Caroling In the Neighborhood

Shortly before Christmas a group of St. Helen parishioners (adults, families, RCIA folks, singles, etc) joined with members from St. Mark's Episcopal to carol in the neighborhood. The event was conceived as an evangelization effort, trying to invite the unchurched to appreciate the beautiful carols of Christmas, their rich Christian meaning. To this end, Katherine from St. Mark's and Joan from St. Helen's put together a booklet, which we left at each house. The booklet included 8 popular hymns and their meanings, a message from the pastors of St. Mark's, Spinning Road Baptist, and St. Helen's, and also the Christmas service schedule for these three churches. After a pizza dinner at St. Helen's, the group of about 50 split into two and off we went, with amazing results. In the group in which I caroled, just one person did not respond, but: all others opened their doors, some stepped outside in the cold to join the singing after being given a booklet, one took pictures, 2 cried, all smiled, one told of a recent family death and said that this was so helpful for her, one said that in his 50 years of life this had never happened to him. We ended the evening with hot chocolate and cookies at St. Mark's. Did any attend our Christmas services as a result? We will probably never know, but our gratification was enormous. And isn't that just the way God usually works?