Nearly a month has passed and I continue to reflect on worship from the recent Advent and Christmas seasons. What took hours of planning and preparation passes in a flash but continues to live in the souls and memories of all who worshiped together. For those involved with worship

planning, the Christmas season adds a unique tension that has an exciting yet anxious edge. How do we plan to encounter God? What traditions do we hold dear as a community of faith and where do we refresh our creativity to try something new? We listen with our hearts and minds for God’s promptings and interpret what we hear God saying to us today. Our lives are enriched each time we gather, and we are a more faithful community through our experiences in worship. 
    
These statements are true for our weekly worship gatherings and especially true for our Christmas musical worship tradition, The Feast of Lights. Every year is a new and exciting challenge to determine what traditions we will continue to hold steadfast and yet we think creatively about ways to revitalize and refresh the interpretation of this familiar story through word and song. 
    
Choirs begin rehearsing in August and September, preparing throughout the fall, and gaining momentum through the final weeks preceding the service. In addition to the choirs, literally hundreds of parishioners work very hard to bring together all the elements of the service so that everything moves smoothly and worship is enhanced rather than distracted by the underlying details.
    
It is nearly impossible to list every single person who helped with every last detail of the Feast of Lights, so on behalf of the Music Ministry I would like to thank EVERYONE who contributed time and effort to this special service. Thanks especially to the Sanctuary Choir, Open Door Singers, Chapel Choir, Carillon Ringers, and instrumentalists who offered their time and musical gifts. Thanks to the Music Ministry Team who enlisted many others to ensure that candles were prepared and lit, bulletins printed and distributed, people greeted and seated, scriptures read, publicity announced and posted, cookies collected and consumed, luminaries illumined, sanctuary cleaned up, photos taken, recording recorded, flowers flowered, vans run, offering collected, children cared for, lights dimmed and lighted, and a chancel set up to accommodate 130 musicians. 
    
Thank you, Belmont, for investing your time, energy, and financial resources toward these rich traditions that help to renew Christ in the lives of those who gather. Thanks be to God for the gift of worship! 

 

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