Candlelight Christmas

Yesterday was our church's annual Candlelight Christmas Service. This was the first year I've been able to attend one of these services. Last year we went to Missouri for Christmas so I missed it, and in the years prior to that, I was in the nursery during church services. I was excited about being able to see and hear this service firsthand. It was a beautiful service with the church auditorim lit mostly by candlelight.

At the beginning of the service as the pastor spoke of blessings of Christmas such as hope, peace, love, faithfulness, etc. As he mentioned each one, someone in the congregation lit a candle at the front of the room to represent each blessing of Christmas. Afterward, every person in the congregation formed a line to light their own candle from the large center candle up front and formed a large circle around the whole auditorium and sang "Silent Night" together. It really was a beautiuful service.

Because of the low light I had to keep the shutter of the camera open longer to capture any photos. In doing so, any movement at all caused bluriness so the photos of people aren't crisp at all...but I decided to post anyway so you could see for yourself the beauty of such a service. What a feeling to be able to worship together with my church family, especially at Christmas!

My friends Denise and Nancy playing the piano and keyboard during the service. What beautiful music!







I couldn't even get half the congregation in the photo.






Heather. I guess she just couldn't hear me saying "hold still and don't move a muscle for about 6 seconds...." lol







Our friends Larry, Pat, Lisa and Billy.








Denise at the piano.

I just love the Christmas tree in this room!







Merry Christmas!