The Chelsea Community Church (CCC), an independent, non-denominational, lay-led congregation for people of all faiths, will celebrate its 50th annual Candlelight Carol Service on Sunday, December 15 at 6 PM at St. Peter’s Chelsea (346 W. 20th St).
The service includes scripture, choir singing and the highlight, a reading of the famous poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, this year by Karen Mason, star of Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, cabaret and musical recording. Sometimes called (Twas) the Night Before Christmas, the poem was published anonymously in 1823, attributed to famous New Yorker, writer and scholar, Clement Clark Moore who had an estate in Chelsea. Its colorful description of St. Nick is credited with giving us our modern version of Santa Claus.
Moore led the development of Chelsea as a garden suburb. The character of the neighborhood today, with its small, stately brownstones with setbacks to allow for gardens, owes much to Moore’s skill and sensitivity in urban planning. St. Peter’s Chelsea, an Episcopal church that Moore founded, is where Chelsea Community Church meets. Each year the sanctuary is specially decorated for this special evening celebrating the holidays.
Karen Mason “has few peers when it comes to ripping the roof off with her amazing voice that knows no bounds!” (TheatreScene.net) The recipient of the 2019 MAC Lifetime Achievement Award, she is a 14-time MAC Award winner and has won the MAC Award for Major Female Vocalist of the Year for six consecutive years. She has also won the 2006 Nightlife Award for Major Female Vocalist and has three Bistro Awards.
Chelse Community Church offers a supportive environment for people of all faiths and of uncertain faith. The CCC mission statement is: to enable each individual to define personal religious beliefs, to worship in prayer, music, reading, and interpretation of Scripture with speakers from a variety of backgrounds, and to nurture each other in spiritual growth, while respecting and accepting a diversity of beliefs, to share with and support each other in the daily and extraordinary events of our lives and to help those in need both inside and outside our congregation.
The Candlelight Carol Service is free and open to the public and will also be live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Children are welcome. To learn more, visit chelseacommunitychurch.org.
