After two years, the Downtown Christmas Church Walk returned and attracted standing-room-only crowds at nearly all five churches involved in the 2022 event.
The unique event brings together the chapels at Notre Dame Catholic Church, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, First Assembly of God, First Presbyterian and First Baptist. All five are within a short walk of each other, but the messages at each stop are unique. Instead of relying on the pastor of the respective church, the message was delivered by a pastor from another congregation — setting up some distinctive sermons.
At First Presbyterian, Rev. Bert Baetz, the rector at St. Peters, delivered a message about life’s challenges as part of God’s plan. And that our response to change was part of our obedience to Him.
“We get pushed onto the stage of salvation ministry,” Baetz said. “With stage fright for roles that are too big for us. Wondering what the next line will be and doing our best to do what the Lord wants us to do, even when we’re not sure why He wants us to play the part.”
The night started at Notre Dame and wound its way to St. Peters, then to Assembly of God, a short walk to First Presbyterian and the finale at the renovated chapel at First Baptist. There was another underlying message — unity.
In a time when churches are splitting apart, as witnessed by the split of the United Methodist Church, currently roiling Kerr County congregations, that message that everyone in attendance was a Christian first seemed to strike repeatedly. Interim First Presbyterian Pastor Jack Haberer made a candid assessment of the intentionality of the unity message.
“That’s weighing heavily,” said Haberer, who leads a congregation that itself split over the issue of same-sex marriage and ordination of women and LGBTQ+ members. “The Methodists today are where the Presbyterians were 10-15 or 20 years ago.”
In recent weeks, the Global Methodist Church split from the United Methodist Church, including here in Kerr County. Methodist congregations are considering whether to stay as United Methodist members or join the new church — one far more conservative. More than 430 Texas congregations left the United Methodist Church in the last few days.
But on a night to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the holiday’s job maintained an enthusiasm for approximately 300 people who worshiped and sang — sometimes a bit off-key — but with meaning.
The coronavirus pandemic led to the walk’s cancelation in 2020 and 2021, and First Assembly of God Pastor Phil Jackson earned hearty applause when he mentioned how nice it was to be past the virus.
