Per St. Bartholomew's tradition, on the Fourth Sunday of Advent the parish conducts The Greening of the Church, the preparation of the church for Christmas. In our tradition this begins with a potluck luncheon after the service, then commences with unpacking, assembling and putting up the decorations.

We also have The Untangling, Testing And Putting Up Of Lights, with elements of this tradition passed on verbally ("Psst, put a string of lights up around the doors to get power to the left-hand side; you'll find some nails along there to hold the strings..."). It is not true that this task is assigned as an act of penance.

A more recent tradition is the Christingle, which means "Christ-Light." Its origins are in an informal Moravian children's service held on Christmas Eve, 1747, in which children were given a lighted candle tied with a red ribbon, in memory of the Savior's coming, which kindled a flame in each heart. It was apparently adopted by the Church of England and popularized by the Children's Society there in 1968.

From its simple origins the Christingle became more elaborate and symbolic, traditionally consisting today of:
- an orange, representing the world
- a red ribbon tied around the orange, representing the blood of Jesus
- fruits and sweets on four toothpicks, representing God's gifts of the fruits of the earth and the four seasons
- a lighted candle, representing, Christ, the light of the world

During the Greening, the Christingles are made in preparation for the Christmas Eve Family Evensong and Carols service.

And finally, our Girl's Choir gets in some practice for the Christmas Eve service.