Getting Ready for the Half-Christmas Celebration!

When our children were younger, we held half-birthday celebrations for them, especially since my son's birthday was in July and otherwise he would miss marking the occasion at school. I have some misgivings about that now, since they still do not want to give the practice up and they are both in their twenties! But I digress. This coming Sunday, First United Lutheran Church is repeating a kind of half-Christmas Celebration -- a MidSummer Arts Festival close to the Nativity of St John the Baptist Day (June 24). On the 28th of June, we shall bring out the Arts indeed in celebration of John the Baptist as well as being half a year towards Christmas. We have pianists from child prodigies in the SMU Youth program to Cliburn Competition finalists. We have singers -- a South African and folks leading traditional German folk songs. Then we will offer a German Vespers service. The evening concludes with a Beer and Brats fest!
Christmas is a great time of the year. We hope to make half-Christmas a joyful, fun, and worshipful time as well.