This Week
Friday, November 21, 2025
8:00 PM Steel Magnolias by Pioneer Productions, FH
Saturday, November 22, 2025
12:00 PM AA, YL
8:00 PM Steel Magnolias by Pioneer Productions, FH
Sunday, November 23, 2025
Pledge Sunday
9:15 AM Adult Sunday School, WR
10:30 AM Children’s Sunday School, PG
10:30 AM Worship
3:00 PM Steel Magnolias by Pioneer Productions, FH
Monday, November 24, 2025
11:00 AM Staff Meeting, Z
7:00 PM AA, YL
7:00 PM Caregivers, 1FS
8:00 PM Arise, S
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
11:00 AM Property Team Meeting, WR
12:30 PM COG Thanksgiving Luncheon, FH
7:00 PM UWF Book Club, WR
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
5:30pm Handbell Rehearsal, FH
Thursday, November 27, 2025
Thanksgiving – Office Closed
Friday, November 28, 2025
Office Closed
10:00 AM Decorate for Advent & Christmas
Saturday, November 29, 2025
12:00 PM AA, YL
Sunday, November 30, 2025
First Sunday of Advent
No Adult Sunday School
10:30 AM Children’s Sunday School, PG
10:30 AM Worship
Advent begins November 30!
Advent Worship Series: What do you fear?
Luke’s Gospel begins the story of Jesus with this opening line: “In the time of Herod…” This detail may seem minor to modern readers; however, it reveals layers of information about the fearful world Jesus entered, one filled with rampant oppression, economic disparity, uncertainty, and instability. A world not so unlike our own. And yet, throughout the stories of Christ’s birth, we hear the whispers of angels delivering a surprising message: “Do not fear.” When Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the magi are each called into God’s redemptive story, they do not deny their fears—they move through them. They ask questions, hold fast to courage, trust in good news, and say, “Here I am, Lord.” When we find ourselves in fearful times, can we acknowledge our fears while also insisting on hope?
This Advent series takes seriously the angels’ message and trusts that Christ’s birth truly is good news of great joy for all people. We will look closely at the fear and terror looming in the background during the time of King Herod and invite us to consider the fears we hold now. Fear can divide and paralyze us and even be used as a tool for oppression. But what if we formed a different relationship with fear? Can we acknowledge fear without letting it rule us? Might we catalyze our fears into love and action? What if naming our fears helps us see more clearly how God is breaking in and where God is at work?
As you journey through this season, may your hope become gritty and resilient. May you remember: hope that trembles is still hope. This season, let us insist on hope and trust that good news is greater than fear.
We will gather for worship at 10:30am each Sunday to celebrate Advent together, growing our hope week by week, like a lantern whose light cannot be contained.
First Sunday of Advent – November 30
In the time of Herod, we long for God to break in
Second Sunday of Advent – December 7
When we’re running out of hope, God is at work
Third Sunday of Advent – December 14
Even in our fear, we are called forward
Fourth Sunday of Advent – December 21
When you’re afraid, give me your hand
Christmas Eve – December 24
Good news is louder than fear
Christmas Eve Services
3:00pm Family Service
7:30pm Candlelight Service
Special Events During Advent
December 5, 2025
7:30 PM Wharton Arts Youth Chorus Readings & Carols
December 6, 2025
9:30 AM United Women in Faith Advent Event
December 11, 2025
12:00 PM Christmas Singers Concert
December 13, 2025
4:00 PM Cookies, Cocoa & Crafts Family Event
December 14, 2025
3:00 PM Morris Choral Society Concert
December 19, 2025
7:00 PM Praise and Worship Night
December 20, 2025
2:00 Tuba Christmas
December 21, 2025
3:00 PM Parallel Brass Concert
December 24, 2025
3:00 PM Christmas Eve Family Service
7:30 PM Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Church Decoration for Advent and Christmas
Help us get the church decorated for Advent and Christmas!
Hanging of the Greens – Friday, November 28 at 10am
Hanging of the Lights (in the Narthex) – Tuesday, December 2 at 4pm.
Please let Andrew (acattano@morristownumc.org) know if you can assist.
United Women in Faith Gift Card Drive for Family Promise
Join United Women in Faith to continue our mission work with Family Promise after our successful Back-to-School Bash partnership in late August.
This time, we are supporting a holiday gift card drive to serve these families in transition.
Family Promise hosts a Holiday Fair in early December where families and individuals they serve are invited into their Central Office in Morris Plains to pick up gift cards that allow them to do their own holiday shopping. This gives families the chance to buy a few things they need and maybe even a gift for their children and loved ones for the holidays. How wonder-filled is that?
Last year, the Holiday Fair supported 55 households, including 118 children and 201 individuals who all were able to choose what worked best for their family’s needs.
Gift card donations make this possible, and Walmart gift cards offer the greatest flexibility and are easiest to use.
We will be collecting $25 Walmart gift cards or donations towards them for the families.
You can bring the gift cards to church in an envelope marked UWF. Or you can bring a check, written out to United Methodist Women, and we will buy the gift cards for you. Deadline is December 1 so that we have time to deliver the gift cards to Family Promise for their event.
Thank you for your support!
Second Mile Offering
Today we are providing opportunity to give a special end-of-year “Close the Gap” offering, helping us finish 2025 strong and enter 2026 on solid financial footing. Every gift makes a real difference. Please use the special offering envelopes and put Close the Gap in the memo line of your check. You can also make a donation through our website: https://bit.ly/MUMCGiveOnline
Bridge the Snap Gap – Interfaith Food Pantry
Add one or two of these items to your regular grocery shopping – bring it to the food pantry cart in the Narthex and we’ll all donations to the Interfaith Food Pantry.
- Pasta
- Cereal (low sugar preferred)
- Soups — all varieties
- Rice
- Tuna, salmon and other canned fish
- Baby Food — stages 2 and 3
Steel Magnolias from Pioneer Productions through this weekend!
Come see Pioneer Productions put on Steel Magnolias 
November 21-23 in Fellowship Hall!
(Yes, that’s Pastor Luana who is portraying the iconic Clairee!)
Adult Sunday School Advent Study
Discover how everything changed when God was born.
Everything seems different at the end of the year. We put lights on our houses to dispel the growing darkness, Christmas music floods local radio stations, apple cider and cranberry sauce are again on the menu, and wrapping paper and tape are always ready. Things just look, smell, and taste differently during the Advent and Christmas season, and these differences are a sign to us that God is about to do something radical and different. Christmas is when God surrounded the divine with senses of his own. That first noel was when God had eyes to see suffering, ears to hear our cries, and hands to hold those in need, and all of these senses were bundled in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. “This will be a sign to you,” the angel told the shepherds, and they traveled to Bethlehem and found a child. What signs do you see during the Advent and Christmas season that point you to the divine?
You are invited to join us. Each Sunday at 9:15 in the Wesley room. No advanced prep is necessary. Each presentation is designed to be stand-alone, so if you have to miss a class, you will still get a lot out of each session.
Upcoming schedule: November 23, no class November 30, December 7, December 14, December 21
