Our worship for Christmas Eve will be in two parts, merging beloved traditions of both our Family Vesper Service and our Service of Lessons and Carols. We will begin at 4 p.m., opening with the Thomas family—parents Kurt and Sabrina along with children Bo, Van, Jolene, and Levon—lighting the Advent wreath. All children in attendance will be enlisted to help tell the story of the first Christmas, with scripture passages read by Sebastian Almeida-Hall and Amelia Almeida-Hall. Rev. Dr. Karen Massey will give a homily and lead worshipers in the service of Holy Communion. The end of communion will mark the end of the first part of the service, and at this point, those who need to leave may do so.
We will then transition into the Service of Lessons and Carols, in which the NDBC Sanctuary Choir will perform carols and anthems of the season. A feature of the service will be staff singer Shantá Johnson in a solo performance of “Sweet Little Jesus Boy.” Readers of the lessons are Ken Brant, Kay Braswell, Greg DeLoach, Carolyn Mahaffey, Becky Pinney, and Irwin Ray. As the final scriptural lesson is read, the choir and congregation will sing “Silent Night” and light individual candles, and the service will end with the singing of “Joy to the World.”
We hope you will make plans to attend this always-special service and begin the observance of Christmas with your NDBC family.
