Family Ministries Christmas Party
The Family Ministries Christmas Party held on Tuesday, December 18th in the Parish Hall was a lot of fun for all involved. In addition to the volunteers, 27 children and 25 adults attended. We were blessed to have Scenic City Games in attendance. They provided board games for all ages and skill levels and the game tables were busy throughout the evening.
The Messy Church Team arrived early to set up and proceeded to transform the parish hall into a winter wonderland with festive garlands, strings of Christmas lights, plush Christmas stockings, and assorted colourful decorations. The Christmas Moose was a definite hit. Red and green lights twinkled on the ceiling. J-P was dressed as the Christmas Elf and made sure that the volunteers all had elf hats to wear.
The children enjoyed the seasonal crafts which included decorating paper gingerbread people, colouring decorations to paste on a cardboard Christmas tree, making paper plate Santa Claus faces, and icing and decorating sugar cone Christmas trees. For those not inclined to be crafty, there was a game of candy cane fishing as well as the board games available.
The buffet table, which proved to be popular, offered colourful Christmas pizza, pigs-in-blankets, crackers and cheese, different varieties of potato chips, cookies, clementines, and the most adorable little grinches made out of green grapes, bananas, strawberries, and miniature marshmallows.
Of course, no Christmas Party would be complete without a visit from Santa and this Christmas party did not disappoint. J-P read The Night Before Christmas and passed out candy canes with bookmarks telling the Legend of the Candy Cane. Santa read the nativity story and then handed out treats to the children. The evening finished with a pass the present game and one young man performing impromptu Christmas music karaoke.
It was a great time for families from the church and from the neighbourhood to get together and celebrate as families. One mom remarked to me that more churches should offer events like this for children. She was impressed with the warm and joyful interactions that the children had with the volunteers at the various activity centres, and promised to come out with her children to our Messy Church in January.
Building relationships, sharing the love and joy of the Lord, celebrating as a community -- all that was there and more at this Christmas Party. To God be the glory, and on earth peace and good will among all people as we welcome the Christ child once more into our midst. Merry Christmas everyone!
Our next party will be MESSY CHURCH Jan 29th at 5:30pm. Join us!!
