Saint Andrew Events

My favorite thing about the Advent and Christmas season is the music.  It’s true that most of us get tired of the same Christmas carols being played over and over again in retail stores. But there is a whole world of Christmas music that never makes it into those commercial playlists.

This year, Saint Andrew has an impressive variety of musical events featuring Christmas music.  Last week, our ukelele group had their monthly community sing-a-long. It was a fun evening of singing and hula dancing – you’d be amazed how many Hawaiian Christmas songs there are.

On Saturday night, Dec. 16, we took a boat tour on the Riverwalk and sang Christmas carols to the throngs of people along the San Antonio River. I was glad we were on the boats instead of on the crowded sidewalks.  The lights along the river are always beautiful and our unrehearsed singing of familiar carols was a lot of fun.

On Christmas Eve, our worship service will center around our choir’s Christmas cantata, telling the biblical Christmas story. This music includes several familiar Christmas hymns and some lesser known, but beautiful, European carols. Along with the celebration of communion and candle-lighting, this will be a genuinely spiritual and meaningful evening of worship.

Finally, on the Wednesday evening after Christmas, the Colonial Hills Elementary choir will join our Agape Band for another sing-a-long for the whole community. Once again, there will be familiar carols as well as new music.

If you are tired of repetitive and commercial Christmas music, join us for a deeper exploration of our spiritual heritage. Together, we’ll celebrate this special season through God’s gift of music.

(P. S.  One of my personal favorite ways of escaping the same old Christmas songs is the music of Nowell Sing We Clear.  This English musical group can be heard on YouTube and, if you’ve never heard them before, they’re like nothing you’ve experienced before. They sing old English folk carols with traditional instruments and listening to them is like traveling in a time machine back to a much older and wilder time.)