December Nights 2019 Recap

We had an amazing four nights celebrating Christmas and families during our December Nights. Because we don’t charge admission (the event is free), we have no way to know the exact number of people who attended, but here’s what we do know: 

• 3250 cookies were decorated and eaten.
• 3601 craft kits were taken. 
• 4289 cups of hot cocoa were consumed.
• 1440 sang Christmas carols on our hayrides. We were sold out!
• 477 families took a family photo.
• And a million snowballs were thrown!

Thank you to our staff and the many volunteers who are essential to make this gift to our community happen every year. Thank you to all who donated the items we were able to give away. I am so grateful for our generous giving church. You are awesome!

Christmas Eve Services

Next up is our Christmas Eve services. Remember we have five identical services at 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM AND 7 PM. Given our past experience, the 11 AM and 7 PM services will likely be the least crowded. We have childcare for ages birth to 5 years old. If you are out of town, you can watch them at pantano.online.

Sunday, December 29th Services Online

You can’t imagine how hard our staff works the month before Christmas. It starts with the work and planning going into Serve Our City day. Then we are thick into decorating the East Campus, hosting December nights (4 days, 2 weekends) and putting on five amazing Christmas Eve services (with all the planning, setup, and rehearsals). The hours are long. So in the past, we’ve given our staff the week off between Christmas and New Year’s. However, it wasn’t really a full break, because there is always a Sunday in between Christmas and New Year’s! Having perfected our online campus experience, we decided this year to have our services solely online!

This year, Sunday, December 29th at 9 AM, 11 AM, AND 1 PM – we’ll provide our services online only. There will be no services on our physical campuses at Pantano East (1755 S. Houghton Rd) or Pantano Southeast (Empire High School). We’ll have worship, a message, and we’ll guide you to partake of communion wherever you are. We’ll also have a link for a children’s specific experience (they will need to watch on a separate device).

So on Sunday, December 29th at 9 AM, 11 AM or 1 PM – join us online for “Church at Home” at pantano.online. We’ll also be passing out reminder cards with this information at our Christmas Eve services.

Remember – there are no services on December 29th on our physical campuses! Online only.

My wife and I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and may you be filled with the presence of Jesus this season. Immanuel – God IS with us!

Glen Elliott

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Thanksgiving and Black Friday have passed. It’s Christmas time! Here’s a bit of what Christmas looks like here at Pantano:

Christmas Teaching Series

The Christmas series for all of our campuses is called Unexpected: The Story of Christmas. The story of Christmas found in the gospel is unexpected. God had been silent for 400 years. The people of God felt forgotten and yet, in the quiet, dark countryside, God remembered and came to them. But it wasn’t what they expected. He came in the form of a baby; not to the king or powerful leaders, but to the lowly, the poor, the young and the old. We’ll look at five people’s response to their unexpected encounter with God as the original Christmas story unfolded. In this series, we’ll see how God showed up in unexpected places and ways – then and now.

December Nights

We’ve decorated Pantano East and we’re ready for December Nights. This public family event happens Friday and Saturday nights from 6-9 PM on December 6th, 7th, 13th, and 14th. The event is free!

Here’s what you’ll be able to enjoy and experience at December Nights: The Road to Bethlehem, an amazing winter wonderland (my favorite), cookie decorating, family portraits, crafts, horse-drawn hayrides and carols ($6 per person), bingo, campfires and marshmallows, hot chocolate, live music and more.

You can go online at christmasatpantano.com to sign up for and purchase hayride tickets, donate some of the items we give away or sign up to serve.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Services

This year we’ll have 5 Christmas Eve services on Tuesday, December 24th at 11 AM, 1, 3, 5, and 7 PM.  Each service is an identical family-friendly one-hour service. We do have childcare for kids birth to five years old if that would be helpful to you.

Pantano Southeast will be joining us at the East Campus this year, so we added the 11 AM service to make room for all. If you can, please consider attending the 11 AM service to make room at each of our services.

For more details about the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, check out ChristmasAtPantano.com. If you will be out of town or unable to join us, you can watch each service online at pantano.online. I hope to see you there!

Over the years, many folks have ended up being a part of our church after experiencing our December Nights or Christmas Eve services. Use these opportunities to invite folks who normally won’t step onto a church property. Who might you invite to join you this Christmas?

