Click right here Thursday shortly before 5:00 PM to join our Christmas Eve Service.

Join us at 5:00 PM for our special holiday service of music and carols, words and stories to honor this season of peace and light. This will be a service for all of us, as we welcome and celebrate this night together!

 

 

“THE BIRTH OF PEACE” 

WITH REV. TELOS WHITFIELD

 

Order of Service 

Thursday, December 24 , 2020

Words of Welcome                              Catie Berg

Prelude:  I Wonder As I Wander 
              Appalachian carol from Songs of the Hill Folk (1934)
                        Peter Gibbons, viola; Eva Greene, piano

Call to Worship                                    Rev. Telos Whitfield

Lighting Our Chalice                           Maisie Crowther
We kindle this flame to bring
Light in a time of darkness,
Love in a time of fear, and
Hope in a time of uncertainty.
We light this flame to honor our common light

Carol:   The First Nowell                 English Christmas carol (c.1823)
                   Maisie Crowther and Elizabeth Lewis, sopranos

Story For The Season: “This is the Star”

Reading:   Luke 2:1-7- A Humble Birth                       Marty Shaw

Response: The Moment of Magic – part 1                 Marty Shaw

Carol:  Angels We Have Heard on High
based on traditional French carol, Les anges dans nos campagnes
                       Catie Berg, soprano

Reading:  Luke 2:8 – 14 News of Peace and Joy            Ed Burke

Anthem: “O Magnum Mysterium” (O Great Mystery) 
 from a responsorial chant for Christmas, music by Evan Ramos (b. 1983)                     Performed by All Souls Choir, directed by Tom Baehr
                                     Translation: O great mystery,
                                      and wonderful sacrament,
                            that animals should see the newborn Lord,
                                           lying in a manger.

Reading: Luke 2:15 – 20 Shepherds Make the Journey        Marty Shaw

Response: The Moment of Magic – part 2                               Ed Burke

Carol:   Rise Up Shepherds and Follow        
                trad. African-American spiritual, c. 1840s
 sung by Robert Wyckoff and Steve Squires; produced by Robert Wyckoff

Reading:  Let It Be That Stable              Rev. Telos Whitfield

Reflection: The Birth of Peace               Rev. Telos Whitfield

Carol:  Joy to the World         melody: G.F. Handel words: Isaac Watts
                               Marie Gorst, soprano

Inviting the Offering shared with Groundworks Collaborative

Offertory:     Hyfrydol          Welsh carol from Cyfaill y Cantorion (1844)
        arranged and performed by Hilary Menegaz Weitzner, violinist 

Blessing of the Candles and Candle Lighting

Carol:  Silent Night, Holy Night
            words, Josehp Mohr, transl. by John Freeman Young,
                         music, Franz Xavier Gruber
        sung by Christina Gibbons, Cathie Creed, and Tom Baehr
                   
Extinguishing Our Chalice                      Maisie Crowther
Though we extinguish our chalice, our light lives on.
Let us offer the best of ourselves to the work
that is so needed, the work of justice and care,
transformation and healing.
In this season of lights, may we spread our light far and wide.

Closing Circle and Song
             “Carry the flame of peace and love until we meet again.” (sung 2X)

Benediction: The Work of Christmas” by Howard Thurman