35th United Christmas celebrations held

• Governor, several religious dignitaries attend

Hyderabad: St Mary’s High School on Wednesday became the venue for pre-Christmas celebrations with carols and exchange of greetings during the 35th United Christmas Celebrations. The event was graced by many high-ranking religious dignitaries from various churches from across the state like Fr G Dyvasirvadam, Dy Moderator, CSI, Medak; Fr Dr K F paradeshi Babu, AELC, Bishop Ernest Komanapally, Bishop John Gollapalli, Free Methodist Bishop N L Karkare, HRC-MCI and others .

The chief guests were Governor ESL Narasimhan, Dr Thumma Bala, the Archbishop of Hyderabad.

The event began with a carol by the UCC Choir which consisted of 150 singers and was conducted by Dr P J D Kumar. The celebrations were led by J Raymond Peter, IAS officer and Chairman UCCC. There were various plays and small skits staged by children and teenagers belonging to different churches and ministries. Introducing the event J Raymond Peter, said, “We have been conducting these celebrations since 1978 and this is the 35th year of their institutions’ celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.”

In all the messages given by the Fathers, the common factor was the reading of a verse from the Bible (LUKE:1;26,30,33,34 and 39) both in Telugu and English. To keep the crowd on their feet after almost every address, the choir broke into a song. Rev Dr G Dyvasirvadam, said, “Jesus is the Word of God that came down to the earth to dispel the darkness. The purpose of this word is to create and renew. This word has to be celebrated at Christmas.”

Rev Dr Issac Philoxenos, Mar Thoma Syrian church, said, “Let us understand the truth that Jesus brought to the world through his birth and gives space for others in our life by accreting one another through Jesus Christ.”

The Governor recalled the memorable moments he spent in Jerusalem and Bethlehem 13 years ago. He advised the people to not just celebrate Christmas but also learn lessons from His life. “Jesus gave us all the message of love, tolerance, peace, forgiveness, sacrifices. We have to learn all of these from him. He belongs to humanity. He enlightened us that hate is returned by love, evil is returned by good, darkness is given back by light. Show love but not hate,” he added.

He asked the crowd to take an oath to follow in the footsteps of the Lord “for our life to be happier and merrier.” He later gave away prizes to the winners of Bible quiz, choir and singing competitions, and T-20 matches conducted among different churches in the city.