Christmas @ First Church 2020

Dear First Church,

After much deliberation, we have decided not to hold Drive Thru Communion this month and all our Christmas Eve worship experiences will be online this year. With the explosive spread of Coronavirus, any type of in person gathering would be irresponsible. As I have shared in the past, it is our duty, as followers of Jesus, to make sacrifices for the whole community, and in this case, the world. However our celebrations of Christmas look this year, the Christ child will still be born in our hearts making God’s grace incarnate. 

I’m excited to share with you our alternate plans. We have created a Christmas Eve experience, or actually a day full of experiences, that will be fun, deeply moving, and capture the mystique of this high holy day. We’re calling this a Choose Your Own Adventure Christmas Eve. Throughout the day on December 24, we will have a variety of activities and experiences you can choose from. Some things will be livestreamed, and some will be things you can do whenever you like. Here is the schedule for the day: 

9:00 AM Morning Devotional and Centering– This will be a brief time to gather our hearts and start the day together with prayer.Livestreamed on fumclr.org and Facebook. 

11:00 AM Contemporary Christmas Music Video-This is a collection of Christmas music in the style of our First Word worship service created by our First Word musicians.Posted to fumclr.org and social media (watch whenever you choose). 

12:00 PM Holy Communion– This will be a live broadcast of a time of prayer, scripture, and sharing communion together. Prepare your communion elements at home (or use those provided in your Advent Kit) and log on. Livestreamed on fumclr.org and Facebook. 

3:00 PM Children’s Worship Experience– This is a worship service created just for kids featuring the kids of First Church.Posted to fumclr.org and social media (watch whenever you choose). 

6:00 PM Christmas Eve Worship followed by Holy Communion-This will an online version of our traditional Christmas Eve service and will be followed by a live event to celebrate Holy Communion. Prepare your communion elements at home (or use those provided in your Advent Kit). After the service, a link to the video of the service will be available on fumclr.org to view any time. So, if you can’t join us at 6:00, you can share in this worship experience whenever you like.Livestreamed on fumclr.org and Facebook. 

7:00 PM Churchwide Check-in and Zoom Wassail –Grab a glass of cider or hot chocolate and gather via Zoom with all your friends and church family. It’s a fun opportunity to wish people Merry Christmas, laugh, and share in a time of prayer.Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/263616776?pwd=VTVkL1JaaEJTZk8ycm5lTDJsbEZ4QT09 

11:00 Late Night Holy Communion– For those who love our late night Christmas Eve service, we’ll have a live worship broadcast which will include prayer, scripture, and communion. Prepare your communion elements at home (or use those provided in your Advent Kit) and log on. Livestreamed on fumclr.org and Facebook. As you can see, there is a lot to choose from for your Christmas Eve adventure. Each experience is created to help keep us connected to one another and experience the birth of Christ happening all around and in us. Join us for any and all you want. Like so much of 2020, it may not be the same, but I’m excited to try a new adventure with you, my church family. 

Gracefully, David