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Woodridge United Methodist
Church
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Join
us on Sunday for worship services
at
10:00 am.
Instructions
can be found at the end below.
All are
Welcome!
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"Christmas
Eve (Almost)"
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SUNDAY IS CHRISTMAS
EVE!!! Well, almost. According to
our liturgical ("churchy") calendar the early
part of the day is still considered as Advent and the
later part of the day is Christmas Eve. And that is
how we will treat it.
Our 10:00 a.m.
worship time will focus on the 4th Sunday
of Advent. We will light 4 candles on the Advent
wreath and experience our worship time as a continuation
of waiting, anticipation, and expecting. It is still a
time of looking at the prophecy of Isaiah and his impact
on the people of his time and the impact on our
lives. OUR
LIVING GIFT reminds us of the challenges
of our day and the promise that the coming of Jesus means
in our lives.
When we gather in
our 5:00
p.m. worship, we welcome and encourage
our families to be with us as we celebrate
together. There will be a special treat for the
children and we will focus our attention on how Jesus is
our HOPE
FOR THE WORLD. Looking around at
all that is happening in our world, we cannot sometimes
feel hopeless, but the birth of the Christ-child reminds
us to always by hope-filled. Lighting our candles
(glowsticks for the children!) reminds us of the warmth
of peace, inclusion and possibility in our lives as
Christians.
And then at our 11:00 p.m.
worship time we will include the sacrament of communion
as we fellowship together. Our service will include
participation by some of our college students (who have a
tradition of gathering at this service) in addition to
the communion and candlelighting. OUR DREAM OF
ALL DREAMS calls us to remember that we
are a part of the change we want to see in the
world. It is up to us to make a difference for
coming generations of believers.
You are invited to
continue on this journey to Bethlehem with us. Join
us at 10, 5 and/or 11. If you can't be with us in
person, join us on our Woodridge UMC YouTube Channel.
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Sunday, December 24th
- 8:45
am Adult Choir
- 10:00 am Worship Service
- 4:00
pm Filipino Baptist
- 5:00 pm Christmas Eve Worship Service
- 11:00 pm Christmas Eve Worship Service
Thursday, December 28th
Saturday, December 30th
Sunday, December 31st
- 10:00 am Worship Service
- 11:00
am New Years Brunch
- 4:00
pm Filipino Baptist
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Church Office Hours
The Church Office is CLOSED Monday, December 25th
– Tuesday, January 2nd.
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Ministry Opportunities
Interactive Christmas Bulletin Board
Our bulletin board is ready for Christmas. Come take a
star, write on it one of the reasons that you are blessed and
use a push pin to set it in the sky. It will be
awe-inspiring!
New
Years Eve Brunch
Join us for a potluck New Years Eve Brunch! On Sunday, December
31st at11:30 am you are invited to bring your
favorite brunch dish to share: breakfast casserole, pastries,
quiche, sliced fruit, skillets, etc. New Year's Eve
brunch will include board games!! People should bring
their favorite!
Upper
Rooms
Upper Rooms for January
- February are now available in the narthex
with a limited number in the mailbox.
60th
Anniversary Celebration
Did you know that our church is turning 60 years old?
What were you doing when you turned 60? If you haven't
made it there yet, what are your plans for 60? We have
started a year long celebration of 60 years of ministry here
at Woodridge UMC. If you have ideas of events you would
like to see happen this year, or simply want to "be in
the room where it happens", let us know. No idea
is too ______ anything!! Look forward to
celebrating our 60 years together.
WUMC
Music Ensembles 2023-2024
Our Music Ministry offers you three ways to get involved: the
Handbell Choir, the Worship Band, and the Adult Choir. This
could be the year you take that “leap of faith” and join a
group! All ensembles are LOW commitment. We ask that you
please attend the rehearsals leading up to the service date.
It is that simple! For a full schedule see the e-News or the
handout in the narthex.
