'Carols by Candlelight' in Unity Hall

As we all get older it is sometimes good to break with the past and to try something new. So it was at this year’s joint ‘Carols by Candlelight’ Service at which a select group from both the Epsom and Ewell churches joined together in Unity Hall for the annual event. It wasn’t an easy decision to use the Hall for this purpose; after all, the Church had always been decorated to look its best and with the usual circular candelabras hanging from the rafters, it always had a special atmosphere and beauty. This year was different. To start with we were experiencing one of the coldest Decembers on record and we were edging towards a decision to use the nice warm Hall when the Hall heating broke down. It was then a race against time to get it fixed for the weekend so that we had the option of using it. Meanwhile Neil and Wendy Stuart were busy putting up the candelabras in the cold Church.

By Friday afternoon the heating was working but on Saturday the snow came down in such quantities that it was not a question of should we use the Hall, instead of the Church, but should we hold the event at all! Meanwhile Neil Stuart and Valerie and Alan determinedly set up the Hall, including the candelabras re-deployed from the Church, together with the staging, the decorated Christmas tree and cuts-outs of the Nativity scene. In the end it was decided to go ahead and what a wise decision that turned out to be.

The Hall looked really attractive and was warm and welcoming and the Service proceeded very much in the traditional way with carols and readings. We are indeed grateful to those who organised and led the Service including Rosemary Holmes and Janice Brown. The joint choir was in particularly good voice and Malcolm Saunders accompanied the singing with his customary aplomb on the organ. Afterwards refreshments were served including mulled wine, coffee, mince pies and biscuits and our thanks are due as ever to ’Phemie Young and her helpers for providing the refreshments. Everybody seemed to enjoy the Service and the congenial surroundings made the occasion even better.

The evening became an experiment, brought about by circumstances beyond our control, but was it indeed a blessing in disguise? We have a large, and in winter, a cold Church building which is no longer suited to our needs and beside it we have a Hall which has proved its functionality and effectiveness for a variety of purposes. We now know that the Hall is suitable for even more than we realised and, with a little imagination and some well spent money, could indeed become the centre of our Church life and the only building we really need. This was not just ‘Carols by Candlelight’ but an event which pointed beyond Christmas to a future full of possibilities. Are we ready for the Challenge!