Each year Hope Church offers two opportunities to celebrate the birth of Christ together: a wonderful tradition of family worship and a beautiful candlelight service.
If you don’t like staying up late and (or!) love watching children dressed up as shepherds, wise men, and angels participate in a Nativity Pageant, then the 5:30 p.m. family worship is for you. The children make the story of Jesus’ birth come alive in an intimate style that warms your heart. Children from toddlers to fifth grade are invited to participate. If your child doesn’t have a costume, just come half an hour early and Miss Jocelyn will fit them out so they can be part of this worship time.
The 11:00 p.m. candlelight service is a more meditative experience. The birth of Jesus is celebrated through the gospel reading of the Christmas story, interspersed with poetry, choir anthems, and the singing of carols. Communion will be celebrated at this service, and as it concludes at midnight, we move outside with candles to the creche to welcome the Christ child by singing “Joy to the World.” To experience this time of worship with Christian friends whom we hold dear is a blessed experience and a wonderful start to our Christmas day observance.
We are all busy during this season, but that may be even more reason to stop, take a breath, and spend an hour feeding our souls with the good news: “Emmanuel. God is with us. Jesus Christ is born!”