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!
SUNDAY ADVENT WORSHIP SERVICES
DECEMBER 1, 8, 15, 22
8:45 AM - Traditional worship service with Holy Communion in the Sanctuary
11:00 AM - Traditional worship service in the Sanctuary and Online (Holy Communion is offered on the first Sunday of each month)
5:15 PM - Upper Room Worship (Contemporary) in the Youth Center
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES
DECEMBER 24
Sanctuary Service: 11am traditional service in the sanctuary with communion, candlelight
Family Service: 4pm participatory event for children of all ages in the sanctuary with candlelight
Traditional Service: Traditional service includes the Chancel Choir, orchestra, harpist, candlelight, and communion. Join us at 5:30pm as harpist Yumiko Schlaffer plays carols of the season before our worship service, which begins at 6pm.
Upper Room Service: 11pm modern worship service in our upstairs family and youth center with communion
Below are the many events and worship opportunities to enjoy this season.
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Blue Christmas
December 15 | 5:15pm | Upper Room
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 communion and healing, with an option to be anointed with oil in the biblical tradition.
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Youth Holiday in the Park
December 14
Enjoy Christmas lights, Live entertainment, and rides at Six Flags during the UPUMC Youth holiday social event.
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Music Celebration
December 22 | 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.
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Advent Sunday Worship
Each Sunday in Advent, we will focus on Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love as we use "On the Way to Bethlehem" and the Advent study by Robert Fuquay. On the Way to Bethlehem follows the long journey to Christmas. Author Rob Fuquay provides insight into the geographical and historical significance of Rome, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem, along with the essential characters through whom the Christmas drama unfolds.
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Messiah: Weekly Advent Study
Sundays in Advent | 4pm
Join Rev. Joe Stobaugh and Mark Pope, Minister of Worship, as they read "Messiah: The Gospel according to Handel's Oratorio" by Roger Bullard, which helps the listener appreciate the choral masterpiece and its Christian message.
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Live Nativity
Live Nativity | December 8 | 5PM
The UPUMC Youth Ministries presents this annual event for the whole family. Come experience the Christmas story during our Christmas Celebration on the Colgate Lawn.
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Sanctuary Poinsettia Donations
Help decorate our sanctuary during Advent by donating a poinsettia in honor or memory of a loved one, friend, Sunday school class, or covenant group. If you want to donate a poinsettia, please click the image or pick up
an ordering envelope at the Welcome Desk. Donations are $15 per plant, and you may pick up your poinsettia after the 6 PM Christmas Eve service on December 24.