CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, West Columbia, S.C., a
congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will
hold three Christmas Eve services Dec. 24. One will be broadcast live on
local television and carried simultaneously on the Web -- intended
especially for deployed military personnel in places such as Afghanistan
and Iraq, many of whom are from U.S. military facilities in South
Carolina and the southeastern United States.
WIS-TV, Columbia, S.C., will broadcast Mt. Tabor's Christmas Eve
worship at 7 p.m. EST. The broadcast will be carried simultaneously at
http://www.WISTV.com on the Web. The station plans to rebroadcast the
service on Christmas Day and make the service available for on-demand
viewing on the Web site.
The television broadcast and webcast are a "mission and outreach
opportunity" for Mt. Tabor, said the Rev. Paul E. Aebischer, one of Mt.
Tabor's two pastors. "The congregation is excited because Christmas Eve
services are always beautiful. Once we got over our initial nervousness
about this, the more excited we became about sharing this service with
the community," he said.
Anonymous benefactors have provided financial support for previous
local Christmas Eve broadcasts, said Celie M. Addy, director of
communications, ELCA South Carolina Synod, Columbia. The synod assisted
in locating Mt. Tabor for this year's broadcast, she said. A
simultaneous webcast was suggested during discussions with the station
this year, Addy said.
The synod and the congregation are asking members to contact
deployed military personnel to invite them to watch Mt. Tabor's service.
"We're very excited about the service being online," Addy
said. "This is like a taste of home for the deployed personnel."
"We are glad that some deployed military personnel will be able to
watch. The congregation is very mindful of that," Aebischer said.
WIS-TV staff and Mt. Tabor's worship leaders have had at least three
production meetings to prepare for the broadcast, said Aebischer. A few
pews have been moved out of the sanctuary temporarily to provide space
for lights and scaffolding for cameras, he said. Tonight (Dec. 21),
worship leaders, choirs and musical ensembles will rehearse the service
with the production team.
"Itâ€TMs been neat to have so many people in the congregation working
for four or five weeks on a project," he said.
The service will be a typical Lutheran Christmas Eve worship, with
plenty of choral and instrumental music, featuring Mt. Tabor's youth and
adult choirs, a handbell choir and a string quartet, he said. A musician
with Palmetto Pipes and Drums will play bagpipes during anthems,
Aebischer said. The congregation will also provide broadcast commentary
to describe parts of the worship. About 280 people are expected to
attend.
The synod plans to work with the station and other Columbia-area
ELCA congregations to host Christmas Eve worship broadcasts in future
years, Addy said.
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A promotional announcement for Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church's Christmas
Eve service is at http://www.sclutheran.org/ on the Web.
Information about Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church is at
http://www.mttaborlutheran.org/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
