Our Hanging of the Greens service at FBC is so very special!  The Peace candle is lit and groups adorn certain sections of our church vestibule with wreaths, garlands and poinsettias.  This is correlated with stories, drama, and special music.

Two parts are dear to my heart.  The children retell the nativity story by putting in place hand carved nativity characters.  The story behind a Chrismon tree and its ornaments is shared with each of preschoolers given one of the Chrismon  ornaments to place on our big Chrismon tree located near the front entrance.

There has to be one child that doesn’t conform.  Ninety-nine percent of the kids, adorned in their Christmas finery performed perfectly.  What made the occasion so special was the tyke who took off running down the church aisle yelling some delightful gibberish.  I remembered him from our Christmas Ball on Saturday night.  At the ball he wouldn’t stop until he got a hug from one of the band singers.  On countless times throughout the night he managed to break loose from his parents, racing like mad across the room playing a game of  “catch me if you can.”

If you were to write a gospel story where would you start and what would you include?

The candles of Hope and Peace challenge us individually, as families, nationally, and internationally.  What is your response?