Christmas at St. Mark's: Not so Silent Night

Finally, here are some photos from Christmas Eve night. Bob and his family did a great job of decorating the church (although they hope that someone else will take up the challenge next year) and it looked lovely in the evening. I managed to learn how to take pictures at night with my little digital camera and I wanted to take a picture especially for Dan who was a valued member of St Mark's until his job took him away to the west coast. He is missing us and we are missing him and he said he wished he had St Mark's pictures to share with friends in his new parish. So here they are. St Mark's 5 p.m. service and Scott and Emily getting into the spirit of the Bell Banner during the closing hymn.

Christmas at St Mark's II

A more subdued pre-Christmas party is the party held on a Tuesday in Advent for anyone who would like to attend. Several years ago we had a small faithful group which attended a Tuesday morning eucharist and gradually death and aging decimated the population. Christmas event was begun as a chance for people who could no longer attend church regularly to visit with others and as Christmas gathering for those who can't drive at night or for some other reason choose not to attend the ebullient multigenerational party described in the previous post. Over the years, various people have hosted this party. This year Emily our seminarian hosted and she enlisted her entire family to help her with setting up, cooking and serving. A delightful time was had by all and mothers everywhere are full of compliments about the children's role in the meal.
Here are a couple of pictures from that gathering.

Christmas at St. Mark's I

The St. Mark's "Christmas Party" was held this year on the fourth Sunday of Advent. It must have originated as a party following the hanging of the greens but at some point the party dwarfed the hanging of the greens. This year several of our children played their instruments, flute and violin and all of them did a great job. We had carol singing and then the seemingly inevitable (and not the rector's favorite moment) visit from Santa, to the delight of children and doating parents. Here are some scenes from that joyful chaos,including long time St Markans and a newborn.


Doug and the Nurture Committee did a great job of making sure everyone was invited, we had a good meal at a good price and everyone got home in time for bedtime, since Monday was a school day.