Parrish United Methodist Church congregation prepares the way for the Christ Child

By CARL MARIO NUDI

For more than two millennia Christian communities around the world begin several weeks ahead to prepare for one of their holiest days of the liturgical calendar — the observance of the birth of Christ.

In that tradition, the Parrish United Methodist Church congregation has been celebrating the tradition of Christmas for 125 years.

“We started with our Living Nativity on Dec. 7 and 8,” said The Rev. Chris Schmidt, pastor of the church.

“Every year we do a walking tour of the nativity telling the story of the birth of Christ scene by scene,” Schmidt said. “We’ve been doing this for more than 20 years.”

Organized by the church youth director, Julie McNaughton, and her husband Joe, the walking tour starts in the sanctuary, which is setup as a hospitality room serving light refreshments.

The church worship team invited members of the church to help decorate the sanctuary for the Christmas season.

Guides then take groups of about 40 out to view 10 scenes of ancient Israel setup on church grounds.

Members of the church dressed in period costumes play all of the Bible character parts. Live animals are even used to create the proper feel.

The Living Nativity tour includes scenes of King Herod, angels appearing to the shepherds, Mary and Joseph seeking a room at the inn and other periods of the story.

As each group approaches, a tableau of lights suddenly illuminate the scene, and the characters speak their lines.

The tour ends with a nativity scene, with the visit of the Magi.

“More than 1,000 people attended this year,” Schmidt said.

And continuing the preparation for the holy day, the church will hold a Christmas cantata, “Here We Come a’Caroling,” at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 22, and 8:15 a.m. and 11:11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 23.

Along with Advent services, these activities lead up to the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services

There will be three candlelight services Christmas Eve at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

“The services are a mix of traditional Christmas hymns, but we are also bringing in our praise band,” Schmidt said.

There are three services on Christmas morning: A traditional worship service at 8:15 a.m.; at 9:45 a worship service with the CrossLight praise band and a blended worship service at 11:11 a.m. with traditional hymns and the CrossLight praise band.

To instill the spirit of giving during the Christmas season, the church has a Christmas Gift Outreach project every year.

The congregation “adopts” 105 children from Blackburn and Palm View elementary schools and buys personal gifts for each of them.

The schools tell the church what each student needs — clothes, bikes, toys— and church members purchase and wrap the gifts, Schmidt said.

Attendance at the Parrish United Methodist Church averages around 600 people at Sunday worship, the pastor said.

“It’s seasonal,” Schmidt said. “It’s larger in the winter season and less in the summer.”

He said the church membership was expected to grow because of all the development happening in the Parrish area.

“When I came down here (before taking the job as pastor) I drove on (Interstate) 75 and took Moccasin Wallow into Parrish and thought there’s nothing here,” Schmidt said. “All the development was on the edge (of Parrish), and now it’s in the middle.”

Anticipating the growth of the membership, the church started a capital campaign to build a new sanctuary, gathering and fellowship halls, offices and meeting rooms.

“

The campaign ends in February, and we’re hoping to raise at least $1.5 million,” Schmidt said.

“We have a very generous congregation,” he said. “They’re not rich, but they are doing what they can.”

The church already owns a large tract of land immediately south of the present church buildings at 12180 U.S. 301 N., which were built in the late 1990s.

“We have your transplants,” Schmidt said, referring to all the newcomers to the area who have joined church over the years. “But there still are those with deep roots (in the community) here.”

The church has third- and fourth-generation Parrish residents as members, he said.

“You take for granted that everyone is from somewhere else,” the pastor said, “but we still have members of Parrish families in the church.”

The congregation was established in 1893 as the Oak Hill Methodist Church, as the community was known at that time, according to Schmidt.

Around the turn of the last century, Oak Hill became the town of Parrish, named after an early settler family, and the congregation changed its name to Parrish Methodist Church, Schmidt said.

Church records show two of the six founding families of the congregation were members of the Parrish family.

A church building was constructed in 1899 and faced U.S. 301.

It was moved in the mid-1920s to face 69th Street East as U.S. 301 kept being widened.

When The Methodist Church and The Evangelical United Brethren Church merged together to form a new denomination – The United Methodist Church – in 1968, the Parrish congregation changed its name to the Parrish United Methodist Church. 

The congregation hired their first full-time pastor, The Rev. Lama Albritton, in 1988.

Schmidt became pastor Jan. 1, 2010.

He was ministering at a Pasco County church when he was asked if he wanted to take the position at Parrish United Methodist Church.

“The district director called and asked if I was interested in serving in Parrish,” Schmidt said. “I never heard of Parrish.

“I came down and scouted out the area with my wife Toni” he said.

Schmidt, who was ordained in 1998, said the “folks were exceedingly welcoming right from the beginning.

“Pastor Don Burkhardt, who preceded me, did such a wonderful job in preparing the way,” he said. “He’s still a member of the congregation.”

Schmidt said he became a minister because he sensed God’s call.

“I was studying pre-law in college and got involved in a youth ministry,” he said, “and I felt God’s hand was involved in my life.”

The pastor’s father also was a Methodist minister.

Schmidt received his Master of Theology from Duke University Divinity School.

The pastor and his wife have two children.

Ryan, 19, is in his second year at Middle Tennessee State College studying classical guitar and audio production, and Cassidy, 17, is a senior at Manatee School for the Arts in Palmetto.

“She will attend college in the fall and study communications,” Schmidt said. “I’m really proud of them.”

For more information about the Parrish First United Methodist Church, visit its website at www.parrishumc.com or call 941-776-1539.