On Christmas Eve, St Columba’s Church was full downstairs, with more people in the gallery for the candlelit service of carols and readings, led by our Pastoral Friend, Revd Gordon Connacher.  There were many excited children in the congregation, looking forward to Christmas.  Highlights of the service included organ and keyboard duets, a clarinet solo of When a Child is Born, and the final carol, Silent Night, during which lights were dimmed so that we were lit only by the many candles around the church.  Gordon reminded us that at the first Christmas, God himself had come to earth in human form, and spoken in words we could understand.

A shorter and smaller all-age service on Christmas morning sparked emotional memories of a trip to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and a happy reunion with good friends.  We were encouraged to share the love of God with the world around us in the coming year.