In order to plan music, please RSVP to Carrie by the dates
listed. See the full
schedule here.
Worship Band RSVP
was due by Dec. 17.
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Rehearsal- VOCALS ONLY
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Jan. 7
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8:30-9:30 AM
(Carrie has a 12 PM call time for a Hawks game)
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Music Room
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Rehearsal- ALL
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Jan. 14
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11:20 AM-12:30 PM
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Music Room
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Rehearsal- ALL
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Jan. 21
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11:20 AM-12:30 PM
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Music Room
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Service
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Jan. 28
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10 AM
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Rehearse in the sanctuary at 8:45 AM
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Youth
Ministry 2023-2024
Our last event for 2023 has concluded. Enjoy the holidays
with your families and come to 2024 with
ideas for the rest of the year!
Sunday School
There will not be Sunday School on Christmas
Eve or New Years Eve. Activity Bags will be available in the
Narthex. We use inspiring stories, creative crafts, and fun
games—all done with guidance of loving, dedicated teachers—to
engage our students.
Here’s our process: Children begin the worship
service in the sanctuary with their family. Following the
“Praying” segment, the children will be invited up to the
chancel steps for conversation with the pastors. (We call
that time “Conversing with Children.”) Following that, the
Sunday School teacher will meet the children in the Narthex
(the big room outside the sanctuary) and walk them to their
classroom. They will be in either the Trinity Room in the
main hallway or the Blue Room in the Preschool wing.
Bible Study
Bible Study is on break for until the new year. In January we
will resume the book we were working on in the Fall.
Classes are open to anyone who wishes to participate.
Resource/Study
book:
Reading the Old Testament through Jewish Eyes by Rabbi
Evan Moffic.... a study of the scriptures Jesus read.
Time
and format:
Tuesdays
(ZOOM only), 10:30 a.m. until noon begins January
9th.
Wednesdays
(ZOOM and
in-person), 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. begins January
10th.
If you are interested in participating, please contact the
church office, 630/968-6050 or office@woodridgeumc.org
or Pastor Danita (PastorDanita@woodridgeumc.org).
Please let us know if you are interested in attending.
Toastmasters
Would you like to speak with more confidence in any setting?
Toastmasters can help! The Woodridge Toastmasters club meets
on the 2nd
and 4th Thursday of the month at Woodridge United Methodist
Church. Come visit us and see for yourself!
For more information contact John.
Advent 2023
Worship with
Wooddridge UMC This Christmas Season
All are invited and welcome to our worship services as we
commemorate God’s ultimate act of love and solidarity:
joining us in our humanity through the babe of Bethlehem. All
these services are both in-person and live-streamed on our Woodridge UMC YouTube Channel.
Sunday,
December 24th: 10:00 am Advent week 4.
Sunday,
December 24th: 5:00 pm Christmas Eve with
carols, children’s time, Choir and candle lighting.
Sunday,
December 24th: 11:00 pm Christmas Eve with
carols, Choir, candle lighting and Communion.
Sunday,
December 31st: 10:00AM New Year’s Eve Worship
and Party
Holiday Help for Our Neighbors in Need
A big THANK
YOU to everyone who was able to support our
Adopt a Family gift and gift card outreach with the West
Suburban Community Pantry! Through your generosity we were
able to supply 5 families (19 children and one senior
citizen) with Christmas gifts. We were also able to
give each family over $100 in grocery gifts cards!
Our Hat
and Mitten Tree remains in the Narthex
throughout the Christmas season and all items collected will
be given to Woodridge schools to be distributed to children
who are in need. Thank you to those who have already
donated - our tree is looking festive!
Choir
Performances
Make a Joyful Noise! The Choir is expanding this year and
will be performing each of the four Sundays of Advent. Come
listen to our Choir sing!
Northern Illinois Conference
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Dec. 13, 2023
Dear Servants in ministry,
Greetings in this holy time of anticipation and promise.
