Sunday, December 11

• 9:00 & 10:45am--Morning worship-"Joy," plus we'll have the Monticello Children’s Pageant, and a guest pastor
• Be sure to get tickets today for next week's All Church Dinner and Choir Cantata

Sunday, December 18

• 9:00 & 10:45am--"Morning worship—Love"
• 5:30pm--All Church Dinner
• 6:30pm--Chancel Choir Christmas Cantata

Sunday, December 24, Christmas Eve

• 5:00 & 7:00pm--Christmas Eve Worship
• Both services will be identical, offer Holy Communion, and offer candlelighting.  Be sure to join us, bring the family, and bring a friend for this incredible event to experience the birth of Jesus Christ.
• Christmas Eve (as with all our worship services) is family friendly.  Please bring your chlildren to worship.  But, the nursery will be available for you too from 4:30-8:30pm if you desire it.

Sunday, December 25, Christmas Day

• 10:45am only--Christmas Day Worship
• There will be only one service on Christmas morning.  The service will be a service of carols and scripture with a short meditation.
• There will be no Sunday school and no nursery care on December 25.  Please feel free to bring young ones to worship, even if they are a bit noisy!  We love having you here, and your children too!

Sunday, January 1, New Year's Day        

• 10:45am only--New Year's Day Worship
• There will be only one service on New Year's Day.  The service will be a blended service with a guest preacher.
• There is NO Sunday school on January 1.
• There will be no Sunday school and no nursery care on January 1.  Please feel free to bring young ones to worship, even if they are a bit noisy!  We love having you here, and your children too!

This weekend in both worship services, our children will present "Aaron, the Allergic Shepherd."  You don't want to miss this wonderful story about how none of us should miss giving our gift to Jesus this year. 

Dressed in full costume, our children's choir (led by Kim Demings, director of vocal music), will praise God and remind us all of the importance of this season.  They will sing, offer their own narration, and touch all our hearts this season.  So, don't miss the return of our Monticello Children's Choir in their presentation of Aaron, the Allergic Shepherd in worship this weekend!!!

Join us for the church-wide business meeting to celebrate ministries from 2011 and explore the future in 2012.  Together, we'll have an opportunity to learn about the budget, elect lay leadership, and brainstorm awesome ministry options for 2012.  Join us Thursday, December 15, at 6:30pm in the sanctuary for this important evening!!  Here's the agenda...

• 6:30pm: Opening devotional--welcome, song, scripture, prayer
• 6:45pm: Celebration of ministries in 2011--each of our ministry teams will share 2 minutes of highlights from this year
• 7:00pm: Presentation of the new ministry teams at Monticello and an introduction of their coordinators
• 7:10pm: Election of lay leadership to the Staff Parish Committee, Lay Leadership Committee, Trustees Committee, and 
• 7:15pm: Overview of the 2012 church budget
• 7:25pm: Brainstorming strategic goals for 2012 (in small groups)
• 7:45pm: Closing worship moment--song, prayer
• 8:00pm: Dismissal

This meeting is open to everyone--members and visitors alike.  If you would like to nominate yourself or another person to a committee for 2012, please email me at robert.walters@getGOD.info.  Our lay leadership team will contact them to be sure they would accept, and then add them to the ballot for that night.  Nominations need to be received no later than December 12.

I am so excited to see my very first cantata here at Monticello.  Our Chancel Choir has worked so hard for you, so join them next weekend!!  The choir will present Pepper Choplin's "Lead Me Back to Bethlehem" on December 18, 2011.  Dinner is at 5:30pm and is open to everyone.  The Cantata is at 6:30pm.   The music will be supported by a live, visual production comprised of our church members. 

Bring your friends and family and come to Fellowship Hall for a scrumptious lasagne dinner followed by the Cantata performance.  Dinner tickets are $6.00 for those 10 and up, $3.00 for children between the ages of 4 to 9, and free to those under 4 years of age.  Please note there will be no child care provided on this evening, but this event is Family Friendly.

If you have not already purchased your dinner tickets, you can do so before or after each service on Sunday, December 11.  Or, contact Cindy Abels at rcabels@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or by phone at (913) 422-7385.  The deadline to order tickets for dinner is December 12, so get them soon!

Also, as your pastor, I want to take a moment to thank the choir for their diligent service to all of us in worship each week.  Along with their director, Kim Demings, and their accompanist Doris Housh, these folks give you their very best to praise God.  So, let's all come together and support them next week as we worship together through music!!

As we approach the end of the year, many parishioners ask about year end gifts to the church.  Your gifts of cash or other items toward the mission and ministry of God through Monticello United Methodist Church are always appreciated.  As a 501c3 organization, all gifts to the church are tax deductible.  And, all parishioners will receive a printed statement of their gifts in January.  Those offering a non-cash gift will receive a letter of thanks to use for your taxes.  

The Live Nativity on December 4 was a huge success.  Thanks to all of you that brought your personal nativity sets to share.  Also, a huge thanks to those that braved the cold to serve as participants in the nativity.  Many of you also brought cookies, helped set-up, tear-down-, and much much more!  We are so thankful to you all!

The evening was a huge success with over 150 guests coming to celebrate the season.  in addition, we were blessed to receive visits from channel 9 and channel 41 who aired footage of the event on the 10:00pm news.   

And, as always, let's all thank Sheryl Wilde, Janet Williams, and Kathleen Isaacson for all their work organizing and publicizing this event.  The Live Nativity is such a good reminder to all of us of what this season is truly about.   And, we are so pleased this congregation came out to participate.  We look forward to seeing you back next year! 

After some brief downtime, the church calendar is now back on our website at www.getGOD.info and includes all events at Monticello.  So, be sure to check it out.  Click on "Resources" then on "Church Calnedar" for the most recent list of events.  This is automatically up-to-date and in sync with our office calendar.  If you have events to add in 2012, please talk with Cindy Hedges, the pastor's administrative assistant, at cindy.hedges@getGOD.info or by phone at (913) 441-1435.