Celebrate the season early

The 80-degree temperatures and rain didn’t melt the festive atmosphere when a local church celebrated Christmas in July Sunday.

The congregation at Park Avenue United Methodist Church, led by the Rev. Stan Champion, spent their morning singing Christmas carols and thinking about what the holiday means to them.

For Champion, it was the start of a new tradition. This is his first appointment as a Methodist minister; he has only been at the Salisbury church for one month.

Champion mentioned the idea of celebrating Christmas in July a couple of weeks ago, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. So event planners went into action, decorating the parlor and baking Christmas cookies.

They had hoped for a slightly larger crowd, but the 53 people who turned out had a great time, Champion said. They even dressed in Christmas garb.

“A lot of them came to me afterwards and told me what a good idea this was,” he said. “Everybody loves to sing Christmas carols.”

Contact Michael Bostian at 704-797-4280 or mbostian@salisburypost.com .