Christmas Eve Candle Light And Music
Illustration
Stories
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” (vv. 13-14)
In the last two churches where I served, we offered an early Christmas Eve service one week before Christmas for people in the community who were for any number of reasons unable to be present at church on the actual night of the traditional candlelight service. Some people have to work on the night before Christmas. Others are traveling or participating in family celebrations. Recognizing that for many this beloved service was deeply important, we provided an alternative.
We paid for twenty thirty-second radio spots, many which played during drive time, on a popular contemporary station in our area. The script I read, with ‘Silent night,” playing softly in the background, went like this:
Busy on Christmas Eve? You don't have to miss the candlelight service this year. Join us for an old-fashioned Christmas Eve Service a week before Christmas at (name of our church, date and time). Sing all of your favorite Christmas carols, ‘Joy to the World,’ ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing, ’Away in a Manger,’ ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and more. See baby Jesus in the manger. Light a candle as ‘Silent Night’ is sung. I'm John Sumwalt with a story to live by from (Name of Church, address, website info, & phone #).
Yes, the spots were expensive. Air time is not cheap on popular radio stations. And the results were amazing. People who had not been to a church in years came from all over the area. Many came back on Sundays and later became members.
A Christmas Eve Candle light service can transform lives. And music is the key as Dean McIntyre describes in this touching piece on “Christmas Eve Musical Hospitality.”
“A few years ago, as I played the organ for our church's late-night Christmas Eve service, I noticed a well-dressed thirty-something woman, alone in the pew, singing, praying, reading, and listening along with the rest of the congregation. As we moved from the opening celebration of "Joy to the World" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," through the lessons and carols, into Holy Communion, and finally into the quiet and meditation of lighting candles and singing "Silent Night," I observed that she was no longer singing.
“As she stared at the flame of her own hand-held candle and stood in silence while the congregation spread the light and sang the carol, tears began to flow. After others had departed, she remained silent in her pew, still holding the now-extinguished candle. After I had closed up the organ, I approached her as subtly and gently as I could.
"Hello. Merry Christmas," I said softly with a smile. She gradually revealed that she was in town visiting friends for the holidays. And as she continued to dab at her tears through our conversation, I learned that she had lost both parents in a six-month period a few years earlier and that she had recently gone through a difficult divorce. She was obviously an emotionally vulnerable person, perhaps still grieving, perhaps still angry.
"You know, I was just fine tonight. My friends didn't want to come, which is okay with me. I really enjoyed the singing, the candles, the sermon, the communion, and being with warm and wonderful people. But as I watched more and more candles being lit, and finally lit mine, and as we sang “Silent Night” so beautifully, I just fell apart. It made me remember Christmas Eves at home with my own family when I was a child and special times with my husband. I'm not a person who breaks down and cries over such things, but it was those candles and “Silent Night” that did it to me. I'm not sad — I'm happy! And yet, I'm crying and my stomach is tied in knots."
“We talked for a short time longer, then I escorted her to her car and said goodbye. I won't soon forget what she said: "It was those candles and “Silent Night” that did it to me." She had identified something I've known all my life, I think, and that is that at any time, music has the ability to engage people in deeply emotional and meaningful ways. It can trigger feelings and remembrances from the past, sometimes pleasant and sometimes not, sometimes welcome and sometimes not.
“The lighting of a candle or the singing of "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve can bring on a flood of recollections, images, feelings, emotions, and actions from the past; and that was what had happened to this young woman.
Dean McIntyre adds, “We church musicians and worship leaders exercise that kind of influence on our worshipers whenever we select, lead, or accompany their singing. And that influence is magnified many times at Christmas, when people's emotions are already so close to the surface from the pressures and activities of the season: shopping, parties, church services, school programs, decorating, vacations, family visits. We must be aware all the time, but perhaps especially at Christmas Eve, that what we do with music may have a profound impact on people.”
In the last two churches where I served, we offered an early Christmas Eve service one week before Christmas for people in the community who were for any number of reasons unable to be present at church on the actual night of the traditional candlelight service. Some people have to work on the night before Christmas. Others are traveling or participating in family celebrations. Recognizing that for many this beloved service was deeply important, we provided an alternative.
We paid for twenty thirty-second radio spots, many which played during drive time, on a popular contemporary station in our area. The script I read, with ‘Silent night,” playing softly in the background, went like this:
Busy on Christmas Eve? You don't have to miss the candlelight service this year. Join us for an old-fashioned Christmas Eve Service a week before Christmas at (name of our church, date and time). Sing all of your favorite Christmas carols, ‘Joy to the World,’ ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing, ’Away in a Manger,’ ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and more. See baby Jesus in the manger. Light a candle as ‘Silent Night’ is sung. I'm John Sumwalt with a story to live by from (Name of Church, address, website info, & phone #).
Yes, the spots were expensive. Air time is not cheap on popular radio stations. And the results were amazing. People who had not been to a church in years came from all over the area. Many came back on Sundays and later became members.
A Christmas Eve Candle light service can transform lives. And music is the key as Dean McIntyre describes in this touching piece on “Christmas Eve Musical Hospitality.”
“A few years ago, as I played the organ for our church's late-night Christmas Eve service, I noticed a well-dressed thirty-something woman, alone in the pew, singing, praying, reading, and listening along with the rest of the congregation. As we moved from the opening celebration of "Joy to the World" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," through the lessons and carols, into Holy Communion, and finally into the quiet and meditation of lighting candles and singing "Silent Night," I observed that she was no longer singing.
“As she stared at the flame of her own hand-held candle and stood in silence while the congregation spread the light and sang the carol, tears began to flow. After others had departed, she remained silent in her pew, still holding the now-extinguished candle. After I had closed up the organ, I approached her as subtly and gently as I could.
"Hello. Merry Christmas," I said softly with a smile. She gradually revealed that she was in town visiting friends for the holidays. And as she continued to dab at her tears through our conversation, I learned that she had lost both parents in a six-month period a few years earlier and that she had recently gone through a difficult divorce. She was obviously an emotionally vulnerable person, perhaps still grieving, perhaps still angry.
"You know, I was just fine tonight. My friends didn't want to come, which is okay with me. I really enjoyed the singing, the candles, the sermon, the communion, and being with warm and wonderful people. But as I watched more and more candles being lit, and finally lit mine, and as we sang “Silent Night” so beautifully, I just fell apart. It made me remember Christmas Eves at home with my own family when I was a child and special times with my husband. I'm not a person who breaks down and cries over such things, but it was those candles and “Silent Night” that did it to me. I'm not sad — I'm happy! And yet, I'm crying and my stomach is tied in knots."
“We talked for a short time longer, then I escorted her to her car and said goodbye. I won't soon forget what she said: "It was those candles and “Silent Night” that did it to me." She had identified something I've known all my life, I think, and that is that at any time, music has the ability to engage people in deeply emotional and meaningful ways. It can trigger feelings and remembrances from the past, sometimes pleasant and sometimes not, sometimes welcome and sometimes not.
“The lighting of a candle or the singing of "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve can bring on a flood of recollections, images, feelings, emotions, and actions from the past; and that was what had happened to this young woman.
Dean McIntyre adds, “We church musicians and worship leaders exercise that kind of influence on our worshipers whenever we select, lead, or accompany their singing. And that influence is magnified many times at Christmas, when people's emotions are already so close to the surface from the pressures and activities of the season: shopping, parties, church services, school programs, decorating, vacations, family visits. We must be aware all the time, but perhaps especially at Christmas Eve, that what we do with music may have a profound impact on people.”
