The Christmas season has come to a close, and harking back to what was a blessed time at LCPC, including various events from the traditional carolling outside Barbican station distributing invites to our Christmas service, to the Christmas service itself, we can share a newer addition to our seasonal calendar, ‘ThanksMas’, an evening in which we worshipped God in thankfulness and praise, with the backdrop of the interwoven tapestry that is the collective heritages of our multi-national congregation coming together.
On a blowy December night in London, the people of LCPC, our friends and family flocked to this festive event in our church, a celebratory fusion of Thanksgiving and Christmas where we gathered to fellowship, eat, sing praise and enjoy various creative activities in the warmth and sparklingly-lit building of St. Botolph’s. This was our second year of incorporating this social and worshipful amalgamation of the two holidays into our advent calendar.
It was a delightful evening; a bountiful spread of delicious food prepared by the culinary-minded among us was laid out for all to enjoy together, doing so underneath an ethereal constellation of lights and festive decorations suspended across the proceedings, providing a warm glow over the hum of many conversations, singing, reciting scripture, and some healthy competition. There were many opportunities to meet new people, the tables were covered with long reams of paper and various pens, pencils and other colourful artistic tools to be creative if we wished, and lists of prompting questions printed on cards, to get to know each other better, were additionally scattered along the tables. There was even a ‘Tape the Feather on the Turkey’ competition (see picture below) on an easel for all to play. After eating, we turned to the front of the church where members of our congregation performed worship songs, recited scripture, and brought the entire group together in the singing of carols, which echoed throughout the building while the wind howled outside.
At the heart of the matter, ThanksMas reflected the merging of the many cultures in our congregation under a unified banner – the point and pinnacle of it all – thanking and worshipping our God for his son, Jesus Christ.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
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