During our Christmas Eve service this year, we celebrate the hope and light of the Christmas season with a service of lessons, carols, and candle lighting. We will share in this time-honored tradition under different roofs rather than crowded in together under the roof of our church sanctuary. While we are apart, we will hold one another in the spirit of community as we honor the hope that can yet be born even in the darkest times.

Your UCM Worship Team is working hard to put this service together AND we invite your participation in making this a special service.

There are a few ways that you can participate.

1. Share images of yourself (or of you and your family) with your Christmas tree or evergreens to be included in the service. Submit your photos to ucm.worship.arts@gmail.com by Monday, December 14th. Photos of your lovely tree and ornaments are great, and we would love to see your smiling face as well!

2. Help us create the feeling of passing candlelight during the service. To do this, please follow the instructions below to record a short video. You can also watch a sample video below for guidance.

1. 1. To get ready: Find a candle (a tapered candle would work well). Wear red or darker colors. Find a place to record with a plain, neutral background (e.g. a light-colored wall). Choose your recording device with a camera.
   2. Set up your camera so you can have your hands free or have someone in your household assist you with recording. Set the camera to record in landscape mode (i.e. horizontal).
   3. Light your candle.
   4. Start recording with your lit candle off to your right side as you look into the camera for 2-3 seconds. Or, you can ask someone in your home to hand you the candle on your right side after looking into the camera for a few seconds.
   5. Bring the candle from your right side to center and hold it for 2-3 seconds while looking into the camera.
   6. Pass the flame to the left by moving it out of the frame on your left side (as if you were lighting someone else’s candle) and then bringing it back to center.
   7. Record for 2-3 seconds more with the candle held at center as you look into the camera.
   8. Stop your recording.
   9. Submit your video via email to ucm.worship.arts@gmail.com by Monday, December 14th. (Don’t worry if you have additional footage at the beginning or end of your recording. We will edit the videos.)

Watch a 20-second sample video here.

3. Share a photo or short video for “Silent Night.” We will be pairing images of members of the congregation holding a candle with our singing of “Silent Night.” Send in either a photo or a short video (about 5 seconds long) of yourself and/or you and your family members holding lit candles. An up close photo with a plain background would be best. Send your submission to ucm.worship.arts@gmail.com by Monday, December 14th.

We look forward to sharing in a sacred time of worship with you this Christmas Eve! Thank you!

P.S. Check our website and your e-news for more details about our Christmas Eve service coming soon!