Holy Cross Christmas Pageant

Christmas Eve will be here soon. This year Holy Cross will host a pageant at the 5pm service. We are in recruitment mode! If your child or grandchild will be here over Christmas we would love to include them! Please contact Andrea McDonough (amacd1962@gmail.com) for details! We will host two rehearsals: The first will be after the 11am service on Sunday December 21. The other will be at a time to be determined on December 23. We would love to include you!

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Donations for Christmas Flowers and Greenery

The Altar Guild relies upon donations in order to decorate the Church for Christmas. Please give generously using the envelopes provided in the pews and/or in Skiles Hall.

REMEMBER: Completed forms must be submitted by 3:00 pm on Wednesday, December 17, 2025 in order to be included in all Christmas Service Leaflets.

Thank you!

 

Join the Holy Cross Chancel Choir!
If you enjoy singing in the car or the shower, consider joining the Holy Cross Chancel Choir. We rehearse on Wednesdays from 7pm-8:30pm in the Skiles Hall Choir Room. Can't read music? No problem. Afraid you can't carry a tune? That's probably false. Afraid of the time commitment? Just talk to Shane. We'd love to have you join this aspect of our music ministry.

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2026 Calendars Available!
A limited supply of 2026 Churchman’s Ordo Calendars are available for purchase for $5 in the Parish Office. This calendar offers a full listing of the traditional feasts and devotional days which are frequently celebrated throughout the Anglican Communion.

Ushers and Greeters Needed
Holy Cross congregants, we are in dire need of additional Ushers to serve at both the 8am and the 11am services. Please prayerfully consider serving in this capacity.

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Dewey’s Bakery Holiday Shop Open!

Hello Parishioners who have supported SmileOnADG, the Adam Galleher Memorial Fund for many years!

Our Dewey’s Bakery Holiday Shop is open at Shoppes on the Parkway, Blowing Rock. We are located in Unit #2, open 7 days a week. Our contact phone is 828-572-9679.

Remember, when you purchase cookies & gifts from our shop, you are supporting Adam’s Memorial Fund at 35% and we thank you for that.

This enables us to continue giving grants and scholarships to our local schools in Watauga, Ashe & Avery. --Debbie & Mike Galleher

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Helping the Hungry in the High Country

You’ve seen the changes in funding for the SNAP food program. You’ve generously supported the Summer Food Program for Children through Holy Cross. Thank you for that. There is a great need again to help fill the shelves of local food banks. The need is urgent.

Please bring your canned and boxed goods to Skiles on Sundays (or any day) and place them on the tables in the Welcome Center designated for Hunger and Health Coalition, Hospitality House Kitchen Pantry or Foscoe Hometown Team. Check out store BOGOs, sales flyers, look over your own pantry and ask your clubs and social groups to join in the fight against hunger. Every can or box counts. You count. Someone nearby goes to bed with food in the belly because of you. A child, an older person, someone out of work needs what you do.

We are fortunate to have drivers to carry food to our local food banks. We just need the food. Bring any of these: canned fruits, vegetables, tuna or chicken. Boxes of cereal, milks and juices, baby formula, paper products, jars of peanut butter and jelly, condiments like ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper, hot sauce. New socks, sweatshirts and sweatpants, gloves, scarves, coats, winter work clothes and bottled water are all needed in Foscoe, where there are still homes without running water. Fill your green Simple Gesture bags. Kip Kingree or Judy Bondi will take them to Hunger and Health. Jeff and Angela Williams will tote goods and food to Foscoe Hometown Team. Ron Armstrong will carry food to Hospitality House Kitchen Pantry.

Thank you so much for your response to this food drive. It matters. Things work because of you. Blessings on you and yours for what you do for others.

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IT'S ANGEL TREE TIME!!

There are several families at Valle Crucis school, and residents at The Life Care Center in Banner Elk for whom Holy Cross Church is their only Santa Claus. We also are helping out our Valle Crucis Teachers with gift cards this year as well. Thank you all in advance for your generosity!

Follow the link below to access this year’s “Virtual Angel Tree” registry and sign-up for gift donations. Here is how the Angel Tree gift donations will work this year:

• Sign-up for gift(s) donations via this SignUPGenius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084FADAC23A2FB6-holy1

• Bring your wrapped and tagged gift(s) to Skiles Hall. The Christmas tree will be in place in Skiles Hall after November 28, 2025.

  • Please begin bringing wrapped and tagged gifts starting on Sunday November 30, 2025.

  • All gifts and teacher gift cards need to be delivered to Skiles Hall no later than Sunday December 14, 2025.

  • For those buying gifts Life Care Persons please add a few nice toiletries (lotions, creams, body washes, etc.)

• THANK YOU so much for your help!

 

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2024
Men’s Night Out
Valle Crucis Conference Center Dining Hall

The final Men's Night Out gathering for 2025 -- and the conclusion of our ninth year of fellowship -- is a festive holiday gathering and "roast beast feast" beginning with B.Y.O. cocktails at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 16 in the dining hall at the historic Valle Crucis Conference Center with dinner served promptly at 6:15 p.m. Remember that after this meeting, we'll be taking a two-month hiatus over the winter season, resuming in March 2026.

We're repeating the v-e-r-y popular menu from previous years consisting of "USDA prime chuck pot roast tenderly bathed and simmered until it's a melt in your mouth consistency in a rich stock containing carrots, onions, garlic, thyme, and sage (with an equally savory salmon option for non-beef eaters) accompanied by Yukon gold mashed potatoes, creamed and herbed, Southern classic green beans with red peppers, butter, salt and pepper, accompanied by rustic oven warm wheat rolls, and a splendidly sumptuous salad bar serving all the favorites with a choice of dressing, and... spiced fruit cobbler served warm with vanilla ice cream for dessert, plus coffee, tea, water, and juices." Yum!

The cost is a suggested $20 contribution per person but... in light of the holiday spirit, and in honor of VCCC providing such heroic hurricane relief assistance and a welcoming home to Valle Crucis School, MNO participants are asked to prayerfully consider a contribution above and beyond that amount in support of VCCC's unparalleled "Ministry of Hospitality."

MNO is an opportunity for men from within the parish and in our community to enjoy having an evening of fellowship together. We're very flexible and inclusive, so feel free to bring a friend... or three! In order to let our gracious hosts know how many will be in attendance from Holy Cross, please RSVP by noon on Sunday, December 14 (note the early deadline) via email to KeithTMartin@gmail.com.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you do not drive at night, need a ride to and/or from MNO, or are without reliable transportation for whatever reason, please let us know. We have participants from all over the High Country who would welcome your company and be happy to pick you up and deliver you safely home. Please join us!