Large congregations made last Sunday (18 December) the biggest in church attendance of the year. The Nativity Play service on Sunday morning attracted a good number of the family and friends of our cast, but an equal number of our own members and visitors who were positively charmed by the lovely performance of our children, telling the story of Christmas.
Nicole Feaster's wonderful cast for "A Christmas Pageant", our 2016 edition of the annual Nativity Play, provided a beautiful production of the story of Bethlehem and baby Jesus for the congregation gathered at Saint Paul's. Baby Jesus, portrayed by Joshua Benjamin (4 months old) was particularly wonderful in his role, as was last year's Baby Jesus, Amadea Turrell, who was "The Star" of the production, brightly leading the wise men on their journey find the new born king.
Click here for more of Simon Wynne's photos from this years Nativity Play.
The annual Carol Service took place Sunday evening, 18 December, with the expanded Saint Paul's Choir and the congregation, filling Saint Paul's with the cheerful sounds of the Christmas Season. The choir was particularly appreciated for its joyous rendition of "Ding, dong merrily on high" and other seasonal favourites. At the conclusion of the service, Liesel Jürgens and Hervé Feraud, soprano and trumpet, joined our organist Gottfried Kappen in a glorious performance of the "Laudate" from W.A. Mozart's Mass in C Minor.
As has long been his custom, Archbishop Bernard Barsi of Monaco was on hand to lend encouragement and support to our community once again this year for the Carol Service at Saint Paul's. He was joined by the Ecumenical Officer of the Diocese of Monaco and a longtime friend of our church, Père Patrick Keppel.
