Join us for Christmas at UPUMC!

Christmas Celebration, Advent Services and More

We hope you will join us in the many wonderful opportunities for fellowship, reflection, and worship this Advent season. The church is coming alive with the sights and sounds of Advent and Christmas! 

All Church Sunday School

November 29 | 9:45 - 10:45 am | Fellowship Hall

Join Dr. Joe Stobaugh and Rev. Emma Williams for a combined Sunday School gathering as we begin Advent together. This year, we'll explore The Angels of Christmas: Hearing God's Voice in Advent by Rev. Susan Robb. Come enjoy fellowship and kick off the Advent season together! On Sunday, December 13th, Rev. Susan Robb, author of The Angels of Christmas: Hearing God’s Voice in Advent, will join us for a special Meet the Author event following the 11 am worship service.

Community Christmas Celebration

December 6 | 5 - 6:30 pm

Mark your calendars for our annual Christmas Celebration! Join us for the annual tree lighting on the Colgate lawn, family activities, photos, music, carols, a cook-off supporting UPUMC missions and more. Christmas memories are made here, so don't miss this exciting event to kick off your seasonal celebrations! Invite your friends and neighbors for this fun community event.

Christmas Celebration Cook-off

December 6 | 5 - 6:30 pm (During the Christmas Celebration) | Activity Center

What is a Christmas celebration without loads of food, lots of fun, and a little competition? Calling all cooks to the newly fashioned Christmas Cook-Off with savory and sweet categories! Not a cook? No problem! Come hungry, sample the creations and vote for your favorites! All proceeds support our four core mission partners. More information and registration are available through the link below.

COOK-OFF SIGN-UP HERE                                                                                                        

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

December 24: 11am, 4pm & 7pm

Traditional Service: 11am service in the Sanctuary with communion. 

Family Service: 4pm participatory event for children of all ages in the sanctuary with candlelight.

Traditional Service with harpist: 7 pm Traditional service in the sanctuary includes the Chancel Choir, orchestra, harpist and candlelight. Join us at 6:30pm as harpist Yumiko Schlaffer plays carols of the season before our 7pm worship service. 

All worship services will end with candlelight and the singing of Silent Night.

Music Celebration

December 14 | 8:45am & 11am worship services

Join us for a morning of music presented by the UPUMC Chancel Choir and chamber orchestra as they perform Best of Messiah. It's an experience you won't forget.

Blue Christmas Service

December 14 | 5 pm | Caldwell Room (Wesley Chapel)

For many, the holiday season can be a challenge. Throughout Advent, we proclaim hope, peace, joy, and love in the midst of difficulty. This is the church’s gift to the world–that our faith story is grounded in the presence of God that came and dwelt among us in the midst of hardship. It is important to name that sometimes hope, peace, joy, and love are distant feelings when we have encountered great loss. The anticipation of renewed grief as Christmas Eve approaches can be difficult to bear for many. This service will provide a place for us to be together, amid the difficulties and grief we face. There will be music, prayer, a brief discussion on grief in the holidays, and a time for healing, with an option to be anointed with oil in the biblical tradition.

Advent at UPUMC

Sundays, November 30 - December 21

You’re invited to worship with us each Sunday in Advent at 8:45 and 11 am as we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. Advent is a sacred season of expectation, hope, and renewal—an opportunity to pause, reflect, and make room for God’s light in our lives.

This year, our worship series will follow All the Good: A Wesleyan Way of Life, guiding us toward a deeper understanding of God’s grace and the call to live out our faith in meaningful, transformative ways.

If you can’t be with us in person, you can still join our 11 am service online via Facebook Live at @universityparkumc or at www.upumc.org/worship.

Let’s journey through this season of hope—together.

All the Good- Advent Worship Series

Sundays in Advent | Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14, 21

The season of Advent offers time and space for Christians to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas through reflecting on the story of salvation.

In All the Good: A Wesleyan Way of Christmas, a group of diverse Wesleyan scholars will take you on an Advent journey guided by the practices in John Wesley’s means of grace. John Wesley’s emphasis upon practices of piety and mercy—or good works—drew from the larger Christian tradition. Such practices are often referred to as means of grace. Readers will look at preparing the way for God, the impact and significance of prayer, the substance of good works and caring for others, and sharing God’s mission to the world. (*Abingdon Press)
 

Livestream our 4 pm, and 7 pm Christmas Eve worship services through the link below.

Below are the many events and worship opportunities to enjoy this season.