Glen Elliott

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Like most of us, I love the Christmas season. But it’s a bit more challenging to get into the Christmas spirit when it’s sunny, dry, and 75 degrees outside for most of December! And the fact is there really isn’t much to do in Tucson that is uniquely Christmas. There’s Winterhaven! There’s going to the mall to look at decorations! But that’s about it!

That’s why I’m so grateful for our staff and volunteers who decorate our campus so we can create a bit of winter for an amazing Christmas celebration. We even have a winter wonderland with snow and snowballs. We call it December Nights. It is a gift to both our church and our community.

December Nights happens on Friday and Saturday nights from 6-9 PM on December 6, 7, 13, 14. The event is free!

Here’s what you’ll be able to enjoy and experience at December Nights…

• The Road to Bethlehem
• An amazing winter wonderland (my favorite)
• Cookie decorating
• Family portraits
• Crafts
• Horse-drawn hayrides and carols ($6 per person)
• Bingo
• Campfires and marshmallows
• Hot chocolate
• Live music

You can go online at christmasatpantano.com to sign up for and purchase hayride tickets, donate some of the items we give away or sign up to serve.

This Sunday we’ll have invite cards available for you to take and give to others. This is one of the very best ways to invite people to join you and come to our campus. Over the years, many folks have ended up being a part of our church after experiencing a December Nights event. It’s our chance to welcome and serve folks who normally won’t step onto a church property. Who might you invite?

Glen Elliott

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Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed so at Pantano we are officially entering our Christmas season! Here’s an overview of what we have planned for Christmas this year. This Sunday we’ll start our three-week Christmas series called Bring Christmas Home. And that just kicks things off!

December Nights

December Nights are back and we’ve expanded it one night and added some new things to make it even better. The event is free (except for the hayrides and food for purchase). We are adding a new live “Road to Bethlehem” experience. And of course, you’ll be able to roast marshmallows, sing Christmas carols on a horse-drawn carriage, get your free family Christmas portrait (those are often such a pain to schedule…right?!), or join us for a snowball fight. There will be crafts, cookie decorating and a whole lot more including live entertainment.

This year we’ll have the event on Friday and Saturday nights from 5:30-8:30PM on December 7, 8 and 14, 15.

Go to mypantano.church to sign up to serve as we still need volunteers and/or some of the supplies so we can keep this a free event. And, you can sign up and pay for hayride tickets. Just click here for all things December Nights! Don’t forget to invite family and friends to join you!

Serve Our City – December 23rd

I’m so excited about how we are going to bring Christmas home to our city in a unique way this year; on Sunday, December 23rd, instead of having our usual church services on our campus, we are going to “be” the church by going out and serving our community and neighborhoods. We’ll be doing some work projects (cleaning, painting, etc.) at both the new Gospel Rescue Mission Center of Opportunity and GAP Ministries. We’ll also have a variety of other ways you, your family (and yes, kids too!) and friends or small group can serve. We’ll also have a few projects on our campus if you are unable to drive to another location. We’ll have special Serve Our City t-shirts for anyone who signs up. You can sign up at mypantano.church. We’ll be talking about this all of December and more information will be coming soon. Plan to use that Sunday morning to bring the spirit of Christmas to your community.

Christmas Eve Services – December 24th

As you’ve come to expect, we put on a terrific one-hour Christmas Eve service for the whole family with a short, clear gospel message, singing, and candle lighting. This year we’ll have 4 services at 1, 3, 5, and 7PM. We’ll have children’s programming available for children up to 6 years of age. Invite others to join you at this great event!

Christmas Eve Offering

Our annual Christmas Eve offering will go in its entirety to support the new Center of Opportunity (4550 S. Palo Verde – south of Ajo Way); it will be a full service, one-stop location for those who are homeless or in crisis. The organization has been given the old Holiday Inn conference center that has over 300 rooms and a lot of space for all the critical services necessary to help the homeless become self-sufficient. We are excited to actually serve there for our Serve Our City Sunday and provide funds to help them convert the rooms and spaces to serve the homeless in our city. You can give online or at the service.

We hope you are able to join us at one or all of our Christmas season events, as we “Bring Christmas Home” this December!