Christmas At River Run 2011

Not too many years ago the majority of people in churches were mostly from the surrounding area, where as today's church is a mixture of local people, and people from around the province and out of province.  Many people are traveling during the Christmas season. This makes for a very different church and the need to rethink how we celebrate seasonal holidays.


Most church celebrations are as near as possible to the actual holiday.  This year for example churches would traditionally celebrate Christmas with something special on Saturday, December 24th or Sunday, December 25th - and for New Years with something special on Sunday, January 1st.  Added to the already planned family celebrations, it makes for a busy time of year.

However the River Run folk were encouraged to be with their families and friends for these occasions, when we cancelled both Christmas and New Year Sunday Worship Services.  This allowed people to travel where they need to be, and to visit as long as they are able.  Equally any service at home would not be half attended.


For this reason we celebrated Christmas on Sunday, December 18th.  We sat around festively decorated tables and enthusiastically worshipped the Lord with our favorite carols.  The children spiritedly sang some songs with actions that made everyone smile.  Stephen concluded the service with a message about anticipation, illustrating the story of Mary and Elizabeth.

Then it was time to eat our Christmas lunch.  Spring rolls, bun-wiches, festive hors d'oeuvres, and more were laid out on the buffet table, and everyone helped themselves.  It was good to eat but it was also good to hear the laughter and see people enjoying themselves.  A special shout out to the those who organized the event, it was one of the best!