Caroling, Candlelight Service welcome prelude to Christmas

Christians and Christmas lovers at Fenimore Street United Methodist Church (FSUMC) braved the very frigid weather on Christmas Eve. They sang popular Christmas Carols during an annual ritual to the community. This event took place on the steps of the church at the corner of Rogers Avenue and Fenimore Street in Brooklyn.

The caroling and Candlelight Service that immediately followed were welcome preludes to Christmas.

With severe wind chill and temperatures in the 20s, die-hard members bungled up in singing a wide variety of carols for almost an hour.

They included “Deck The Halls,” “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Sleigh Bells Ring,” “Jingle Bells,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Feliz Navidad,, and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Other carols were “Away in a Manger,” “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree,” “All I Want for Christmas,” “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear,” “White Christmas,” “Someday at Christmas,” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

The caroling in the bitter cold was immediately followed by a Candlelight Service inside the warm sanctuary. The service, dubbed “A Festival of Scripture Lessons and Carols,” lasted 1 ½ hours.

During the service, congregants sang hymns and carols, read Scripture lessons, and participated in lighting candles.

In his “Reflections”, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Roger Jackson, said that “often, when the story of our savior’s birth is told, it is heavy on meaning. But it is light on the impact that Jesus’ birth had on the social and political institutions of the Roman Empire.”

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“Caesar becomes aware of the impact of our Savior’s birth two years after His birth,” he said. He preached on the topic, “The King has Come,” based on Luke 2:1-20. “But, on this night, some 2,000 years ago, the scene in Bethlehem was nothing like the depictions commonly associated with the night of our dear Savior’s birth.

“Bethlehem wasn’t calm and peaceful, but the city had to have been chaotic,” he added. “There was a standing occupation force comprised of Roman soldiers, who had a reputation for being exceptionally good at terrorizing the inhabitants of Bethlehem whenever the mood hit them.

“And now, they had even more people to terrorize because folk had come from lands near and far in order to be in the birthplace of an ancestor, who may have been like Joseph, was to David generations removed,” Rev. Jackson continued. “So, everyone who was destined to be in or a part of the chaos prior to, during, and after our Savior’s birth had fulfilled their role.

“They all had to come because God destined it to be,” he said. “Caesar decreed that they must, and it was prophesized that our Lord and Savior would be born in the midst of it all. It’s so wonderful to know that God saw to it that His Son and our Savior would not be birthed in a calm and peaceful environment, but that He arrives in the midst of chaos.”

Pastor Jackson said that “as wonderful and life-affirming as it is to commemorate and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it’s just as wonderful and life-affirming to recognize the ways in which God moved people to where they needed to be. They needed to be there so those who lived and worked as servants could be among the first to witness and tell others of this blessed event.

“And here, we are gathered together over 2,000 years later, servants of God, who have been guided and directed by God back to Bethlehem to remember in our hearts that blessed moment in time,” he said. “And we, like the shepherds, should be changed in some way as a result of having this spirit-filled experience.

“God will always lead us to a predestined place spiritually, where we can experience Him anew,” Pastor Jackson added. “For it does not matter what’s going on in our lives or in this world, Jesus is the light that still shines bright in the hearts of those of us who have never forgotten that unto us a child has been born and His name is above every other name.  He is Jesus Christ, and He is the reason for the season and the hope of glory.”

The Caroling and Candlelight Service brought the month-long celebration at the church to a climax. This celebration commemorated the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Christmas Eve Night celebrations were preceded on Sunday, Dec. 21 by the “Christmas Celebration Service” during the regular Sunday Morning Worship Service. There was also the Annual Children’s Christmas Pageant in the afternoon.