3. Choir
Believe it or not, I’ve received complaint emails that I talk about choirs too much lately. But I can’t help it—even though we have distorted guitars wailing that would cause most music directors to be fired, we still have a praise choir, and the congregation LOVES it. Our terrific praise choir knows what a big deal Christmas Eve is and is willing to make the sacrifice of three services. Their added presence definitely adds life to the stage.
4. Carol singing
I like a mix of performance “wow” pieces as well as congregational involvement. Everyone likes singing carols, but too many can be wearing. This year, we’re doing my arrangements of O Little Town of Bethlehem followed by Go Tell It on the Mountain. Then we’ll flow into the part of “Mighty to Save” that goes “Shine your light and let the whole word see…” which recaps the theme of “Go Tell It” perfectly.
5. Candle lighting
After our pastor’s message, we sing “Silent Night,” and everyone in the room lights a candle. By the time all the candles are lit, we sing the last verse a capella—wow!
6. Familiar carols & new songs
Mixing old and new—that says it all for the 21st century worship leader, doesn’t it? Along with familiar carols, we’ll do new Christmas songs, only in our case, they’re songs we’ve written ourselves.
7. Snow
Everything I’ve mentioned so far is something a 300-member church can pull off, except maybe this one. A few years ago, I was at Disney during the holidays and loved how they have snow falling on main street (in Florida!). It’s this soapy stuff that dissolves when it hits the ground. I was telling worship leader Steve Smith about it, and he said, “Why not try it?” We rented a few snow blowers and let it snow during the big final song (the loud climax of the song covers the blower noise).
What single choice amoing these special Christmas Eve service ideas can you do this year to spruce up your own Christmas Eve service?
