Richland Baptist Church invites patrons and guests to spend Christmas Eve away in a manger.
The Kingdom City church is one of many in Callaway County that will host a special service either Christmas Eve or Day, but Richland Baptist plans to hold its service in a unique location - members Harlan and Judy Borman's barn.
"Obviously it's just a unique way to remember and celebrate the birth of Christ," Pastor Nick Drake said. "It gets people's attention and helps us to realize the significance of the truth of the story that we celebrate. It's the closest thing in a sense we can get to the manger and the stable in Bethlehem, so we wanted to do this to kind of bring people back 2,000 years to get an experience of what it was like to worship Jesus in a manger."
...
The service will be held 6 p.m. at the Borman's barn, 4704 County Road 240 in Kingdom City. Members of the community and their children are all welcome.
Churchgoers throughout Callaway County have other options for services over the holidays as well.
•Court Street United Methodist Church will host a Christmas Eve service, 7 p.m. at the church. Court Street UMC is part of a tradition of rotating hosting duties with fellow Court Street houses of worship First Christian Church and First Presbyterian Church.
•St. Alban's Episcopal Church will hold a Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist service at 7 p.m. Fellowship will commence after the service at the Forsythe's home. For information call (573) 642-4622.
•Auxvasse City Presbyterian Church will host a special Christmas Eve service at 5:30 p.m., including communion.
•Prairie Chapel United Methodist Church will host its final service as part of its "Seeking Christ at Christmas" series, "Shepherds Living in the Fields," beginning at 11 a.m. today. The church will also host a Christmas Eve service, "Christmas is Only the Beginning," at 5 p.m. Dec. 24.
•New Bloomfield United Methodist Church will hold Christmas Eve services beginning at 11 p.m.
•Freedom Christian Church will host candlelight service 7 p.m. Christmas Day.