With a simple but beautiful understanding of the importance of the Christ child, 8-year-old Sallie Morris walked down the aisle, carrying the figure high above her head — “Simba-style,” as she had seen in the movie The Lion King.
Sallie delivered the figure to the front of First United Methodist Church in Springdale with a flourish and a proud smile. “She was the most excited to carry the baby Jesus,” said Samantha Erikson, who helped guide the children in their tasks.
“All things were made through the Son of God, and even so, the Son of God was born into this world on Christmas,” said Rich Morris (Sallie’s father) before the children carried in the figures of the Nativity — the angel, the kings, a camel, the shepherds — one by one. “That night in Bethlehem is the turning point of all history, God’s work of salvation which began with a little family, huddled in a stable, and a mother struggling to bring her baby into the world. We bring forward the figures of the Nativity to remind us of the Christmas story and of God’s great love for us.”
In an Advent service Sunday evening, members of First United Methodist decorated the sanctuary for the season. Before each element of traditional Christian decorations was hung, members offered readings from the prophets and the Gospels, along with explanations of the traditions. Children carried each element, as the choir and congregation sang Christmas hymns.
Wearing a Christmas sweater rather than a robe, the Rev. Todd Lovell led the congregation. “How shall we prepare this house for the coming of the King?” asked the church’s associate pastor in the Call to Worship. “… How shall we prepare this house for the coming of the eternal Christ? … How shall we prepare this house for the coming of our Savior? … For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”
“There’ a real spirit of preparation that comes with welcoming a child into a family,” including decorating the nursery and baby showers to help the parents “stock up” on things they’ll need, said the Rev. Andrew Thompson, senior pastor. He also spoke of preparations in advance of a visit by a royal dignitary or a “presidential visit.”
“There a lot of prep work,” he said. “The visitor brings dignity to the town, gracing it with his presence. We are welcoming the King. We will prepare our house, our church, to welcome the most important one who could ever come and live among us.”
First, the children of the church carried green garland and poinsettias up the center aisle of the church, and member Carla Robison explained the symbolism.
“Cedar is the tree of royalty, fit for the building of palaces and temples. Pine and fir are evergreen, keeping their life from season to season. The holly is the symbol of suffering, with its blood red berries and thorny leaves. These symbols call to mind our Lord Jesus — a king forever, who has died and yet lives to bring us life eternal.”
All the children took their roles seriously as seriously as Sallie’s presentation of the Christ child. One little redhead concentrated by chewing on her tongue, which she held out of her mouth. Then, she had to look to Lovell for instructions after the job was done. Another child, keeping her eyes on her mother in her pew, forgot to give her pieces to the adult ready to place them.
Next, came music. “Music is the language of worship — given to us that we might lift our voices in praise of God,” read Wade Streubing. “Just as the angels sang on the night of Jesus’ birth, so too do we sing hymns and songs that rejoice in his coming.”
The children brought forth poster-size sheet music of the Christmas hymn “O Come All Ye Faithful,” which was hung on the walls with the help of adults. Then came bells and decorative trumpets — too much of a temptation for Landon Wright, who walked down the aisle with the trumpet to his lips. The hymn sung by the congregation, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” included trumpet solos by Danny Reding.
“For generation upon generation, Christian people have been called to worship with the sound of bells,” read Jordan Ziegler. “They call to mind the assembly of believers, which gather to worship and to witness that Jesus Christ is God. The trumpet is the sign of his final coming, when he shall carry us home again. Together bells and trumpet remind us of the gift of salvation that we have through the coming of Jesus into the world.”
Next, the children carried in Chrismons, white and gold ornaments with symbols representing Christ. Girls danced down the aisle to the music; boys raced each other. With a big red Christmas bow in her hair, 5-year-old Ellison Worthy would hand her Chrismons only to her parents, Jennifer and Josh Worthy, to hang on the tree.
“The Chrismon symbols teach us who Jesus is: the Alpha and Omega, which shows that he is the first and the last; the Chi Rho, which is the symbol for Messiah; and the Cross, which is the sign of his suffering for us,” explained Ryan Ritchie. “We hang them this night to share our witness that in him all things were made, that in him we may know salvation, and that in him we may find our true happiness and joy.”
“‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,’” said Morris, reading from John 1:1-5,9-14. “‘He was in the the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’
Laurinda Joenks can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWALaurinda.