Reserve Your Pew on Christmas Eve?
Pandemic Changes How Some Local Churches Are Having to Handle Holiday Services, Traditions
Many Christmas church services and programs, just as everything else this year, may look and feel a little different this year. No matter how your church chooses to celebrate Christmas services we all know that this Christmas means just a little bit more.
Many Fayette County churches are having to change long-standing traditions such as Sacred Heart Catholic School’s Christmas pageant. “As far back as anyone can remember we have always had a live show so this will be our first year where we are unable to have one,” said LaDonna Voelkel, Sacred Heart Catholic School Principal. The pageant was now taped beforehand and it premiered on the school’s Facebook page, Sacred Heart Catholic School La Grange, and their YouTube channel, Sacred Heart Media on Thursday, Dec. 17, the day and time the school would have usually had their live pageant. Voelkel said, “We thought that this would give parents and family a chance to have dinner and then watch the show. Great for a family night!” To see pictures from the pageant taping see page B4.
Among that change, Sacred Heart Catholic Church also decided to add an extra Mass to their Christmas Eve service schedule. “We added an extra Mass to be sure we have room for all who want to come. We are at 50% capacity which we have been for several months now and if needed we will add chairs in the Narthex and the Narthex Meeting Room to accommodate more people,” said Fr. Brian Phillips. Phillips continued, “We are confident that we will not have to turn anyone away.” On Christmas Eve there will be a Christmas Vigil Mass at 4:00 p.m. and then one at 6 p.m. and the Night Mass will still be at 11:00 p.m. The Christmas Day Mass will be at 9 a.m. There will also be no live Christmas nativity program this year.
Another church, St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in La Grange is taking a different approach this Christmas. They would like you to make a reservation this year. St. Paul said in a statement on their website, “St. Paul considered many options before reaching a decision. In order to best ensure the safety of all attendees, we are limiting the amount of attendees to 70 people To do that we have set up a reservation system.” They will be having three identical worship services on Christmas Eve, one at noon and the other two at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. The 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. services will also be lived streamed using Facebook Live. In order to reserve your spot for one of the three services you can go to https://reopen.church/r/E4rjjEfR. Spots are filling up so the sooner the better.
On the other hand, if you and your family would like to go to an earlier Christmas service or program this year then this weekend The Remnant Church will be having their Family Christmas service this year on December 20 at 10 a.m. They will be telling the story of Jesus’ birth through candles and carols. Throughout the story, special music will be shared in various ways, including The Remnant Church Praise team, La Grange Community Children’s Choir, and The Remnant Church’s children and youth. A children’s story will also be read, making this a wonderful time for the entire family.
Another service taking place a little earlier this season will be the Longest Night worship service which will take place on Monday, December 21 at 6 p.m. at St. John Lutheran Church in Rutersville which is part of the Shared Lutheran Ministry. This service will be a time to observe the Star of Bethlehem in the night sky so a ‘star-sighting’ will be a part of the service along with ornaments of remembrance, candle lighting, and carols. If you are unable to attend, but would still like to see the service it will also be available on the Shared Lutheran Ministry of Fayette County Facebook page that night.
All four churches affiliated with the Shared Lutheran Ministry will also still be having a Christmas Eve service of course with safety rules in place within all the churches and each church will have an overflow area to assure they do not surpass the safety numbers. Service times for each church are as follows: 5 p.m. in Ellinger, 6 p.m. in Warrenton, 7 p.m. in Fayetteville, and 8 p.m. in Rutersville.