We will have our annual Christmas Pageant during the 10:00 AM worship service this year, followed by a very brief Third Sunday of Advent service where the children and pageant parents will light the candle of Joy.  Some churches have highly organized and polished pageants that they do by formula year after year.  They have their beauties and advantages, but so do pageants at the happy-chaos and improvised-creativity end of the spectrum, which is where we will likely be!  Annemieke McLane has written an original script and selected some beautiful choral pieces and we have delightful child actors, but we may be picking up some walk-on cast members at 9:55 AM, and due to sickness and conflicting schedules some of the major characters have missed rehearsals, so there will be plenty of opportunities for spontaneous charm!  And when was the last time you saw Mary and Joseph played by brothers?  Don’t miss it!

The congregation will sing Christmas carols and Advent hymns including “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” and “My Soul Gives Glory to My God.”  The choir will be singing three pieces with the children during the pageant.  Annemieke will play two keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti.