Santa Claus, elves, reindeer, a couple of choirs and a 22-foot tall tree lit by energy-efficient LED lights filled the courtyard next to University Baptist Church Sunday night.
The University Baptist Church hosted the fifth annual community tree lighting sponsored by the Town of Chapel Hill.
Mitch Simpson, senior pastor at the church, said the event draws a wide assortment of attendees.
“This is certainly not a worship service but a public service,” he said. “We are very mindful of the separation of church and state in the context of a larger cultural celebration.”
Santa Claus and his elves handed out candy canes and snowflake pins to young children who stood by the tree eagerly waiting for its lights to shine.
“I like the tree lighting because it brightens up Chapel Hill,” said Eliza Brooks, an 8-year-old member of the church’s youth group.
This was the first year that the ceremony included events other than the tree lighting.
It began with trumpeters from the University’s music department and followed with performances from the church’s youth and handbell choirs.
“We want to help the downtown merchants and kick off the holiday season,” said Jim Norton, executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership. “This is all a part of an umbrella project to revitalize downtown.”
Youth group members ran a hot cocoa and cookies stand — another first for the ceremony — with proceeds going to the International Justice Mission. The mission works to combat human trafficking.
“Many people are unaware of the insidious evil of human trafficking,” Simpson said, though recently it has gained local importance with the recent case in Fayetteville, he added.
The church’s director of children ministries, Allison James, said the church has helped to raise more than $16,000 for the International Justice Mission in the past two years.
“We began by raising money and educating the congregation,” James said.
“We are now trying to educate the community.”
Jackson Pettee, a 10-year-old volunteer at the cocoa and cookies stand, said he liked the tree lighting ceremony because of what it represents.
“I like it because it symbolizes what the community means, working together and helping each other get through,” Pettee said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
Let there be light
Town lights its community tree for the ?fth year
Loryn Clark photographs husband, Chapel Hill police Captain Jeff Clark, while he poses with their children. DTH/Zoel Litaker
