Stacey Hilliard, Author at Crawford Memorial United Methodist Church

Christmas at Crawford

by Stacey Hilliard | Dec 5, 2023 | News

We hope you will make Crawford part of your Christmas celebration this year. We have three services planned on the day of Christmas Eve, and a community carol sing-along as well! Seeing that Christmas Eve is on a Sunday this year, we will hold our regular Sunday worship service celebrating the Fourth Sunday of Advent at 10:00am. Later that day, we will hold two Christmas Eve services of Lessons and Carols — at 5pm and 9pm. Both of our Christmas Eve services will feature music by Occasional Brass and Strings, and at the 9pm service, they’ll be joined by our chancel choir. In between, we invite the community to join us at 6:30pm in a carol sing-along accompanied by the brass quintet and led by choir member Kate Frisoli on the steps in front of the church. You won’t want to miss any of it. Join us as we listen again to the story of Jesus’ birth, and sing together the Christmas carols we love and know so well. Bring your friends and family — all are welcome!

Christmas Eve Day 10:00am
Worship service celebrating the fourth Sunday of Advent

Christmas Eve 5:00pm
Service of Lessons and Carols, Children’s Message, Occasional Brass Quintet

Christmas Caroling 6:30pm
Community Carol Sing-Along outdoors in front of the church

Christmas Eve 9:00pm
Service of Lessons and Carols, music by our Chancel Choir and Occasional Brass & Strings

Kindness Advent Calendar

by Stacey Hilliard | Dec 1, 2023 | News

Each day of Advent, this calendar will give you a suggestion for how to show kindness to strangers, loved ones, and even yourself. Click on the button below to open the calendar online. Each day will reveal a new photo, which when clicked on reveals a suggested act of kindness. Visit our Advent Calendar daily here, to reveal a new photo and suggested act of kindness. Or, click here to download a PDF of the calendar which you can print for easy reference. We hope you will find these ideas to be fun, easy, and meaningful ways to spread a little hope, peace, joy, and love during this holiday season.

Collecting Winter Gloves & Hats

by Stacey Hilliard | Nov 30, 2023 | News

This December Crawford is again collecting hats and gloves for the homeless. Donations may be brought to church on Sunday and left in the box outside of the parlor or can be left in the bin on our front steps, along with any donations of food for the Woburn Council of Social Concern. Hat and glove donations will be delivered to those in need in early January. This is our 10th year collecting winter wear for the homeless in Boston and we thank you in advance for your donations! If you have any questions, please reach out using our contact form.

Release The Kraken

by Stacey Hilliard | Nov 19, 2023 | Sermons

In this, the final sermon of Pastor Anne Robertson’s Monster series, she asks us to consider why we might actually need monsters. Pastor Anne reflects on an essay by philosopher, writer, activist, and professor of psychology, Bayo Akomolfe

. “I say, ‘Release the Kraken!’ Unleash the primal on the familiar, disturb the edges, dispute the layers, find a place of stillness, press your ears to the ground to feel the rumblings of things outside your philosophy, linger by the shrubbery, improvise new rituals, pay homage to the nonhuman, and acknowledge the wilds whence you came.” —Bayo Akomolafe

Be sure to watch all the way to the end to see and hear our choir perform the Finale from Les Miserables. Soloists include James Guiterrez and Jenny Zuk, as well as Bryan Hilliard on trumpet and flugelhorn.

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The Monster Within

by Stacey Hilliard | Nov 12, 2023 | Sermons

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Werewolves, Vampires—these are all people who transform into monsters under certain circumstances. The warning they carry is that no human being is immune from taking a monstrous turn if the stars align; the struggle with our inner shadow is universal. How can we keep our own inner monsters in check?

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