Dear friends,
As we enter into the season of Advent, we enter a season of tradition. Traditions ground us in a rapidly changing world. They bring us together in a world that is increasingly isolating. They remind us of the meaning of Christmas in a time when shopping and stress can take over. At their best, they create space for new experiences to emerge, new opportunities rooted in the familiar.
At Edwards Church, recognizing that we don’t need to add to the busyness, we focus our energies on a few special Advent and Christmas events that bring us together and highlight the meaning and joy of the Christmas story.
This year, some of our traditions continue as usual. The Lunch Bunch will hold its annual Lunch Bunch Christmas on December 19 at 12 noon. Whether or not you are a Lunch Bunch regular, we hope you will join us for this joyous event. We’ll have turkey, stuffing, and all your favorite holiday dishes (that is, if you bring them). We will decorate Edwards Hall and have Christmas music in the background.
Another Edwards tradition is special music Sundays. This year we will have two: December 16 with music by On the Fence, and December 23 with choral music based on Old English carols. Our 9:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service of lessons, carols, and poetry will also be an opportunity for lots of singing.
Other traditions this year will be opportunities for new experiences to emerge.
This year our Gifts that Give Fair will have a new twist. We were looking for ways to engage children and their families in this event. Dawn had the idea of bringing in a Santa, and Karen Dolliver suggested an antique fire truck. The vision took shape, and this year we will invite folks of all ages to take pictures of themselves with Santa on an antique fire truck, as an alternative to long lines at the mall.
Another tradition that will have a new twist is our annual Christmas Eve Pageant. The Board of Christian Education realized that two of our most active families, including our interim director of Christian Education and two board members, would be away on December 24. We began to think creatively. We spoke with our youth, who leapt on board and have been working hard ever since.
The result—which you can read about in Dawn’s articles—is a new kind of pageant: our own “Holywood Studios” video production. Our youth are writing the script, based on our traditional pageant, our children are dressing up and creating the scenes during Sunday School, and we even have a casting call for dogs to enhance the manger scene. I understand there may be dancing as well! We are reaching out to children and youth who don’t attend regularly to find ways for them to appear in the video.
On Christmas Eve, we will gather at our usual 5:00 p.m. time. There will be costumes for everyone. And there will be lots of opportunities for interaction as the story is told through the World Premiere of our Holywood Studios video. Children and youth will see themselves on film. The story will come alive in a new way.
The first Christmas pageant is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, who wanted a way to teach the Christmas story to children. I am excited about our new twist to an old tradition, because our children and our youth are engaging with the Christmas story in a deeper, creative way. As they write and produce, act and dance, they will experience the ancient story anew—and that’s what it’s all about.
I look forward to our traditional holiday celebrations, and I look forward to the new experiences emerging from our traditions.
Peace, Debbie