While many of the usual Christmas festivities are hampered by COVID-19 restrictions, two Steinbach churches have decided to move ahead with special services.
“Emmanuel is known for being one of the few places to hold events on Christmas eve and we are grieving the loss of our Christmas Eve Candlelight Concert this year,” states EEFC Worship Pastor Mike Burnard. In lieu of their traditional service, the church has prepared a virtual program. Burnard says a dedicated team of staff and volunteers have been working to put the project together since late September.
“When we started planning, we were hoping for the chance to gather but the whole planning process we kind of had this gut feeling that we needed to position ourselves for a pre-recorded service.”
It seems those efforts paid off. As of 9 AM this morning, the church published a dynamic Christmas Eve service including virtual choirs, jazz bands, worship teams, quartets, and a scripture reading.
“We are encouraging people to set the vibe in their house as well,” comments Burnard. “To light candles, turn up their speakers, have a bible nearby, and make some hot cider just to get the sense of Christmas in their living rooms.”
The service can be found at eefc.ca/christmas and is available to the entire public, not just congregants.
“Some have looked at us and asked why we are putting so much effort into a Christmas concert but, in our opinion, this is more important than ever,” remarks Burnard. “What a great time for us to remind ourselves of the light of the world entering a place of darkness to bring hope.”
EEFC is not the only Steinbach church commemorating Christmas through an organized event. Cornerstone Bible Church Pastor Chad Wiebe says his team is hosting a drive-in service on their property from 6 PM to 7 PM tonight.
“We want to decorate the parking lot with some lights and set up a little stage there and people can come and listen. We’ll be broadcasting over the radio and hopefully online on our Facebook page as well.”
Wiebe believes gathering, even in this restricted form, is important for fellow believers.
“It is encouraging to the soul, it is cheering to the heart, you can wave at each other through the window, and it matters.”
“There is so much more to Church life than what you can accomplish online. The internet is a great help in a time like this, but there is something about an actual physical gathering that is of spiritual value to the body, even though we are limited in our vehicles.”
Both pastors insist that the birth of Christ is worth celebrating even when that celebration looks different than ever before.
Sat, Apr 20, 9:30 AM
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