At this time of year, we celebrate the coming of a child.
Christmas, Epiphany, the boy Jesus in the temple—all center
on a child.
Indeed,
children should always be in our hearts and minds.
And now, people who were abused as children need our
Christian compassion and generosity.
Repair
the Harm to Children, the Northern Illinois Conference
campaign to address the needs of people who suffered abuse
in a Boy Scout troop as children, needs our support.
Many churches, including United Methodists, have chartered
Boy Scouts of America troops or packs over the years. As
part of the settlement of a lawsuit brought by these
survivors, the United Methodist Church has agreed to
contribute $30 million to a survivors’ fund over a
three-year period. Northern Illinois Conference’s share is
$754,348.
Your
church can be part of the healing for these survivors by
committing an amount equal to 1 percent of its budget to
this fund. This amount is payable over
three years. Your church will still have 99 percent for
local and church-wide ministries.
We don't invite people to pledge because they participated
in the harm. We invite you to give because you care about
the welfare of children and want to help those who were
hurt as children to experience healing.
The
Repair the Harm to Children campaign is not only about
financial compensation for the survivors.
We also commit to listening to survivors, if they request
it, with compassion. We will also redouble our efforts to
keep our churches safe for children and vulnerable adults.
Our conference has received, as of this date, donations and
pledges from 28 churches and several individuals. We have
received commitments for $136,770, 18 percent of our goal.
So far, pledging churches have contributed $54,036.69. We look ahead with
confidence that we Northern Illinois United Methodists will
achieve our goal.
Steps
Toward Participation
- Your church identifies the amount
of its pledge.
- Visit umcnic.org/RepairtheHarm
and complete the Pledge Form linked from that page.
- When your church is ready to
begin fulfilling its pledge, visit the Make a Payment
link on that page. Remember, your church can fulfill
its pledge over three years.
This site also contains many resources
to help interpret the importance of this commitment. People
in your church who have participated in Scouts as young
people or leaders and those who care deeply about
children’s wellbeing can serve as ambassadors for this
opportunity to help others.
Please
remember that Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other youth
organizations support children’s faith formation and are
worth hosting in our churches. The BSA
commits itself to strengthened protections for
participants. Adding your church’s vigilant observations of
Safe Sanctuaries practices, Scout troops and packs can be a
safe and enriching experience.
Knowing about NIC churches’ and individuals’ generosity, I
look forward to our receiving your pledges and gifts.
It is good to be in ministry with you.
Peace
Dan Schwerin, Bishop
Northern Illinois Conference
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If you would like more information, you can visit the FAQ
page here.
Prairie
Central Informal Gatherings with the District Superintendent
Informational
gatherings will be held on the second Thursday of the
month.
Zoom Links (The links will stay the same for all meetings,
though clergy links and lay links will be different)
Clergy Gathering 9:00 am link.
Lay Gathering 7:00 pm link.
Lay persons: This is NOT for Lay Leaders only. It
is intended for all lay persons who want to know more about
what is going on and be connected.
Northern
Illinois Conference
Find out
about upcoming events in the Northern Illinois
Conference of the United Methodist Church by clicking
this link
Outreach Opportunities
December Outreach Offering
Save Abandoned Babies Foundation
The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation is a
not-for-profit volunteer group dedicated to saving babies
from being abandoned in dumpsters and other unsafe places.
Our grassroots effort began in March of 2000 when our
volunteers drafted a safe haven law and lobbied for its
passage. The resulting Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection
Act unanimously passed both the Illinois House and Senate and
was signed into Illinois law in August of 2001.
The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation is now focused on
spreading awareness of the Safe Haven Law, allowing a parent
to safely relinquish their newborn to a person at a Police
Station (including campus police), Fire Station, Hospital or
Emergency Medical Facility with no questions asked.
Since the enactment of this law 157 newborns have been safely
relinquished.
