christmas eve
two services, two ways to worship
With Christmas Eve on a Sunday this year, Wahoo First UMC will have two holiday services, at 10:30am and 8:00pm.
The 10:30am will be an interactive family service, and the 8:00pm will be a traditional candlelight service.
Read on below for descriptions of these two meaningful services.
10:30am family service
The first Christmas was anything but a "silent night." Stable animals crowding around a newborn in a manger, shepherds leading flocks of sheep, and angels announcing the whole thing with trumpets.
Our interactive family service captures that same spirit. At this service, kids are encouraged to join the service as we retell the Christmas story. Every child will choose a mask representing one of the Nativity characters and have a part to play!
Sprinkled in this service will be your favorite Christmas carols, as well as a special Communion service. At the end, everyone will get an LED candle while we sing "Silent Night" together.
If you have kids, or if you just love the energy of children on the night before presents arrive, then join us for this wild, yet deeply meaningful, service.
8:00pm Candlelight service
For some, Christmas Eve is not complete without Christmas carols, Holy Communion, or a candlelit singing of "Silent Night." If that's you, our 8:00pm Candlelight service is for you.
At this service, you will join worshipers eagerly awaiting Emmanuel, "God with us," born in a manger in the town of Bethlehem. A medley of carols will lighten your spirit, as will a message of new hope and life. Then, a special service of Holy Communion will remind you what Christmas is all about: the beginning of God's great act of salvation.
To end the service, we will light candles and sing the classic hymn "Silent Night," before departing in peace into a cold winter's night, filled with the flame of God's love within us.
We hope you'll join us at this meaningful service.
Christmas Eve Offering
Every year, Wahoo First UMC commits the entirety of our Christmas Eve offering to a cause beyond our local church.
This Christmas Eve, we are committing our Christmas Eve offering to the Assistance Fund of the Saunders County Ministerial Association. This fund is used to help Saunders County residents with rent/mortgage and utility bills.
With skyrocketing utility bills and higher housing payments, the SCMA's Assistance Fund is a vital resource for our neighbors. Please consider making a donation at one of our Christmas Eve services, knowing that 100% of your donation will help your neighbors stay housed and warm this winter.
BLUE Christmas service
Is this your first holiday season without a beloved family member or friend? If it is, then you know that it's difficult to feel the same warmth and joy from the holidays. The "most wonderful time of the year" just doesn't feel as wonderful.
Join us, then, for our Blue Christmas service on Thursday, December 21, at 6:00pm. Held on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, this service invites you to bring the grief, love, and difficult emotions you have in the midst of a season known for joy and light.
With Christmas hymns and deeply powerful liturgy, you will feel empowered and transformed by this service.
Check us out on sundays!
After you've marked your calendars for Christmas Eve worship, check out our Sunday Worship, too!
This December, we enter the pre-Christmas season of Advent. Our Advent worship series is called "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," and it looks at the oldest Christmas Carol and what it can teach us about Jesus.
If you are gearing up for beloved holiday traditions, preparing to see family you rarely see, or just feeling the specialness of the season, join us for this series. You'll learn why these holiday memories speak to us so deeply and how to make the most of the season.
