Roser Community Church preps for 2 Christmas Eve candlelight services
Roser Community Church preps for 2 Christmas Eve candlelight services
ANNA MARIA ISLAND -- The spotlight will be on the manger and the Sanctuary will be decorated with banks of red pointsettias and candles for two Christmas Eve services at Roser Community Church, 512 Pine Ave. The services include:
5:30 p.m. Christmas Eve family candlelight celebration with a nativity pageant. All children are invited to participate. There will be carols, special music by the Joyful Noise Children's Choir, "Good News!" from Bob O'Keef, and perhaps a surprise visitor. The service will end with the singing of "Silent Night" and the "Passing of the Light."
9 p.m. traditional candlelight service with extended prelude and offertory by Relative Harmony, an ensemble of flute, harp and French horn. Melody (harp) and Chris (horn) Rapier are professional musicians from Ohio and the sister- and brother-in-law of Mary Deur (flute). O'Keef will again bring "Good News!" before "Silent Night" and "Passing of the Light."
Two Chrismon Trees adorn the narthex. The term is a combination of Christ and Monogram.
Early Christians used symbols of their faith at a time when it was dangerous to be a Christian. The contemporary use of Chrismons as the sole ornaments for the tree began in a little Lutheran Church in Virginia in an answer to Mrs. Frances Spencer's prayer that Christ the Lord might be glorified in the Christmas decorations of her church in 1957.
Use of Chrismons rapidly spread to churches around the world.
White is the liturgical color for Christmas and refers to our Lord's purity and perfection.
Gold refers to His Majesty and Glory.
The Chrismons on the trees were made by the ladies of the Roser Guild and are a beautiful and meaningful reminder of the majesty and glory of God's gift of his Son. Each ornament has spiritual significance.
Information Call 941-778-0414, email info@roserchurch.com or go to roserchurch.com.
This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Roser Community Church preps for 2 Christmas Eve candlelight services ."