Christmas Eve Service - James Bay United Church (Dec 24, 2021)

We are coming together here - all of us - to celebrate a rich and meaningful Christmas Eve. Please take the time to read the whole of this message and plan with your family and friends to participate on Christmas Eve in a way that might be even more meaningful than usual because of our ‘separateness’. We can and will gather together virtually. And to make that happen in our hearts, we are asking that you prepare yourself and your space for a sacred time on Christmas Eve. If you are able, have some candles lit, a comfortable place to sit without worldly distractions and a cup of something warm to sip. In the James Bay United Church sanctuary, a small group of people will be preparing for your arrival online. We will broadcast a 45 minute service that will include special music and the traditional telling of Luke's Christmas Story. Through the chat window on YouTube, there will be opportunities for you to greet each other and become involved. It is our hope that you will sing with such inspiration that we will be able to feel each other's presence as if we were sitting together in the same room. While the service will be available to watch at any time (thinking of shift workers that have to work on Christmas Eve) it is truly our hope that the James Bay United Church congregation and their family and friends, neighbours and community will gather together at the same time, sharing in the same experience. You might even take a moment right now to think about who you would invite, and share this link with them. Friends, now more than ever, we need to be available to each other and present. I am encouraged and heartened by the way we can be the people of God we are called to be in ever-changing circumstances. I am, along with those preparing and streaming the service, genuinely looking forward to being with you, together, on Christmas Eve. Rev. Karen Dickey Thank you for contributing to our live-streamed church: Donate: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/36818 Please subscribe to this YouTube Channel. A Thumbs UP and comments are always welcome. The chat window is available only at the original time of the live-stream. Web: jamesbayunited.com Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3bMYz3h