Advent at Parkwood UMC
Join Parkwood United Methodist Church as we celebrate Advent
November 30th Hanging of the Greens at 11:00 am
On The first Sunday in Advent the sanctuary is decorated during the Hanging of the Green ceremony. The lighting of the altar and Advent candles, hanging wreaths and garlands, placing holly and cedar branches and poinsettias, placing the Nativity and the meaning and lighting of the Chrismon tree are explained while members of the congregation perform the activities. The ceremony is followed with a communion service.
December 7th Love Feast at 11:00 am
On the second Sunday we incorporate a Moravian Love Feast in our morning worship. A Love Feast is a service of song during which a simple meal of buns and coffee are served. The buns and coffee are carried in baskets and trays by “Dieners”, or servers, while the choir, congregation and other musicians sing and perform hymns and carols. This is a simple, devout service that has great significance in the Moravian church and has been adopted by churches of other denominations.
December 14th Cantata at 11:00 am
The third Sunday is our Choral Cantata Sunday, during which our choir performs.
December 21st Lessons and Carols st 11:00 am
On the fourth Sunday we celebrate the Festival of Lessons and Carols. In 1880 the parishoners and townspeople of Truro, England asked their Pastor, the Rev. G.H.S. Walpole, who later became Bishop of Edinburg, and his Bishop Edward White Benson, later to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, to develop a Christmas service in which the congregation and others could participate. Rev. Walpole and Bishop Benson revived a medieval liturgical custom of beginning the lesson with the fall of man and chose the rest of the readings to illustrate the story of redemption from the Old and the New Testaments.
The ceremony was adapted for use in the Chapel of Kings College in Cambridge, England in 1918. This adaptation, however, was designed to feature the Chapel Choir rather than involving participation by the congregation.
For our service we have chosen to use the original concept of congregational participation in the reading of the lessons and the singing of the hymns and carols.
December 24th Christmas Eve Service at 7:00 pm
Our Advent and Christmas celebration ends with a candlelight communion service on Christmas eve.
Our Christmas eve communion service begins at 7:00 PM.
