Two Christmas Songs for You
What Child Is This by One Voice Children’s Choir
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon
Christmas Eve Worship
In person at 9 pm and Online
The 9:00 pm Christmas Eve service at Peace United Methodist Church is a modern adaptation of the Festival of Lessons and Carols first developed in 1880 which has been celebrated yearly at Kings College in Cambridge, England since 1918. The service celebrates humanity’s relationship with God from Creation through the birth of Jesus. This is told in nine short Bible readings from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels interspersed with reflections and the singing of Christmas hymns. The service will close with the singing of Silent Night and Joy to the World by candlelight.
Understanding concerns during the continued COVID pandemic, we are also offering an online version of the Festival of Lesson and Carols, using the online service from 2020 with a new introduction.
In person or online, we hope you will join us as we celebrate the coming of Christ during the darkest part of the year, a coming that will bring light and peace into the world.
No in-person worship on Sunday December 26, 2021!
Instead, we will provide instructions early Sunday morning December 26, 2021 for accessing a special online worship service put together by the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The theme is “Divine Interruptions,” and it features various voices from across the Minnesota Conference sharing their own personal experiences of divine interruption interspersed with stories from the first Christmas.
Sunday January 2, 2022: Special Worship Experience
PEACE is a presentation, sung by the Celebration Chorale and written by gifted contemporary composer/arranger Joel Raney. It uses arrangements of many of our favorite carols from the Christmas season, along with short narrations reflecting on various aspects of the gospel birth stories. In past years the Celebration Chorale has been able lead worship with a special musical presentation on a Sunday during Advent, but unfortunately ,with the continued new Omicron variant of the Coronavirus, they have not been able to meet for in-person rehearsals. Instead, through the leadership of Music Ministry Coordinator David Tidball, they have put together a video version of Peace which will be central to our worship on January 2, using the new monitors available in our sanctuary. Come and join this special worship experience.
Cracking Open the Bible
Tuesdays at 7 pm
This Bible study that uses the tools of modern Biblical interpretation from a progressive Christian perspective is currently discussing the book of Acts. Join in Cracking Open the Bible with us next Tuesday by clicking the Zoom invite below:
Gary Walpole is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Peace Cracking Open the Bible
Tuesday December 28, 2021 at 7:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://peaceumc.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f3a423294d3272373eed02862&id=4593899c5b&e=7546197cc7
Sharing our Joys and Concerns
In our pandemic-influenced world, many things have changed, but not our sense of community. We remain deeply connected even while we maintain a proper physical and social distance. We need to share news with one another. We long to know what is going on in each other’s lives. And we need a safe way to share our joys and concerns. For now, our safe way will be for you to share your joy or concern with Gary (text to 651-387-4095 or email gary@peaceumc.com) and also indicate your permission if you want him to share your news in Sunday worship, and/or with the Prayer Chain (about 25 people), and/or via the full Peace email group (about 175 people).
Peace Winter Retreat January 11-13, 2022 is Cancelled
Because of the new Omicron strain of the Coronavirus the Peace Winter Retreat has been cancelled. The planners of the retreat will be gathering information about possibly rescheduling for the summer of 2022. Please share any thoughts with Pastor Gary.