Serving God in the heart of our community since 1881

St Andrew's Church, Taunton

Standing room only at our Community Carol Service 2006

by Adrian Smith - 24 December 2006

I was on Sidesman duty for our first major service during our interregnum.  It was a great pleasure and privilege to welcome people of all ages as they arrived at St. Andrew's on a cold December night.  And the people just kept on coming...  and coming...  St Andrew's is a big church but the place was filled and there were people standing at the back. The hard work of all those who distributed leaflets around the parish certainly paid off.

The service was the result of huge amounts of prayer, planning and work by St. Andrew's Reader Katharine Smith, Director of Music Alan Cook, and Jan Hopwood from St. Andrew's School.  The carol Come and Join the Celebration set the tone for an evening that reminded all of us who were feeling a bit jaded, of just why we still do Christmas.

The evening sparkled: hundreds of candles illuminated the church - it took Martyn ages to go around with his step ladder lighting them before the service.

In addition to enjoying singing all the familiar carols, the congregation were hugely impressed by the quality and range of music performed by both the church and school choirs, and the orchestra from the school.  It was obvious that huge amounts of rehearsal must have taken place to make the results so outstanding. Readings too, were all to a high standard, with a special mention due to Stacey and Rosie from St. Andrew's School who led the prayers with great confidence and sincerity.

As the final strains of O Come All Ye Faithful died away in the candlelit church, and we moved to enjoy the punch and mince pies kindly provided by our friends at St. Andrew's Men's Club, I felt privileged to be present at such an event. The evening was a wonderful example of planning and teamwork coming to fruition and creating something extraordinary and memorable.

Thank you to each and every person involved and bless you for the many hours of work you put in.  The service was a wonderful act of worship which captured the joy of the birth of Jesus and the good news that He brings to humankind.

No one could ask for more.

Adrian Smith

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