branches. Each decoration features an opportunity for members to do "the work of Christmas." "We framed Advent and Christmas a little bit differently because we live in a culture that is just so busy all the time," said the Rev. Jessica Commeret. "People's lists are overflowing. They never can check everything off." Advent, the four-week season before Christmas, is supposed to be a time of waiting and preparation for the birth of Christ, she said. "We didn't want to, as a faith community, make people's lives busier to reflect our culture. So we decided to not have food drives or item drives or angel trees because lots of people already do that," she said. And nonprofits — after the New Year, particularly by March — report that funds and supplies are down, she noted. "We felt as a church, let's focus our energies on getting people to make a commitment for the next year of how are you going to do the work of Christmas?" Commeret said. The expression, she said, comes from a poem written by Howard Thurman, who was a professor of theology, Christian mystic and spiritual powerhouse in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. The poem is called "The Work of Christmas." "His poem reminds us of why Jesus came and what the work is actually which is being with the outcast, the stranger, the neighbor, the hungry, the homeless. That was who Jesus spent time with," said Commeret. Ideas on the ornaments range from volunteering to help build beds for children who don't have them to planting and weeding the community garden at the church and lending a hand for at least one of the four food pantries that will be held at First Presbyterian this year. Members can also fill bags of food for distribution to children with food insecurities in Hancock County, volunteer to serve lunch or dinner once a month at the City Mission, provide childcare at Martha's Home, write welcoming notes for visitors at church, be part of the church crew that goes on a mission trip this summer, provide tutoring of reading and English with Read for Life, and help with Habitat for Humanity's 2026 Apostle build. "Sometimes for older adults, you can't go to habitat but you can do other stuff. So that's why we tried to make it pretty diverse," Commeret said. The tree at First Presbyterian has been up since the beginning of Advent. "That way they could look at the ideas and think about it as part of their devotion and prayer as they approached the manager," she said. "How do I want to serve? What is God calling me to? And then afterwards being able to make that commitment for the year." There are even blank ornaments for people who want to make their own commitment. "They could already be working with a nonprofit or something like that. And there's a lot of churches working with other churches these days, too," she said. "So maybe they're working on a project, like St. Andrew's has the Read for Life class, the ESL classes. Maybe they're going to volunteer over there." It's then the responsibility of the person to call the contact number when they feel it's time for them to "do the work of Christmas" and figure out the logistics. Some of the ideas are for groups and some are for individuals, Commeret said. Both adults and children can participate. "Our youth and family coordinator is working with them, helping them decide what their commitment is. And a lot of them, their commitment will be to work with the community dinner that we have each month, serving and prepping and cleaning up for that," she said. Church members seem excited about the idea, she said. "It's just a way to really continue to connect people to the purpose of what it means to follow Jesus," said Commeret. The tree will probably remain up until Lent which is the second week of February.