Ways
to donate to the December Outreach Offering:
- Check or cash in an Outreach
Offering envelope placed in the offering plate in the
- Narthex (the room outside the
sanctuary) or in the gold-plated mail slot at the
church’s east door.
- Online via our website. Select
“Current Month Outreach” in the drop down menu.
- Text the amount you want to give to
630-449-7121 and select “Current Month Outreach” in the
drop down menu.
Ongoing
Opportunities
Suits for Success
Please be aware that after many years, Suits for Success has
closed its doors and is no longer accepting clothing
donations.
"Goin'
Green" Shoes & Clothes Recycling Box
Located in the northeast corner of our parking lot,
this receptacle is a convenient place to recycle any shoes
and your clothes that are at or near the end of their
usefulness.
Did you know discarded clothes account for more
total landfill space than any other waste item? The “Goin’
Green” Box helps us reduce our waste.
West Suburban
Food Pantry
We have a basket that we "inherited"
from the Faith, Lisle church that is waiting for
donations. It sits in the narthex, usually near the
sanctuary doors. They did not stop operating during the
pandemic and there is pending legislation in our state and
nation that might cut their corporate donations in large
amounts. Let's replenish our basket!!!
Used Eyeglasses
There is a
basket also in the narthex for collecting
used eyeglasses. Kendra Manderfield Moore makes
sure that they are recycled to the Lions Club and Gift
of Sight groups. (Prescription eyeglasses only).
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Wellness Guidelines
WUMC considers the good health and well-being of not
only our members, but also our community, an act of Christian
stewardship. We continue to seek to avoid harm and do good as we
attend to the practices that help us grow in the love of God. As
a result of guideline changes from the Illinois Department of
Public Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
we have updated our COVID Safety Guidelines:
- We recommend each group consult with each other
on how to do good and avoid harm as a group in consideration
of each other's needs and desires.
- We will continue to practice COVID-19 safety
best practices throughout our building including cleaning
protocols and air circulation.
If you are feeling sick, please stay home and join
us via livestream on YouTube. If community transmission spikes in
our area, we may return to mask requirements for all
activities. We follow the CDC guidelines.
Online Worship
Where to find the YouTube Live Stream
The worship service is live-streamed every Sunday at
10:00 a.m. on our Woodridge UMC YouTube Channel. All available worship service recordings are on
our channel too.
Sacrament of Communion 1st Sundays
We will be celebrating the
Sacrament of Communion in person on the first Sunday of each
month immediately following the livestream of our worship
service. We will need a few moments to set up our ZOOM link for
those who are not able to be with us in person. Please
remain seated following the postlude on the Sundays that we are
serving communion. Please remember that communion is
available every Sunday via ZOOM. Please contact the church
office or Pastor Danita for the ZOOM link.
Worship Attendance
If you watch the online service, please email the
church office at office@woodridgeumc.org and let us know that you joined us for
worship, so that we might record your attendance.
Prayer Requests for Worship
Our joys and concerns are
announced during worship service and printed and placed on the
table in the narthex as you come into the sanctuary. We
will continue to do this going forward. Therefore, all joys
and concerns must be emailed to Pastor Danita (PastorDanita@woodridgeumc.org) no
later than 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. If joys
and concerns are received after that, they will be sent on Monday
to the Prayer Ministry Team. Thank you for your flexibility
as we make updates to our worship services.
(There have been
requests that we include full names and/or more detailed
information for people on our list of Joys & Concerns.
Please remember our services are broadcast on YouTube and are
available to anyone who has internet access. Details are shared
with our Prayer Ministry Team on Monday mornings. You are
invited to join them in prayer and share in this information by
contacting the church office).
Offering
Options
There are different options for getting your
offering to the church.
- Go to the website & click on the Giving
tab at the top of the page or go straight there with this link.
- Text 630.449.7121 with the amount
- Drop off in the gold mail slot next to the east
door of the church.
- Mail your offering to the church.
December 23rd, 2023, Volume 13, Edition 51
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