The Advent and Christmas Season at the Peru Community Church
The Peru Community Church announces its Advent and Christmas events and services. All are welcome and invited to worship and celebrate the coming of Christmas. Services are held at 8 am and 10:30 am, with nursery care provided, and coffee hour following. Sunday school for all ages (pre-school through adults) is at 9:15 am. Services are in the sanctuary in the stone building at the corner of Elm and Pleasant Streets in Peru, at the intersection of Routes 22 and 22B. Other events are held in the church Fellowship Center across the street at 13 Elm Street.
The 4-week Advent season sermon themes selected by Pastor Peggi Eller for this year are Watching / Turning / Seeing / Dreaming, and coincide with traditional weekly themes of Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. The adult Sunday school study for Advent includes a brief video followed by discussion, considering the story of Scrooge as a parable. The children’s Sunday school emphasizes the meaning of Advent as waiting and watching for Christmas.
On Sunday December 4th the second Advent candle, Love, will be lit with a special message on “Turning”. Communion will be celebrated at both 8 am and 10:30 am. At 12:30 pm, carol singers of all ages and abilities depart the Fellowship Center to bring cheer to shut-ins in the community – all are welcome to participate!
On Sunday, December 11th, during the 10:30 am service, the choir presents a new Christmas cantata, “The Mystery and the Majesty” by Joseph M. Martin, with music and readings. The 8 am service will be its normal format. Sunday, December 18th, the 4th Sunday of Advent, services will be held at 8 and 10:30 am.
On Thursday, December 22nd at 6:30 pm, a “Blue Christmas” service will be in the Chapel (in the Fellowship Center). Held the longest night of the year at the end of the Advent season, this service is offered as a quiet and reflective respite from the hustle and bustle of the season, and recognizing that Christmas is not always joyous for those who mourn loved ones no longer with them or who have other sadness in their lives. All are welcome.
Christmas Eve services on Saturday December 24th are at 6 pm and 8 pm in the sanctuary. The 6 pm service includes Lessons and Carols, the readings of the story of Christmas interspersed with music. The 8 pm service is a traditional Christmas Eve service with sermon, music and Communion. Both services end with the singing of Silent Night in the darkened sanctuary illuminated only by candles held by all in attendance and lit from the Christ candle.
On Christmas Sunday, December 25th, one service will be held in the Chapel at 10:30 am, followed by fellowship/coffee hour. On New Year’s Day, Sunday January 1, 2017, one service will be at 10:30 am in the Sanctuary.
The members, staff, and friends of the Peru Community Church wish all a blessed holiday season, and welcome you to worship with us. Questions? Please contact the church office / Pastor Peggi Eller at 518-643-8641. Our website is www.perucommunitychurch.com.
The Peru Community Church is located at the corner of Pleasant and Elm Streets in the heart of Peru, and is a federated Church of both the United Methodist and Presbyterian (USA) traditions. The church building has been continuously used for worship services since 1833, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The adjacent Fellowship Center serves as a gathering place for church events and the wider community (Scouts, AA, Lions, etc.). The church’s mission states “We, the Community Church of Peru, a dynamic, ecumenical Christian community of faith, bound in loving fellowship and service, gather to worship God, looking for a sense of belonging and seeking a faith to sustain us.” All are welcome.
Posted: November 30th, 2016 under General News, Northern NY News, Peru News, Religious News.