By Christina Leslie, Correspondent
Once again, parishes throughout the Diocese of Trenton are prepared for their Christmas Carol Festivals – an annual tradition that brings generations together for a Christ-centered season.
The 45- to 90- minute programs, designed for people of all ages, focus upon the Savior and feature Scripture, music, witness and fellowship along with Christmas carols. The joyful and evangelistic event concludes with light refreshments and invitations to future parish events.
Christmas Carol Festivals originated in the Diocese of Trenton in 2007, with their scope broadening each year. In 2010, the program was awarded the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership’s “New Wineskins” award. This year, festivals are slated at parishes throughout New Jersey and across the nation.
Five-time participant Sacred Heart Parish, Mount Holly, will join with fellow Cohort 4 parishes this December to incorporate elements of the Hispanic “Las Posadas” tradition into the celebration, organizer Teresa Redder noted.
“Our theme this year is ‘Welcome the Child,’” she said. “We will have a boy and girl dressed as Joseph and Mary visit different tables [of attendees] and asking for lodging. We will have a manger filled with prayer intentions and sing carols.”
Redder believes CCFs are a valuable evangelizing tool for the parish, recalling, “Last year, we spoke with someone who had fallen away from the Church who said he loved it.”
St. David the King Parish, Princeton Junction, has held CCFs since their inception. Pastoral Associate Nanci Bachman called them “a very gentle way of inviting a person back to the Church.”
“We have screens with the words to the carols, and people can come to be a part of the familiar,” she said. “It brings the community together. People invite family members and friends … there’s no pressure. They can just come and enjoy.”
Bachman urged those considering attending a CCF to give them a chance. As for evangelization, she said, “it’s the Holy Spirit’s job. We just put it out there.”