Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas - Christmas Play Ideas

!±8± Christmas - Christmas Play Ideas

One of the biggest things about Christmas in the church is putting on a Christmas play for the congregation. The play is usually put on by the children of the Sunday School class. The problem churches have, especially with a stable congregation that doesn't change much, is that with putting on these plays year after year, they can become rather stale if you're putting on the same play all the time. To help with this problem, what you'll find in this article are several ideas for Christmas plays that your church can do that just might keep things interesting, at least for a while anyway.

An easy play to put on if you have about ten or so children is a reenactment of the birth of Jesus. The best way to do this is to have a narrator tell the story of the birth and while he does this, have the children go through the motions. This way they don't have to learn any lines. All they need to be shown is where they have to walk and where their spots are. The play can be broken up at certain parts with Christmas hymns. For example, during the part where the three kings bring their gifts to Jesus, the congregation can sing "We Three Kings". There are about five or six hymns that will fit in nicely during this play. The whole production should take about 30 minutes and is very easy to pull off.

Another idea, if you don't have a large Sunday School, is to have some adults put on a play. A very good one is to teach the children the real meaning of Christmas. One such scenario might include a family rushing to and fro, doing their Christmas shopping. While this is going on, the ghosts of Mary and Joseph appear and notice how commercialized Christmas has become. They're saddened by this fact and think back to a better time, a time when the real meaning of Christmas wasn't lost. We then switch to a scene of a family going to church and participating in a traditional Christmas service. Afterwards, they come home and have a dinner where they give thanks to God and read from the bible. When we return back to the present we miraculously see all the families who were lost in the commercialism of Christmas suddenly realizing the real meaning of the holiday.

Another idea would be to have musicians come into the church, have a narrator tell the story of Christmas and after each reading of a particular part, have the musicians play various Christmas hymns. While they are playing, you can have some children act out certain parts relating to the music being played.

These are just a few of the many things that you can do at your church when it comes time to put on a Christmas service. With a little imagination and a few volunteers, which always helps, there is no reason that you can't put on a Christmas play that your congregation will remember for a long time to come.


Christmas - Christmas Play Ideas

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

How Is Christmas in Jamaica Celebrated?

!±8± How Is Christmas in Jamaica Celebrated?

Christmas in Jamaica is celebrated in almost all parts of the island. The residents celebrate it with so much vigor and festivity that it relentlessly attracts guests every year.

Throughout the Christmas season, most places in Jamaica are mostly adorned with vibrant banners, colorful balloons, accordion-style bells, tinsels, traditional wreaths and colorful Christmas lights. Homes are festooned with the newest tablecloths and curtains. Families spend Christmas together in big, festive reunions and gatherings.

Restaurants and food places are also memorable with the special foods and drinks served during the Christmas festivities. The unique-tasting ackee with salted fish, sumptuous roasted duck or chicken, tangy goat curry, appealing rice and gungo peas and mouth-watering stewed ox tail are a few of the usual meals served in the island during Christmas. Plus, these meals are mostly accompanied by the delectable sorrel - Jamaica's special Christmas drink made of cinnamon, rum, sorrel sepal, sugar and orange peel.

Store places, especially the Grand Market, are also filled with jubilance of Christmas. All are characterized by the galore of scrumptious food, holiday crafts, energetic street dancing and strongly accentuated offbeat Christmas music. Accessories, small things and various gift items are also sold in many kiosks in the market. They are all set up with toys, balloons, firecrackers, cakes like the grater cakes, sweets like the pinda and peppermint sticks. Fruit cakes made of mixed fruits, rum and wine are sold in almost all corners of market places. People come dressed in fancy clothes, most wearing bright hats or exclusively-made costumes for Christmas. They celebrate the holiday even until dawn.

The streets in Jamaica during Christmastime are filled with merrymakers dressed in amusing masquerade costumes. This is Jamaica's traditional way of celebrating the holiday, also known as the Junkanoo. During the Junkanoo, male revelers often wore huge masks adorned with marks, images or ornaments of cow heads, horse heads, devils, wild Indians and a lot more. Festivities are all replete with the smell of traditional foods that waft in the air and no day goes by without mysterious bands in gigantic costumes marching in cultural events.

Public places are decked with elaborate holiday ornaments. They are packed with seemingly never-ending concerts and parties during the season. Despite the fact that its natives have never seen snow, Santa Claus, giving gifts and Christmas carols are very present during this time of the year. Even ever popular Christmas songs Silent Night and Holy Night can be heard in all parts of the island. They are both played in its classical and reggae versions, together with the other all-time favorite songs during Christmastime.

Indeed, from the private homes to the streets and public places of this far, secluded Caribbean island, Christmas is nothing but a scintillating experience. It is marked with glee and excitement; it is filled with non-stop feasting, celebrations, parties, special treats, happy gatherings, entertainment and colorful parades; and it is never complete without Christmas ornaments and Christmas music in reggae. So as the song Christmas in Jamaica goes, Christmas in the island is nonetheless a perfect holiday.


How Is Christmas in Jamaica Celebrated?

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