As we step into 2026, Pastor Chris offers a glimpse into the year ahead at PTCUMC, highlighting worship series, ministry milestones, and opportunities to grow together in faith. Happy New Year, PTCUMC!I’m really looking forward to 2026. Here are a few of the things I’m especially excited about as I anticipate another calendar year with you. We begin the new …
Christmas Eve invites us to return to a story we know so well that it can easily become distant or sentimental. This year, let’s pause and enter the mystery again — not from a distance, but from the dirt floor of the stable itself. The following excerpt comes from The Birth by Gene Edwards, a fictionalized retelling of the nativity that draws …
The Longest Reach: From the Pacific to the Manger Max Lucado tells a remarkable story in his book A Gentle Thunder about a man named James Whittaker. Whittaker served under the legendary Captain Eddie Rickenbacker during World War II. In October of 1942, their B-17 went down over the Pacific Ocean. Low on fuel, out of radio contact, they were forced to …
It is the most wonderful time of the year, and perhaps the busiest. If you are like me, your to-do list keeps growing even though you continue to check things off. Our lists are full of baking, decorating, shopping, wrapping, and more! Weekday School is no different. Our teachers and students have been busy creating Christmas artwork, projects, and gifts. …
Extra Extra – let’s celebrate the GOOD NEWS! The Christmas season can be full – full of schedules, lists, events, and experiences. Jingle Jam offers a chance to slow down, laugh together, and reconnect with the GOOD NEWS that is the heart of Christmas: God sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue us and fill this world with hope, peace, joy, …
Preparing Our Hearts for Advent As we step into the season of Advent, I’m reminded of how deeply we need this sacred pause. Advent invites us to slow our pace, quiet our worries, and prepare room in our hearts for Christ to enter in new and life-giving ways. In a world that pulls us in so many directions, the rhythms …
This season, we’re partnering with three local nonprofits to help stock their food pantries and support families right here in our community. Your generosity makes a real difference. Items Needed How You Can Help You can support these partner organizations by shopping the list above or giving online using the button below. Drop-Off Details Food donations can be dropped off at the church on …
State of the Church – Q&A’s 1. Will our mission efforts focus only on local needs, or will we continue to support global missions as well? As we re-envision our missional outreach, we will seek to address human need wherever we can make a meaningful and effective impact, within the giftedness and generosity of our congregation. Some of those needs …
This season of waiting and wondering about the state of our building after this summer’s flood has tested everyone’s patience. As a congregation, we have shown resilience, flexibility, and creativity as we adjusted to new routines in several areas of church life. At the same time, many of us have been eager for updates and hopeful for the day when …
Thank you, God has been our focus throughout November, and this past Sunday Pastor Chris reminded us that gratitude is more than something we express with our words. It is a posture that reshapes our entire way of living. When we truly see God’s goodness, when we slow down long enough to name the gifts in our lives, something shifts in …
