1 min read
Longing for Community
Every year, the holiday season seems to start earlier—decorations go up and purchases are made in preparation for Christmas long before December....
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Christmas
3 min read
Holiday Ways To Give
The holiday season is a time for giving, and what better way to spread some cheer than by helping those in need? Homeless and low-income individuals...
2 min read
The True Light of Christmas
Phil Altmeyer, Executive Director: December 20, 2023
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overpower it.” (John 1:4-5)...
2 min read
Partnering for a Purpose: The General Store’s Ongoing Support for UGM
Jessica Morgan, Director of Marketing and Communications: December 13, 2023
Few stores in our community can light up the eyes like The General Store at Christmastime. It’s a staple for holiday shopping, embodying the working...
4 min read
Home for Good: Restoring family bonds after addiction
Jessica Morgan, Director of Marketing and Communications: December 6, 2023
Is there anything more cherished during the Christmas season than our families? The gifts, the candles, the carols, and the festive meals wouldn’t...
3 min read
God Incarnate: Total vulnerability and perfect peace
Genevieve Gromlich, former Content and Communications Manager: December 21, 2022
Imagine placing your greatest treasure—a treasure on which the fate of the world rests—into the hands of someone who had never had a job, never lived...
2 min read
Christmas at UGM: A warm welcome into a community that cares
Genevieve Gromlich, former Content and Communications Manager: December 15, 2022
The snow has come, the days are nearly at their shortest, and Christmas is right around the corner. But what is Christmas if you’re homeless? Is...
4 min read
Writer’s Column: A Christmas Reflection
Genevieve Gromlich, former Content and Communications Manager: December 30, 2021
The Mission at Christmastime: brimming with hope, cozy and warm, piled with gifts. This is not what I expected. I came to Union Gospel Mission in May...
4 min read
What Mary Knew
Lynn Yount, UGM Volunteer: December 23, 2021
Christmas turns our thoughts to family, whether it’s kids getting into the “magic of the season” or the contemplation of a special baby laid in a...
4 min read
Homeless, Penniless, Pregnant
Genevieve Gromlich, former Content and Communications Manager: December 23, 2020
Scripture doesn’t tell us a lot about Mary’s feelings on the eve of giving birth to the Savior of the world. We do know she had never been pregnant...
3 min read
2020 Vision: Jesus Changes Everything
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 19, 2020
O Come Let Us Adore Him Christmas is about adoring Jesus. It’s about the angels’ invitation to “come and see.” It’s about the shepherds leaving their...
2 min read
Adventus-the Arrival of Jesus
Union Gospel Mission: December 24, 2019
The already brimming schedules and to-do lists most of us carry are magnified and exacerbated during the holidays. Even as the American “holiday...
1 min read
The Source of Change
Phil Altmeyer, Executive Director: November 13, 2019
Here at UGM, we talk a lot about the reverberations that go out from one changed life. A mother who becomes the parent her children need affects...
4 min read
Death and Christmas
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 28, 2018
My dad died on December 12 of this year. His death was by no means a tragedy. He was 89 years old, had lived a full, meaningful life and died...
4 min read
Stay with the Shepherd
Union Gospel Mission: December 28, 2017
UGM Resident Advisor Shane shared this message in chapel at our Men's Shelter this month. In reflection on the birth of Christ, Shane's childhood...
4 min read
#Blessed
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 19, 2017
A friend on Facebook recently posted a picture of her new wood flooring and her new granite countertops with the hashtag #blessed. She’s expressing...
2 min read
A Broken Hallelujah: What has Christmas to do with Suffering?
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 23, 2016
Love is not a victory march. It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah. -Leonard Cohen By Barbara Comito, Director of Marketing A young friend asked...
2 min read
No Place like UGM for the Holidays
Merrily Roe, former staff writer: December 22, 2015
“What did Christmas look like in the past?” “I never had a Christmas…I did growing up, I had Christmas cause my mom made it. But as I got deeper and...
2 min read
The Root of Our Joy
Phil Altmeyer, Executive Director: December 1, 2015
This sentence from the cover story struck me: “The day after Rachel was baptized, she received news that her father’s cancer had returned for the...
2 min read
A Front Row Seat to Holiness
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 2, 2014
Editor's note: This is the first in an Advent devotional series based on Isaiah 61:1-3. Some of the posts in this series were first published as part...
1 min read
A Christmas Irony
Union Gospel Mission: December 1, 2013
By Phil Altmeyer Executive Director Christmas – what’s not to love? Family and old friends gathered together around a roaring fire. Sledding....
1 min read
Christmas for the Homeless
Union Gospel Mission: September 1, 2013
Makin’ a list. Checkin’ it twice…and here’s what we discovered. In order to best serve our clients and clearly communicate our holiday needs to the...