Submitted by Rosemary Molinaro and Jody Endebrock

On Tuesday evening, Dec. 16th, several people came to church to take part in our Quiet Christmas service. The purpose of this service was to spend some time away from the mall, the loud music and the traffic and to acknowledge that because we are experiencing a loss, whether it be for a loved one, a job, a person who will be away from us at Christmas, we are not as happy this Christmas as we would like to be. Everyone came for their own personal loss, but together, we knew we were not alone. During the service we listened to readings, not so traditional Christmas music and lit candles of remembrance. Four main candles were lit from the Christ candle; first for loss of loved ones; second for the pain of some other type of loss; third candle to remember ourselves before God, and the fourth to remember our faith and the gift of hope. Each person then lit their own candle for their personal intention and remembrance. Pastor Choi gave each person a very special blessing. The service was followed by a time of fellowship while enjoying hot cider and cookies. It was the feeling of many that this Quiet Christmas service was very helpful and would like to see it continue each year. It is our hope that this will be the start of a new tradition at MUMC.

Our sincere thank you to Pastor Choi, Jennie Stump and Bob Molinaro for their assistance at the service and for those who spent this time together with us. If you would like to listen to the service, it has been posted on our webpage under the tab for “Sermons” on the Home Page.God bless us everyone with peace and renewed hope for a brighter future.