On New Year’s Eve we will have a Watch Night Service of Hope and Bluegrass beginning at 5pm. This service will follows in a deep, rooted tradition of honoring a hope for a better tomorrow. Our service will feature bluegrass renditions of favorite spirituals as well as a history of the Watch Night Service dating to the eve of the Emancipation Proclamation. We'll also share prayers, scripture readings, poems, and lift up our hopes.

Merry Christmas! Join us this week at church as we celebrate all 12 days of Christmastide with a special "Lessons and Laughter" service.  Pastor Anna will lead us in a laid-back time of worship that will include your favorite Christmas carol requests, light-hearted Christmas jokes, and an emphasis on the joy we see in our midst.  While there is no Sunday School this week, children will have a central role in the worship service.  The Nursery will also be open as usual.  Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License A-734781. All rights reserved. CCLI Copyright License #11108520 and Streaming asfd

Late-Night Candlelight and Communion. This moving and artistic service features traditional lesson and carols paired with poetry from modern and timeless poets that together bring the Christmas story into the present moment. A focal point of the service is a solo of “O Holy Night” followed by Holy Communion. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License A-734781. All rights reserved. CCLI Copyright License #11108520 and Streaming asfd

Children, Carols and Candlelight. This service is bright and merry and focuses on the telling of the heart-warming Christmas story for all generations. A focal point of this service is special music from our choir and bell choir, a special children’s time, and a Christmas Message from Pastor Anna. Nursery care provided at this service. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License A-734781. All rights reserved. CCLI Copyright License #11108520 and Streaming asfd

We have a weekend of meaningful worship planned at Cobleskill UMC.  The heat is back on and just in time!  With cold temperatures predicted outside, we'll be warm and cozy in the sanctuary. On Sunday morning we'll gather to light the fourth Advent candle, the candle of love.  We'll hear special music from a quartet of female singers as we don our festive fashion.  We'll listen to and celebrate the risky decisions made by both Mary and Joseph that ushered in a way for God's divine action to bring hope to a desperate world.  We are still desperately clinging to that hope, even when it feels risky.  And we do not hope in vain.  Our readings this week are Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:46-55.

Tonight, join us for our annual Blue Christmas Service beginning at 7pm.  Blue Christmas is a service for all those who are looking for support and community when the holidays feel hard. They can feel hard for lots of different reasons: grief, loneliness, anxiety, depression, and illness just to name a few. This is a service for feeling less alone and recognizing that the God who comes to be with us at Christmas is a God who knows and lives our hard lives right beside us.

“Advent reminds us that Christ came into a world fraught with the very same issues of injustice and inequality that we face, and he did not turn away. Instead, he showed us a way forward: engaged action rooted in compassion."  This line from our Advent devotional calls us into our third Sunday of Advent worship, a Sunday traditionally observed with the liturgical color pink and an emphasis on joy.  If you're wondering what joy has to do with fighting injustice in the world, this is your Sunday.  With bells ringing and pink poinsettias blooming, let's find the good that is ours to do... together.  Our readings this week are Luke 3:7-16 and Isaiah 58:9b-12. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License A-734781. All rights reserved. CCLI Copyright License #11108520 and Streaming asfd