DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024
CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Distant Music
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Can you hear the distant music sounding from the pipe and horn, bearing news of joy and gladness “Christ, the King of heaven is born."
hese words open the Invitatory Carol of this year's Festival of Lessons & Carols, and they call us to train our hearts on a reality that we far too often overlook. After all, the rush is on! We've emerged from the Thanksgiving holiday with long to-do lists, calendars growing fuller by the day, and stress levels ascending. Should we choose to give in to these perennial conditions, we are likely to altogether miss the “distant music” that carries the capacity to reorient our lives, our priorities, our identities, our purpose. This season is filled with Music & Arts offerings at Centenary - our Festival of Lessons & Carols, the Winston-Salem Choral Academy, Piedmont Wind Symphony, and Bel Canto Company in concert, a beautiful Neighborhood Showcase in our Atrium and 4 ½ Street Galleries, Carillonneurs and Creative Arts Experience in worship, children's art in the Atrium, and more. And yet, if we treat these offerings as a list of events to complete, a series of programs to attend, we will have missed their purpose. Advent calls us to a place of internal clarity. It beckons us to suspend the extraneous and superfluous distractions of our lives until we can hear and feel a “holy harmony” made known to us in and by the coming of Christ, poignantly expressed by these anonymously penned words: Thou shalt know Him when He comes, not by any din of drums, nor His manners nor His airs, nor by anything He wears. Thou shalt know Him when He comes, not by His crown or by His gown, but His coming known shall be by the holy harmony which His coming makes in thee. Thou shalt know Him when He comes. This Advent, may we listen, may we watch, that we might truly know Him when He comes. - Jonathan Emmons, Director of Music Ministries
DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024
CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SPOTLIGHT:
Children’s Music & Arts “. . . equipping children with a lifelong love of worship through the arts.” As a child, my parents realized early on the importance of being at church more often than Sunday mornings. They knew if we felt comfortable in our church, we were more likely to make the decision to return to church once we were on our own and had various activities pulling us in all directions. From a young age, my sister and I participated in choir, handbells and youth group at our church. We even played on our church basketball team. As we grew older, we continued to choose to attend church on Sundays, youth group and mission trips. Church was a place in which we felt comfortable, had many friends, made a lot of great memories and grew more deeply in our faith.
Worship at a Glance December 3 • First Sunday of Advent Carillonneurs in Worship 11:00 AM
4:00 PM • Service of Hope & Healing
December 10 • Second Sunday of Advent Sara Lynch, Oboe 11:00 AM
5:00 PM • Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols
December 17 • Third Sunday of Advent Children in Worship 11:00 AM
December 24 • Fourth Sunday of Advent Brass in Worship 11:00 AM
Christmas Eve services offered at 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM & 11:00 PM
When my husband Ben and I had kids of our own, we saw the value in and importance of immersing our kids in church as much as we could. After we joined Centenary in 2017, we immediately began looking for ways to be present more than just on Sunday mornings. We quickly found the Children's Choir. As more programs and opportunities have been added, our children have continued to participate in every Join us every Wednesday for Children’s Music & Arts Ministry Creative Arts Experience! (CMA) event possible. They have been exposed to music and the arts Ages 2 & 3: 4:30-5:15 PM through various outlets, have met Ages 4-5th Grade: 6:00-7:00 PM and interacted with children and To learn more or to adults they might not be introduced to register, scan this code: otherwise, have brightened lives with their singing and ringing on Sunday Register now for CMA Camp 2024! •July 15-18, 2024 mornings, and most importantly, have •9:00 AM - 12:00 PM been shown examples of how to live •Infants - Rising 5th graders a life like Jesus and continue to grow Learn more & register by scanning here: more in their faith. For our children, church is a comfortable place, with friends they enjoying seeing and spending time with and adults they can trust and lean on for support. We look forward to their participation in CMA for many more years to come and pray that one day, when they have the choice, they will choose to immerse themselves in a church environment because it feels like home to them, just like it - Lauren Boehnlein, CMA Parent does for us.
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DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024
CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
C HILDREN ’ S A RT IN THE A TRIUM C HRISTMAS S HOWCASE
Join us in the Atrium throughout the Christmas season to enjoy creations by Centenary’s youngest artists!
Join the newest youth choir in the Triad! We welcome singers from all musical backgrounds to participate in this ensemble. There's NO TUITION! This is full of exciting and unique opportunities and collaborations (including a tour), and we need YOU! ELIGIBILITY | Grades 7-12 SCHEDULE | Rehearsals each Thursday from 6:00 - 7:00 PM
*Optional free dinner at 5:30 PM
REGISTER HERE
“Sounds of the Season” Holiday Concert December 2 at 3:00 PM Centenary United Methodist Church Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Winston-Salem Choral Academy is a tuition-based graded choral training program offering choirs for girls grades K-12 and boys grades 3-6. Interested in auditioning? Email Anne Saxon at midpatch@aol.com.
CHANCEL CHOIR J A N U A RY J U M P S TA R T JANUARY 19 ✶ 6:30 PM REFRESHMENTS ✶ 7:00 - 8:30 PM REHEARSAL JANUARY 20 ✶ 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM ✶ LUNCH PROVIDED Is your New Year’s resolution to become more involved at church? Our winter retreat is the perfect time to “jump” in and join the choir! Contact Jonathan Emmons (jemmons@centenaryws.org) to inquire.
NOVEMBER IN REVIEW
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Contribute by emailing Virginia Sheffield, vsheffield@centenary-ws.org
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