Caroling, caroling, now we go; Christmas bells are ringing!

By Leslie Limbaugh, minister of students and communication

The TBC Outreach Team sponsors an evening of Christmas caroling every year, sharing the Good News of the season with our neighbors in Grand Center. One tradition is to stand on the west edge of Strauss Park, clumped behind a TBC banner, singing to patrons arriving for holiday shows at the Fox Theatre, Powell Hall, etc.

Instead of staying in one place, this year we visited three of our neighborhood restaurants: Triumph Grill, Vito's, and Best Steak House. About a dozen of us, including a gradeschool child, a teenager, several middle-aged folks and a few senior adults wore Santa hats and carried candles as we went from place to place. Although we had made contact with management ahead of time, each host/hostess had a puzzled look as we walked in and asked to sing. But then, as we sang, how fun to see Christmas cheer spread across the room as people looked up from their dinner and conversation. Some even joined our songs! One hostess invited us back every night and at least one diner encouraged us to keep up the good work.

Our last stop was the edge of the park where a few concertgoers noticed us and the traffic through several cycles of the stoplight heard our tunes.

What an enjoyable evening! The fellowship among us, the sharing of familiar carols with our neighbors, and the sense of joy and triumph as we faithfully proclaimed Christ's birth!

(Photo Credit: Charles Sherwin)