{"id":104121,"date":"2024-12-21T06:54:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T11:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=104121"},"modified":"2024-12-23T07:00:12","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T12:00:12","slug":"pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/","title":{"rendered":"Pageant and Blue Christmas at First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, Dec. 22 at 10 a.m., the First Presbyterian Union Church, located at North Avenue and Temple Streets in Owego, is celebrating its annual Christmas Pageant with a cast of over 40 children, youth, and adults (including a baby and 101 year-old Eudora Shuler as one of the angels).  <\/span>\u201cFinding and Trying God\u2019s Way Through Our Christmas Story” is the newly written play by William Dove.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dove, a Ruling Elder in the church and a High School English teacher in the Spencer-Van Etten Central School District, writes a creative Christmas play every year for the church that recognizes the unique personalities of individual church members and includes traditional Christmas carols for this special worship service. Special music, directed by B.J. Heinle, will include musicians playing the organ, piano, trombone, and cello.<\/p>\n

The service will be presented in the sanctuary and streamed online at www.owegofpuc.org<\/a>.    <\/span><\/p>\n

On Sunday afternoon, Dec. 22 at 2 p.m., the church will offer a comforting \u201cBlue Christmas\u201d Worship Service of Remembrance and Hope. This annual service during the Christmas season is for those who are remembering the lives of loved ones who have died or who are struggling with pain, loneliness, or despair.<\/p>\n

The simple service is about 30-minutes in length, mainly scripture readings, prayers, lighting candles, and a brief homily by Pastor Bruce Gillette. They will sing two traditional Christmas carols and a special hymn by Pastor Carolyn Gillette that was written for this service and is posted on the national United Methodist Worship Office website.<\/p>\n

Please note, given the nature of this worship service, it will be in the sanctuary and not online. The public is invited to attend this informal service in the sanctuary. <\/p>\n

Presbyterian poet Ann Weems wrote a moving poem referencing the shortest verse in the Bible, grief today and Jesus’ name given at his birth (Matthew 1:23), later published in her book, Psalms of Lament:<\/p>\n

Jesus wept,<\/p>\n

and in his weeping,<\/p>\n

he joined himself forever<\/p>\n

to those who mourn.<\/p>\n

He stands now throughout all time, <\/p>\n

this Jesus weeping,<\/p>\n

with his arms about the weeping ones:<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are those who mourn, <\/p>\n

for they shall be comforted.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stands with the mourners, <\/p>\n

for his name is God-with-us.<\/p>\n

Jesus wept.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, Dec. 22 at 10 a.m., the First Presbyterian Union Church, located at North Avenue and Temple Streets in Owego, is celebrating its annual…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":104122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whats-happening"],"yoast_head":"\nPageant and Blue Christmas at First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pageant and Blue Christmas at First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Sunday, Dec. 22 at 10 a.m., the First Presbyterian Union Church, located at North Avenue and Temple Streets in Owego, is celebrating its annual...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-21T11:54:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-23T12:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2024\/12\/Church.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"851\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/\",\"name\":\"Pageant and Blue Christmas at First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2024\/12\/Church.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-21T11:54:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-23T12:00:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/12\/21\/pageant-and-blue-christmas-at-first-presbyterian-union-church-in-owego\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2024\/12\/Church.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2024\/12\/Church.jpeg\",\"width\":851,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Photo from the 2023 pageant. 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