Beyond the Pulpit 1.5.25

Happy New Year Crozet UMC!

I hope you had a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Blue Christmas service on December 22, was such a holy service, providing space for remembering and honoring significant losses during this holiday season. It was special to worship with our neighbors from Tabor Presbyterian Church. The combined choir provided incredible music, and the message by Rev. Kelly Kaufmann, who experienced the unexpected death of her 7yo daughter in March 2024, spoke directly to the grief of those in attendance.

I couldn’t have been more thrilled with how each of the Christmas Eve services went. The 4pm service led by CUMC’s Youth was so inspiring and had our largest attendance at 230+! The other 2 services had a combined attendance of 250; meaning we worshiped with nearly 500 folks in the Crozet Community for Christmas, approximately 30% more than last year!

The Service of Lessons & Carols was also fantastic. With the musical leadership of our Chancel Choir, Praise Team, guest soloist Annie Weston, and guest organist Chris Tortorice, this was a festive service to celebrate Christmas, with another excellent attendance of 150 for this combined service. Chris is a friend of mine who currently serves as Organist at Christ UMC in Staunton. He and I served together in Richmond about 15 years ago. He wanted me to share this with you.

I know you may be wondering how we ended 2024, financially. We are still receiving gifts for 2024 and working to close the books for the year. The outpouring of generosity from our congregation has been incredible in the last month! We will be providing updates in worship as we are able, and our Finance Chair, Mike Micucci, will give a full report during worship on Sunday, January 19, 2025.

As we turn the corner into 2025, if you’re like me, you’re trying to “get back into the groove” and make some healthy choices. I hope plugging in regularly with our church family is part of that effort for you! There are lots of opportunities, but if you’re looking to get back to the basics, join us today for worship at 9AM or 11AM and Grow Group at 10AM. Grow Groups are essentially revamped Sunday School classes – but better!. We’ve got every age group covered this morning from 10:00-10:45AM, with breakfast snacks in the Fellowship Hall beginning at 9:45AM. The Nursery is open for pre-K students and younger. Here’s the rest of the location breakdown:

Last but not least…Tomorrow, we welcome our new Administrative Assistant, Alexa Puffenberger! She is the parent of a preschool student at Crozet Avenue Christian Preschool, and she and her family have been attending worship with us over the last year or so. Alexa will be serving in the church office during our regular office hours of 10AM – 2PM, Monday – Thursday. She can be reached at adminassistant@crozetunitedmethodist.com or by calling the church phone number 434-823-4420. Feel free to reach out and welcome her this week! Alexa will be taking on all administrative duties, and Debby Bibens will only be responsible for finance-related items. Please bear with us as we make this transition!

Happy New Year from our family to yours!