You are Cordially Invited to the
2019 Christmas Season Celebrations of Big Canoe Chapel
Sunday Worship Services – 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM
Advent Sermon Series: ALL IN
The PEACE LIGHT has come to Big Canoe Chapel all the way from Bethlehem.
A Christmas Blessing for us all! [Read more]
A Service of Lessons and Carols
Sunday Evening, December 15th – 7:00 PM [Read More]
[Watch the video here]
A Service of Hope and Remembrance
Wednesday, December 18th – 7:00 PM [Read More]
Worship on Christmas Eve
Family and Children Celebration – 5:00 PM [Read More]
Free Family Christmas Eve Photos Following Service [Read More]
A Candlelight Service – 7:00 PM [Read More] [Watch the video here]
Candlelight Communion Celebration – 10:00 PM [Read More]
A Moravian Lovefeast
Sunday, December 29th – 10:30 AM [Read More]
Joint Service in the Broyles Center
NOTE: There will be no 9:00 a.m. worship service, no Stand-Around, and no Sunday School classes on December 29th.
Read about the FIRST Christmas in the Chapel … [Click Here]
Details at ChristmasinBigCanoe.org ● 470-273-6768
Service of Lessons and Carols
“Thy Light Is Come”
Sunday Evening, December 15, 7:00 PM
The Big Canoe Chapel Choir, under the leadership of Rev. V. Lamar Helms, with James Garner, and Sam Holmes, accompanists, will present a Service of Lessons and Carols. A reception in the Broyles Center will follow. The Performance and reception are free and open to all.
This service is a progression of lessons and carols based on the traditional English Advent lessons and carols service. That traditional service allows time to sit, listen and reflect on the music and the message of Scripture as we allow the Christ Child’s advent to happen afresh in our hearts and minds. The Choir’s presentation and the reception afterward should make the evening a sensory event using sounds, sights, smells and tastes of the Advent and Christmas Seasons to bring about renewal and rebirth.
Our anthems, hymns, and scripture passages move from the need for restoration by a Savior Messiah, to prophesy, to annunciation, to the waiting Bethlehem, and finally to the celebration of the Christ-child’s birth. Through our music, we hope to announce the lesson that in the first Adam there is death, and in Jesus, the second Adam, all are come alive. We announce again, “Thy Light is Come.”
A highlight of the service is the Peace Light which originated in Bethleham and has now made its way to Big Canoe Chapel.
[Read More]
A Service of Hope and Remembrance
Wednesday, December 18th, 7:00 PM
The Service of Hope and Remembrance provides a time to cherish and celebrate memories of the past and to focus on hope for the future. Rather than being a service of sorrow, it is a service of love and encouragement.
For many, the Advent Season is, as the song says, “the most wonderful
time of the year”- a time of joy and festivity. However, for some, maybe
those who have lost loved ones or experienced some other tragedy, it can
be a time of sadness and loneliness. Some people feel isolated during
this time because the person with whom they have shared holidays in the
past is no longer present.
This is the second year of The Service of Hope and Remembrance at the Big Canoe Chapel. Please join us on December 18th.
Family and Children Celebration
Tuesday, December 24, 5:00 PM
A celebration of the birth of our Savior designed especially for children and families, including symbolic passing of the light. This is an opportunity for families to celebrate the birth of Jesus and the unconditional love God has shown to us.
Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship
Tuesday, December 24, 7:00 PM
A worship celebration featuring the lighting of the Christmas candle, symbolic sharing of the light, special Christmas music, and Christmas meditation.
Abby Cates, 2018 contestant on The Voice, will be the guest soloist.
Christmas Eve Communion
Tuesday, December 24, 10:00 PM
A worship celebration including prayer, meditation, and Communion
––
Moravian Lovefeast
Sunday, December 29, 10:30 AM
The Moravian Lovefeast has become a tradition at Big Canoe Chapel. Here is some background information that may clarify why this is such a meaningful service.
The Moravian Lovefeast evolved from the practices of the early Christian churches described in the New Testament. Separate from Communion, these early believers routinely shared food and drink as a time to express Jesus’s commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you”.
The Moravian Church (Moravia is now part of the Czech Republic) is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the world, with its heritage dating back to the 15th century. Its emblem is the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) with the flag of victory, surrounded by the Latin inscription: Vicit agnus noster, eum sequamur (English: “Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him”). The Moravians began celebrating the Lovefeast in 1727 as a special time of fellowship and spiritual renewal. Later, Methodists also practiced Lovefeasts. Today the traditional Moravian Lovefeast consists of a Moravian bun and sweetened, creamed coffee. This year at Big Canoe Chapel we will be having our own form of simple treats, but the meaning of the Lovefeast remains.
The Lovefeast is a time to recognize and express thanks for the gifts that each member brings to the spiritual community. Hymns describing love and harmony are sung and, as noted above, simple food and drink are served. The service concludes with each participant lighting a white candle adorned with red ribbons. The light of the candle represents the Light that came into the world when Jesus was born while the red shows the coming Passion of Christ as he sacrifices himself for our sins. Through this combined symbolism, we acknowledge that we cannot celebrate Christ’s birth without knowing that his crucifixion will be required for God’s glorification to take place.
Please join us at 10:30 am on Sunday, December 29th, in Cousins Hall for our Moravian Lovefeast. NOTE: There will be no 9:00 worship service, no Stand-around, and no Sunday school classes on December 30.
Free Family Photos
Christmas Eve – Cousins Hall
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
In Cousins Hall, we’ll take your family Christmas photo by the tree … your camera or ours!
(Photos will be emailed to you).
The Peace Light
The Peace Light from Bethlehem campaign was originally organized in 1986 by the Austrian Broadcasting Company – ORF (Linz) – and was part of a large charitable relief mission -Light into Darkness, for children in need in Austria and abroad. Since 1989, there has been a great deal of co-operation between Scouts and Guides in many countries, which has allowed the light to travel throughout Europe.
Each year, a child from Upper Austria fetches the light from the grotto in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. The light is then flown to Austria from where it is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of peace, to their own countries for use at ecumenical services throughout the Continent. Scouts and Guides can then take the light on to houses of worship, hospitals, homeless shelters, old people homes, prisons, and places of public, cultural and political importance – to anybody who appreciates the significance of the “gift”.
The Peace Light first came to New York in 2001 by Canadian Scouts who brought it to Ground Zero. In 2002, DHL delivered the Peace Light as a gift from Belgian Scouts and Guides to the Boy Scouts of America in NY. In 2003 the light didn’t make it to the U.S. Fortunately, members of the diocesan Scouting committee had kept the 2002 Peace
Light burning and spread that around the diocese.
This year Victoria Kampenhuber from Austria was chosen as the orf-Friedenlightkind 2019. She went to Bethlehem and lite a lantern on November 26, 2019. Austrian Airlines supports the program and flew representative with the Peace Light from Israel to Austria. Ceremonies were held in Vienna with the Peace Light, and started to spread
throughout Europe. On Friday, December 6, Austrian Airlines transported representatives with the Peace Light to New York, JFK International Airport. There was a distribution ceremony held at Our Lady of the Skies Catholic Chapel at the Airport, where many people lite lanterns. The Light began its pilgrimage across the U.S. via volunteers, many of which are Scouts and Scouters associated with the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts transferring and sharing it in their communities.
Will Dodson, along with scouts from Troop 20 and Pack 20 will help present the Peace Light to Big Canoe Chapel at the Lessons and Carols service on Sunday night, December 15, at 7:00 p.m.
More information can be found at –
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PeaceLightNorthAmerica/