Imagine the beauty of 100 lit candles arrayed on the steps of the Telluride Elementary School on a cold winter’s night. With every breath, smoke rises and the gathered sing carols and hear the lessons of the Christmas season. Christ Presbyterian Church will host its Christmas Eve Outdoor Candlelight service Saturday at 5 p.m. The public is invited to attend. The school is located across the street from the church at 447 West Columbia Ave.
The service was moved outdoors last year as a means to protect the congregation from COVID-19. In 2020, before a vaccine was developed and social distancing was the norm, Christ Church’s Rev. Pat Bailey found another way to connect.
“In 2020, I recorded a Christmas message from the Valley Floor, just me and the camera,” Bailey said.
Last year, he explained, he and his flock thought it still too risky to hold indoor services, so they moved it outdoors.
“The outside service we put together was so lovely and so well received and attended that we just wanted to do it again,” Bailey said. “It is a short and simple service that people really appreciate.”
One congregant, Kyle Koehler, said the service attracted more a strong turnout.
“We saw over 100 people gather in the front school yard, many visitors from out of town and overseas,” Koehler said. “We gave each person a candle and passed the lighting at the end of the service.”
Holding light in the darkness is of great comfort to humans this time of year, and Christmas Eve and Christmas are right on the heels of Winter Solstice — the longest night of the year. Christian tradition observes the short days and long nights with Advent calendars leading up to the accepted — though much is unknown — date of Christ’s birth.
“We don’t really know what time of year Jesus was born,” Bailey said. “I think that the winter solstice, or thereabouts, was chosen for the metaphor of the coming of light. Darkness is not really a negative metaphor in Christianity. Advent (the four weeks before Christmas) is a time to honor the darkness, to slow down, rest and reflect in spiritual preparation for the coming of the light.”
Bailey said that inclusivity is the basis for Saturday’s gathering. There is not a sermon, so much as there is the ritual of lighting candles.
“There is not really a sermon in the outside Christmas Eve service,” he said. “The lighting of the Christ candle serves as the sermon. My sermons at Christmas are usually about allowing this to be a widely inclusive holiday. The imagery of Christmas is bigger than Christianity and one does not have to be a Christian to get the message, ‘Peace on Earth and goodwill to all.’”
Temperatures Saturday evening are forecast to be in the low 20s, so Christ Church officials remind attendees to dress warmly. The gathering will be brief — about 30 minutes — and everyone is invited to the church across the street for warm drinks and treats afterwards.
There will be ample time to catch the Christmas Eve torchlight parade of skiers down the face of the ski resort at 6:30 p.m. Skiers bearing torches create a river of light down the town-facing slopes, making for a terrific photo opportunity.
Also on Christmas Eve, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church is holding several masses at the historic church. There will be a Children’s Holy Mass at 4 p.m., with additional masses at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
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