West Shanghai Church held a Christmas Eve music worship service on Tuesday evening.
Most registered churches in Shanghai mark Christmas Eve with traditional music services. It started with the entry of the choir into the main hall with electronic candles in their hands. Then the joint choir of about 39 people sang “Silent Night.”
Classic carols like “Silent Night,” “O Come Ye All Faithful,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Joy to the World,” “Gloria Patri” are usually presented by choirs during Christmas services.
Most choirs in official churches mainly consist of middle-aged and elderly members. It was a highlight during the service at West Shanghai Church that the young members of the choir stood on the second floor to present “Praise in the Desert,” a modern Christian song created by the Stream of Praise, the first overseas Chinese praise and worship ministry. Before singing, a female member read an article related to the theme of the song, demonstrating the fragility of men’s lives and God’s faithfulness. The rest of the anthems were performed by the joint choir.
After a short sermon on the birth of Jesus Christ, Pastor Hu Huiqin called people to follow the Lord, and more than 30 people responded with the prayer of sinners.
Every participant received a calendar with monthly Bible verses as a Christmas gift.
West Shanghai Church originated from a local preaching station that was established by two Swedish missionaries from the Assemblies of God in Beixinjing, an area in today’s Changning District, in 1918. Ni Kwei-tsen, the mother of Soong Mei-ling, and two Christian women often preached the gospel to locals in carriages. Now there are around 10,306 registered members under the care of six pastors.
