Traditional celebration at 190-year-old church

Monday December 24, 2007

PENANG: The St George’s Church, the oldest Anglican church in South-East Asia, is all geared up for its Christmas celebration this year.

The Christmas tree is up, decorations are done and the choir is ready to welcome the celebrations.

The 190-year-old church, said vicar Joel Leow, was not planning anything out of the ordinary this year because Christmas itself was special enough.

In prayer: Churchgoers singing special hymns during their Sunday service to usher in Christmas at the St George’s Church in Penang.

“Christmas on its own is special as it observes the birth of Jesus Christ. We do not have to organise anything extraordinary to make it more special than it already is.

“Christmas these days is getting more and more commercialised. This is the time to really understand what Christmas is about,” he explained.

Leow: ‘Christmas on its own is special as it observes the birth of Jesus Christ’

With their annual children’s Christmas concert, play, carolling and party done, the church is preparing to have a traditional Christmas Eve service tonight, starting from 10pm.

“We will try to have our Christmas Eve service as close to midnight as possible so we expect the service to finish around 12am.

“The service on Christmas day at 10.30am will have a more contemporary approach to make things easier for those with young children who cannot make it on Christmas Eve,” he said.