Postlude: Noël étranger. Bay Shore Church Sunday Worship Service, December 1, 2024

Bay Shore Chancel Choir’s Annual Christmas Cantata In Worship this Sunday, Dec. 8th at 9:30 am Early Prelude by Organist Jason McNally, Quartet and Orchestra Ensemble This coming Sunday, our Chancel Choir will present their annual Christmas Cantata. Always a highlight of the Christmas season, you’ll want to invite your family and friends into our sanctuary to hear grand and glorious music of the season sung by our Chancel Choir and soloists, played on our 47 rank Wicks pipe organ and Steinway piano, and accompanied by an instrumental ensemble of strings, woodwinds and percussion. I created the artistic concept, made the musical choices, wrote the narration, and will be conducting the choir and orchestra for my final cantata before retiring from Bay Shore at the end of the year. Our choir has been working diligently for this day, so I hope you are able to attend in person or watch and listen online! Our cantatas, a pairing of both sung and spoken word always have a theme. This year, our Christmas cantata focuses on the journey to Bethlehem, one which all the Biblical characters took and the one we all take in this season of Advent as we approach the celebration of Jesus’s birth. Composers throughout history have understood the scriptural significance of their journey to Bethlehem and included it’s meaning in their compositions. We’ll be singing Gustav Holst’s Christmas Day as well as carols and spirituals by Lee Dengler, Dan Forrest, John Leavitt, Elaine Hagenberg, Victor Johnson, John Purifoy, and John Rutter. What significance does Bethlehem have for us today and how can this personal journey affect our daily lives? Come, see and hear the good news of Christmas through word and song! Julie Ramsey, Director of Music