The 2007 Candlelight Carol Service was probably the most well attended community event at Greenford Baptist Church in living memory. We were delighted that more guests came along this year than church people–and that the building was full to capacity.
The double halls were beautifully decorated with seasonal green leafy displays, hundreds of warm candles kept the cold night air at a good distance and around 30 colourfull national flags which had been re-hung all round the two halls. The flags represent the nationalities of those currently attending Greenford Baptist Church and it was announced that three new flags had just been added for 2007.
There were liberal helpings of multimedia served up in the Carol Service–most of the live action on the stage was projected onto the big screen so those further back could see (more about the live video later). There were two audio visual presentations on the screen–one about the charactors in Christmas story and the other about the importance of people's names, including the name of Jesus. The new multicoloured stage lighting really added to the warmth and ambience of the event.
The carol singing by the young children was really lovely and everybody was is good voice during the carol singing. A specially put together choir sang a beautiful song "Thorn in the straw". There were several interviews given by members of the church about what Christmas meant to them in their original countries and how they became Christians.
Hot mince pies and punch were enjoyed at the end, along with many good conversations–and friendships were made or renewed.
The live video feed to the big screen on the stage was recorded and you can see and hear the resulting one hour video below. On a technical note, because the lighting levels during the Candlelight Carol Service are always low, the camera had to be set to the low light setting and this produces a jerking video effect whenever there is fast movement. As this video was originally intended to be a live feed and not to be made public, the audio and visual quality is not up to our usual professional standard. It was felt, however, that the content would be enjoyable to those who couldn't be with us.
VIDEO:
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