This event has become a welcome annual spot on my calendar. The UCC church in Old Zionsville is the home of the Village School, a pre-school that I’ve done some work with over the years and the children’s pastor has picked up on my performance for an early evening Christmas service for kids and families.
Tonight, I had the time constraint of my WDIY radio show at 7 pm, so I was conscious of getting done by 6 pm. We started around 5.
As usual, everyone sits in the back but I lay out my bag of instruments and that seems to do the trick to gather, at least, the kids up front. Tonight, I did it before the service and that broke the ice early.
Lori, the children’s pastor started out with an interactive nativity story and I was concerned about my portion of the event. Lori was also big on using the projection screen behind me, so I had to twist around often to see if my verses of the carols were the same as on the screen. It’s a little disconcerting to have folks read the lyrics to tunes that should be in the common usage. It’s a new age.
I threw in a couple tunes unfamiliar to the congregation: Mary Had a Baby, Zat You, Santa Claus and I also did Peanut Butter and Jelly just to break things up and add a little whimsy. I tried to get the audience to hear their own voices in this nice sanctuary by dropping my own voice and guitar out of the mix. It works wonders.
It went well and grandparents, parents and kids all had a good time. I made it back to the studio in good time, feeling satisfied with my addition to these family’s Christmas Eve. It’s a good gig.