(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Dear CCUMC Family,
 
I hope that you are having a blessed advent during this special holiday season! I am writing because there are so many exciting things happening as we quickly approach Christmas! Here are some exciting announcements and upcoming dates: 

Movie Night: It’s A Wonderful Life Dec. 19th at 6PM
Come join us for an evening of fellowship and fun while we watch this Holiday Classic! It’s A Wonderful Life is considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made, and it’s chock full of Christian values and Christmas cheer! Free snacks!


Youth Group Christmas Party
Are you a young person or simply young at heart? Join us Sunday December 20th from 6-8PM for our Youth Group Christmas Party! Fun, games, and food!


Poinsettia Setup & Church Decoration: December 19th at 10AM
This Saturday the Poinsettias will be delivered! If you have the chance come join us to help set them up and fill the church with Christmas cheer!


Longest Night: Community Blue Christmas Service December 22nd at 7PM
Everyone is invited to this service! The Holidays can be one of the happiest times of year, but also one of the saddest. It is a tragic fact that suicide rates peak around the Holidays. But no one is alone, God walks with each and every one of us through our darkest times. Clergy from the neighboring churches will be joining us to provide a unique opportunity to connect with God and one another. There will be special music and interactive prayer. Join us for a unique worship experience!


Christmas Eve December 24th at 7PM
Merry Christmas! Come celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with us this Christmas Eve!


A Service of Songs & Carols
Do you love Christmas music? Join us at 9AM on Sunday December 27th for a service full of song! Contemporary Informal Worship will still be held at 11AM.


Poinsettias for Those Who Are Unable to Make it To Worship
If you ordered a Poinsettia, you are welcome to take it with you after our Christmas Eve Service; however, I would like to encourage you to please consider donating it to someone who is unable to join us for worship. We have many in our church family who are not able to physically come to worship. The Pastor and volunteers will deliver them on Sunday December 27th. If you would like to send a Christmas card to one of these members of our church family, we would be happy to take them along with the Poinsettia. Simply place your Christmas card in the box located behind the left back pew.


Gifts for Jesus
Each Christmas we give away our Christmas Eve offering. This year we will be giving our offering to: The Bishops’ Partners in Mission (Includes Imagine No Malaria & Mission Central), Altoona HUB, Tomorrow’s Hope for Veterans, and the Stay & Play Preschool. You can make your donation on Christmas Eve or by using one of the Gifts for Jesus Envelopes which will be provided next Sunday (Dec. 20th).

#Christmas #ChristmasEve #movienight #youth #announcements

On Sunday, December 20th at our 11:00AM service when children from our preschool and from our congregation will be performing a Christmas Pageant and singing Christmas carols. Come join us as we remember the true reason for the Holiday Season! 

The Stay & Play Preschool is a mission of our church where over 75 children learn and share in the love of Christ four days a week. The Stay & Play Preschool has been around for over thirty years and is a treasured part of our church family. Rehearsal is at 10:00AM. 

Christ Community UMC
5715 Roselawn Avenue
Altoona, PA 16602
​(Conveniently located next door to South Hills Business School near the Sheetz corporate office!)

Each year, we here at Christ Community UMC give away our Christmas Eve offering as our own humble Birthday gift to Jesus. This year we have selected four very worthy charities who are doing great things to help those in need. One of the charities that we have selected this year for our Gifts for Jesus is the Bishop’s Partners in Mission. The Bishop’s Partners in Mission is an umbrella organization that includes two great charities, Imagine No Malaria and Mission Central.

 Imagine No Malaria. The United Methodist Church committed to join the global fight against malaria, embarking upon a $75 million Imagine No Malaria campaign. Our denomination has already raised over $66 million toward the goal. About 600,000 lives, mostly children younger than two years old in Africa, are being lost to malaria each year. However, in partnership with major organizations the United Methodist Church is fighting this killer disease in a mighty way. Thanks be to God that the death rate from malaria has been cut in half in recent years. Indeed, our church is a part of this powerful movement of saving lives.
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 The second goal of Bishop’s Partners in Mission is to eliminate the remaining mortgage at Mission Central, which was a dream that Bishop Neil Irons initiated. Mission Central represents our church in mission at its best. Two million lives are touched and served by the resources that go through Mission Central each year. Eliminating the mortgage would free up precious resources for Mission Central to be able to focus on its core mission of connecting resources with human need.

To help by donating to these great causes, join us on December 24th at 7PM! We are conveniently located next door to the South Hills Business School near the Sheetz corporate office. (5715 Roselawn Ave. Altoona, PA 16602)