In this year when nothing feels particularly normal, our annual children’s musical promises to be an unprecedented production. Here are three reasons why:

1) It’s a musical you literally cannot see anywhere else.

Our very own Sally Green woke up in the middle of the night many years ago with a nudge from the Holy Spirit to “write this down!” Sally remembers it well: “The story just flowed from my pen and the story of “Lo and Behold” was born! It was the story of two tiny angels who were chosen to lead the Angel Armies of Heaven to announce the birth of the Christ Child.”

After several unsuccessful publishing attempts, she gave the story to her grandchildren as a Christmas gift. The music department of First Presbyterian presented it as a musical in 1993 but then the manuscript sat on her shelf until 2018 when she found a publishing opportunity. In late 2019, Lo and Behold made their hardback debut. Over the following summer, our choir director Greg Pysh re-adapted the earlier musical presentation, and Carolyn Price set to work to bring it to life for presentation in 2020.

Looking back, Sally thinks God’s timing was perfect. With Covid 19 running rampant and her husband Ralph experiencing a lot of health issues in 2020, this book and the musical were a welcome bright spot. “God must have had something in mind,” said Sally. “I just want to get the word out about Jesus for such a time is this… and this proved to be SUCH a time.”

2) Pandemic Children’s Choir is… well… interesting.

Like everything else this year, our children’s choir practices have been restructured, reordered, rearranged, and even cancelled. But the show must go on!

For kids who love choir, participating this fall has been a bright spot of (almost) normalcy in an extraordinarily complicated time. And in the end, for the kids, it’s not as much about the production as it is about tucking the timeless truths of Christ into their hearts through the catchy melodies. It’s about the fellowship with their church family – the chance to be anointed with oil by our pastors and have our leaders speak blessings over them. It’s about the opportunity to honor Sally’s creative work, an offering she’s made to God. It's about reflecting the beauty of the body of Christ when we each bring what we have to offer to the altar.

3) It’s a family affair!

Because our kids haven’t had as many opportunities to practice this year, part of this year’s musical will be a sing-a-long! Our children need to know we’re all in this together, so if you come to the performance, come ready to participate from where you’re sitting. When the words are on the screens, we want to embody the wisdom of a wise old elf, Buddy: “The best way to spread Christmas is cheer singing loud for all to hear.” (Motions too, if you know them!)

If you’re able to join us for the musical this Sunday night at 5:30 pm in the Sanctuary, please remember to:

• Wear a mask. (Yes, even when we’re singing.)
• Choose a seat from the pews marked with yellow cards and keep 6 feet between households. (No crowding into the front rows, please!)
• Don’t come too early. (Doors will open 30 minutes before service.)

We will close the Sanctuary doors when we’ve reached a safe capacity, so please bear with us in love should we need to do so. Livestreaming of the musical will be available for those who are not able to attend. It will also be recorded. You can purchase a copy of Sally's book in Lynn Hall after the event!