Christmastide

No, that's not what happens at the beach on December 25 (Christmas-tide, get it?! I kill me). Christmas - like most of the rest of the church calendar - is more than just a single day. In Christian tradition, the twelve days of Christmas run from December 25 to January 6, when we celebrate Epiphany, the arrival of the wise people bearing gifts for the baby Jesus (who was actually a toddler by that time).

Epiphany is about the gifts that we offer to God, and but it is also about celebrating the gift of God revealed to the world in the person of Jesus. This year, Epiphany Sunday falls on January 1, New Year's Day, which means we miss our usual Sunday-after-Christmas worship to sing Christmas carols and proclaim the joy of Christ among us. (For those who missed our brunch and carol-singing on Christmas Day, don't feel like you have to put away your Christmas music or tree just yet - you can keep on celebrating the birth of Jesus at home, really as long as you want, but at least until January 6 without being out of place in the liturgical calendar!)

This Sunday, January 1, we will celebrate Epiphany at Highlands UMC with the performance of a contemporary play, "The Gift of the Magi" (based on the short story by O. Henry, which is often assigned in high school English classes), brought to us by the Rising Curtain Theatre and Dance Academy. Come at 10:00 a.m. to begin worship as usual, and stay afterwards for refreshments and fellowship. As always, all are welcome, whether you have been in the church all your life, or have more questions than answers about this whole God/Jesus/faith thing - or both!

Highlands UMC is located at 3131 Osceola Street in northwest Denver, at the intersection of 32nd Avenue and Osceola. See our website (link at right), or call the church office at 303-477-5857 for more information.

Merry Christmas to all!