Christmas Eve and Christmas Day religious services around the Island.

The Community Baptist Church of Gay Head will celebrate its 325th anniversary this weekend. But a recent tax lien placed on the church parsonage is a reminder of an uncertain financial future.

Trustees for the United Methodist Church in Vineyard Haven plan to restore the interior structure of the church tower, including its nearly century-old clock and brass bell.

The volunteer-powered Houses of Grace winter shelter system has opened for its third season. “If I didn’t have this, I’d be sleeping around a fire, bundled up,” said Derek MacLeod.

A group of Island clergy gathered Thursday morning in Owen Park, to march and stand in vigil on the fifth anniversary of Sandy Hook.

The Rev. Alden Besse, pastor, sailor, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Peace Council and spiritual leader of the Vineyard Crop Walk, died on Dec. 13.

The Rev. Dr. Leo Christian had found a welcoming community in his new position as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Vineyard Haven and the Gay Head Community Baptist Church in Aquinnah.

Each night of the week during the winter, Island churches take turns opening their doors to offer free meals and beds.

The Rev. William L. Clark will be installed as minister of the Vineyard’s Unitarian Universalist congregation on May 22.

From Maundy Thursday to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, church services take place at houses of worship, on beaches and in parish houses around the Island.