While the weather outside was cold and wet, Otter Creek Assembly was comfortable inside Tuesday night as cookies were consumed, Santa Claus appeared and law enforcement personnel were honored.
The southwest Little Rock Assembly of God church celebrated its annual eve of Christmas Eve service, titled "It's A Blue Christmas," with church members and the public, this year extending a special invitation to law enforcement officials.
The service, complete with a blue-lit Christmas tree at the back of the stage, featured dancing, singing and storytelling. The songs, including "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Winter Wonderland," were powered by a full band, led by Fender Telecaster and saxophone. Santa Claus, about 24 hours from his big night, even hopped onstage to blow an imaginary saxophone during a comedy skit.
The church, of which John Tracy has been senior pastor for 18 years, has observed the eve of Christmas Eve for about five years. A church service two days before Christmas allows the congregation an opportunity for observing the holiday as one while also giving church families their own private time for celebrating, Tracy said.
This year's service was the first to honor law enforcement personnel, though.
"One of the things we wanted to do was especially honor our police officers who put their lives on the line," Tracy said. "When we first started this eve of Christmas Eve service, it was basically a service for the church people to celebrate Christmas. We started thinking this year of being more community-minded. We started thinking about what police officers are going through and what they experience. How a lot of times we just really need to rally around them and let them know they are appreciated."
Col. John Bailey, the retired director of the Arkansas State Police, was the honored guest of the night. Bailey, who is also the founder of a faith-based leadership program for law enforcement personnel called 10-33, said it was encouraging for a church to set aside a special night of worship, and the night was made more relevant after recent officer-involved shootings that sparked protests nationwide and the shooting deaths Saturday of two New York City officers.
"There's not a better time in America than right now to hold up our law enforcement members," Bailey said. "Here we are with the tragic deaths that law enforcement has found themselves involved in, and at a crossroads about how we are going to redefine law enforcement in our country."
The police officials who attended, including officers from the Little Rock department's southwest patrol division, enjoyed cookies before entering the sanctuary for the service.
Little Rock officer Brian Watkins was one of the patrolmen attending the event before starting work at 9:45 p.m., and he said the community support was welcomed.
"The way things are going, with the issues we are facing, it means a lot to know the community is thinking about us," Watkins said.
Metro on 12/24/2014