It was a Giggly Wiggly children’s service at 5 pm tonight, one aimed at families and kids. I was looking forward to spending some time with kids tonight, and this was good for my soul. I was asked by the assistant pastor, Lori, to do Away in a Manger, O Come All Ye Faithful and Silent Night and I offered Mary Had a Baby. I was allowed one secular Christmas one so I decided to do Rudolph along with the others.
We opened with O Come All Ye Faithful and Lori followed with a homily. There was an offering to Away in a Manger and as the kids walked back, they picked up an rhythm instrument for Mary Had a Baby. I looked towards the pastor for guidance (she had said that she liked to go with the flow) and she motioned, keep on going. I did Rudolph to the delight of all. Where do we go from here? Deck the Halls, I suppose, with the kids doing the Falalala….
The pastor in the back nodded, keep on going. I felt my Christmas stuff was spent, so I leaned on my kids stuff and did Tutti Tah with the kids up with me in the front. Hardly religious but very entertaining. Still, the pastor motioned, keep it rolling. I was starting to sweat. It was supposed to be only a half hour set, and Silent Night was the closer.
So I rolled out Peanut Butter and Jelly, splitting the girls and the boys up front, calling on the men and women in the audience to help out. Again, it was a lot of fun, but my tank was close to empty. Gratefully, the pastor had come up behind me and we finished up with Silent Night, two verses with repeat of the first verse with just the singing. It was a good and proper ending for the service and I had worked up a sweat.
There were about 130 people in attendance which pleased the UCC folks and Lori, the pastor. Several families from outside of the congregations showed up, which was a surprise, as well.
I had done a monthly residency at this church’s preschool last spring so I recognized several of the kids from those sessions and I was pleased that they were ready and eager to join in. It was good to connect with them again.
I drove home for my Christmas Eve by myself, content that I had spent part of it in my element, performing for kids.