Advent by Candlelight
Think of “ladies night out” — with a little time for much-needed reflection, some soulful singing and of course dessert and plenty of female hysterics.
Ten years ago women at the FUMC of Birmingham decided they wanted some type of festive, non-threatening evening that would appeal to a broad range of women and invite in the spirit of Advent and Christmas.
They have struck gold.
On Nov. 29 and 30 the church celebrated the season with nearly 1,000 attendees total at two evenings that included Christmas music and carols, several testimonies and beautifully decorated tables in the Christian Life Center.
Each table had a host, who was responsible not only for adorning the table where the ladies shared dessert, but also for making sure the seats were filled by the way of invitations.
“Clearly the prime purpose is to gather people evangelistically and to invite women from across the community and to hopefully, invite women who might, if they don’t have a home church, be interested in this one,” Birmingham Pastor Rev. Jack Harnish said. “One of our goals is radical hospitality and we work on that in many different ways. I see this as one of our primary, kind of flagship events.”
This year’s theme was “And the angel said…” focused around when angels visit mortals in scripture.
Emily Everson, part of Birmingham’s programming steering committee, said each year the event also raises money for a charity. This year’s beneficiary is HAVEN, a crisis and recovery center for sexual assault.
While it’s a night away from the men in their lives, the male influence is not totally ignored.
“You know what the clergy do?” Harnish quipped. “We work in the parking lot — we manage the traffic in the parking lot. We’re out there with flashlights and everything. It’s great.”
So great that Birmingham members have initiated smaller services of a similar purpose at city churches like Conant Avenue UMC, Central UMC and People’s Church.
Harnish said churches of all sizes can benefit by “setting the tone for what quickly becomes a hectic time of year.”
“Christ Inspired Christmas”
Are you looking for a bit different perspective on gift-giving this Christmas season?
Or something that doesn’t include the words “black” or “Friday” and doesn’t require four-hour long lines of agitated pedestrians?
Then try an idea of the UMC of the Dunes on for size.
In December the Grand Haven church is hosting “Christ Inspired Christmas” where 20 human service agencies from around west Michigan will be displaying goods and services from the organizations they represent.
The agencies will provide visitors with an opportunity to take tags from their booths and supply items needed by the organizations.
Attendees can also purchase gift cards, which will be sent to persons in need in other countries where they can purchase basic living items.
“These gift cards will be used by people in third-world countries to purchase the things that will simply help them start up their own businesses, share basic necessities with others, or help send their children to school,” said Sondra Metzler, member of the UMC of the Dunes.
SERVV has a booth where people can purchase fair trade crafts and gifts, and coffee and cookies are provided by the church.
Herculean dinner parties through ‘open doors’
When The Open Door Ministry of Downtown Lansing thinks about the holiday season it truly is all about the food and the people.
The 501 (C)(3) housed at Central United Methodist Church provides a superb all-out dinner for over 200 people on the Thursday before Thanksgiving and the Thursday before Christmas. The tradition started more than 30 years ago and Open Door’s Executive Director Chris Bobier has helped transform it into a truly citywide initiative.
Instead of just counting on her “regular volunteers” she has enlisted people from all walks of life who want to be part of something meaningful.
“It’s kind of this jigsaw puzzle — we’ve got a couple of different ecumenical, non-denominational churches coming in, we’ve got Cooley Law School (students) coming in to do some of it, we’ve got Williamston United Methodist Church coming in to serve, as well as (some employees) from the Michigan Department of Transportation,” Bobier said.
A combined youth group from three different churches is going to make dessert the Wednesday before the big bash and some students from Williamston UMC are taking a day off school to help — with the understanding they will write a reflective piece on their experience.
Bobier said the ministry begins each day with prayer and right now they are asking God “to just help us find ways to link arms together and be that family presence for people.”
“This is a chance to build more community and then that community reaches our further and further,” she said.
Cass Christmas Store and more
The Adopt-a-Family thing worked for years, but in 2008 Cass Community Social Services in Detroit decided to go its own route for giving during the Christmas season.
“We used to do Adopt-a-Family, but it never really felt that good, at least on the distribution end,” Cass Community Pastor Rev. Faith Fowler said. “Parents weren’t allowed to pick things for their kids — and parents know best about colors and sizes and what kids really want — and some families got millions of things and some families got very few things and they would all witness the receiving of those.”
Now Cass calls on more than 100 volunteers and “many more people, churches, school groups, businesses, etc. to donate things” for a two-day Christmas shopping extravaganza for the homeless and less fortunate.
Legal guardians have the opportunity to go to Cass on Dec. 20-21 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and select four or five items for each kid, including toys, essentials and more.
Cass also sets up a “kid’s store” where children can shop for their parents and take home nicely wrapped gifts to give on Christmas morning.Fowler said everything is “brand new, because that’s what you get from Santa Claus.”
The store serves more than 300 families annually and it’s just one of many holiday functions Cass provides.
On Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day the church provides special worship services and family-style meals are served to those in need, as opposed to the traditional soup-kitchen style.
“On these holidays we actually seat people at a table with a tablecloth and real plates and real silverware, which is a rarity — and we pass the food from person to person so they can take what they want,” Fowler said. “There’s some dignity in that and there’s also some conversation you don’t always hear in a soup kitchen because people are enjoying the atmosphere and because many of them don’t have any other family to go visit that day.”
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