Dear UCG,

As we begin a new year together — one that is bound to be filled with so much excitement for this congregation — I wanted to take you all the way back to the second Sunday of December for a minute, for something I’m calling “Things I Love About UCG: Lessons and Carols edition.”

I sat in those services and was so moved by so much, and because I couldn’t process and experience it all at the same time, I started jotting a list on the back cover of the bulletin. This list is by no means all-inclusive, nor meant to cause any ill feelings: so many folks made that beautiful day possible. These are just some of the things that startled me with joy.

1. UCG’s resident composer Zach Neece’s arrangement of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is hands down the most beautiful I’ve ever heard. The student double- reed players were amazing, too.

2. Vivienne Larson nailing the solo verse of “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” a cappella, twice. So brave! So beautiful!

3. My oldest child Fiona, her co-lead teacher, Mira, Lucy, and Julia did a wonderful job directing the kids’ choir. I giggled when they were done, and the kiddos tried to follow Fiona and Mira back to their seats with the youth choir like little Christmas ducklings. Adorable.

4. All the readers. I started listing them, but, whoosh. Finn and Emi, Madeline and Cadien (who looks so much like her mother), and Jan (who I was sitting next to and also has a lovely singing voice!), and Jenny’s amazing shoes and rendition of the poetry of John 1.

5. The youth choir! Wonderful performance, and all of them in their throwback ’90s best. They were the much cooler versions of their parents. One of our young adult visitors remarked they’re like the Alternachoir.

6. Our treble choir singing about Warrior Baby Jesus duking it out with Satan. Talia has real insight into this tradition and piece, but I just think it’s awesomely absurd to picture. Babies are not known for their skills at fighting… but there remains something so powerful about the smallest of humans meeting the violence of great evil with tears and haystacks… and winning.

7. Our lower voices choir including folx with a range of gender identities, and their gorgeous rendition of “The First Noel.”

8. The great diversity of ages present. A truly multi-generational offering in a way you rarely see in the world outside religious communities.

9. The wonderful student and other musicians. The horns on “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and the drums on “Betlehemu.”

10. Allan and Jasmine on tambourine!

11. Hannah’s gorgeous clear tone in “Coventry Carol” and Adrienne blowing off the roof in “Bethlehemu.”

12. The way “Coventry Carol” hit this year, as we mourn the violence experienced by children in the land of Jesus’s birth.

13. The banner made for my installation used, with its stars and Advent blues and purples and swirling symbol of the trinity.

14. A list of composers that includes both Britten and Craig Hella Johnson. A mash-up of “Lo, How a Rose” and “The Rose!”

15. The note at the end that invited all of us to find meaning in the diversity of theology and traditions, and in the sharing of the sacred time together.

I’m sure those of you who were there have your own favorite moments. If you couldn’t be there, or want the joy of seeing these again, you can always go view the service on YouTube.