Holiday Worship: St. Stephen's Church

The Christmas spirit will be abundant this weekend at St. Stephen's Church. Those hoping to be moved by the nativity story and music will be able to select from several services.

The Children's Service will be celebrated at 4 p.m. Christmas Eve in the Grace Commons Auditorium. The children will present videos, readings and special music.

"Come early to get a seat," said Stephan Bartling, communications director at St. Stephen's. "The children bring their grandparents and everybody else to that one."

Next there will be a candlelight and eucharist service in the sanctuary. Two more candlelight services will follow in the sanctuary at 8:30 p.m. (with a choral and orchestra prelude at 8 p.m.) and 11 p.m.

There will be one Christmas Day service at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary. Bartling describes this as a traditional Christmas service, which is expected to be more heavily attended than usual because it is also a Sunday. As many as 1,800 people are expected at St. Stephen's over the Christmas weekend.

Check back with Patch this week for more on how area churches are celebrating the Christmas holiday.