Christmas Eve at Park City Community Church is a study in both joy and chaos. Here’s my diary of the day:
10AM – Service of Lessons and Carols. What a great, simple service. I got to sit with my family and hear the Christmas story as it unfolds from Genesis to the Gospels. Nicely done by our laity and a great way to start the day.
11AM – Began prep for afternoon and evening services. Amazing how many candles and bulletins it takes to get us through an evening.
Noon – Home for lunch and a quick nap like the kind I used to take in the infantry…20 minutes and I’m back on track. I watch a little football (Saints and Giants) and see that the Steelers’ season has finally been ended by the Ravens. Bummer, but no time to grieve. Got to gird up for the rest of the day.
2PM – Back to the church. A little more prep for the 3PM service for children and families. We call this the calm before the storm.
3PM – Children’s service–it’s fun to see so many young kids with their parents. I cut down my sermon to their level and time constraints and it seemed to track. Kids are usually the best gauge of how well you’ve done your preparation!
4PM – Reset the sanctuary and people began arriving for the 5PM service. Yikes, this is going to be huge. By 4:30, people were already finding extra chairs in the classrooms and bringing them into the Fellowship Hall. SRO in the loft.
5PM – Biggest service of the night. Fortunately, we had no (big) hitches and everyone seemed to go with the flow of the Spirit. Two thirds of those in attendance were from out of town. Count was 710 people. It was 506 at this service last year. They just kept coming. I hope that they leave with a new sense of God’s grace
6:20PM – Joined the choir in the kitchen for a bite to eat…a big hunk of a giant sub. Ate standing up and wolfed it down, remembering to take off my robe first so as not to be besmirched by mayo.
7PM – Good sized crowd (378) but much more manageable space-wise. Tweaked the sermon a little on the fly, which usually happens on Sundays during the second service, too. The lightbulb idea seems to connect.
8PM – Greeted people after the service and it seemed that every other person was from Texas. I think most of the state has come here skiing this year! Met a lot of Texas Methodists. It’s always fun to see people who return here year after year for Christmas vacation. It’s one of the more interesting parts of being a church in a resort town.
8:30PM – Everything transitions from the Fellowship Hall to the sanctuary. Choir was a huge help in getting things moved. It’d be great if we could do it all in one place. Anyone got about $7 million they’re not using?
9PM – Nice service. Comfortably full (about 325). Great music by Ruth and the Johnson family. There was one person who kept laughing out loud even before I got to the joke in the sermon. Must be a Holy Spirit thing…
10:15PM – Am now really getting tired. Voice is still holding out, though, even without Ricola. I usually burn out at 10:30AM on Sundays but tonight God is good and is helping me hold it together. Chatted with Bill and Donn who have hung out all evening helping where they can, doing sound, spreading salt, moving chairs, etc. Guys like these are a real gift on a night like this.
11PM – In the middle of the sermon I realize that I am really tired of hearing my own voice. But, I manage to stay focused enough on the comparatively small crowd (about 115) who have come out to ring in Christmas Day. In many ways this is my favorite service of the night–serving communion, having things a little more quiet. Some have urged me to give it up because the service doesn’t draw big numbers, but I really like it. There’s just something about being at church as the day transitions that makes it a very special time.
12:05AM Christmas Day – We wrap it all up with the benediction and "Joy to the World." The church empties quickly. We tally the day’s numbers: we saw 1,878 people over the course of 6 services. We saw people from all over the US and probably from a few other countries, too. Most everyone left smiling, which is a very good thing.
12:30AM – I walk the quarter mile home from the church, which has become my Christmas tradition. The quiet stillness of the night, the lack of traffic, the stars…all give me a chance to wind down after a long but rewarding day. This is what Christmas is about to me…not about the crowds but about the Silent Night. Granted, it is a special privilege to share the good news with so many people, but that walk home is just between me and God.
12:45AM – I walk through the front door of a dimly lighted house. Everyone’s in bed. I have one more present to wrap and can’t find the clear tape (not that it would help…I stink at wrapping packages). I turn on the TV and catch a little of the movie "A Christmas Story" with Ralphie and the Red Ryder B-B gun. It’s my favorite Christmas movie and a great way to wind down. I finally hit the rack at 1:30AM .
7AM – Children invade. It’s Christmas!
