that will hopefully bring some life and newness to them .”
During the first part of preparation , the group comes together at a Fall Retreat . At this time they begin the process with a dinner and teaching time at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum .
Over 50 people have continued with practices . There are at least half a dozen churches represented in the choir , including New Hope Baptist West , First Baptist Church , Church of Christ , First Presbyterian Church , Catholic Church , All Saints ’ Episcopal Church and a few others .
By tradition , a Cantata is a choral musical presentation and Briscoe said this program is no different . His hope is to bring the message of Christmas in a new way .
“ In this case , it is sacred . It is telling the Gospel story of Christmas from a scriptural biblical point of view ,” Briscoe said . “ There are a lot of historical elements that are going in there from the Bible and then traditions that are brought through the last 1,000 years in the composition of the Christmas carols that we are familiar with .”
People will enjoy classic carols like “ Oh Come All Ye Faithful ,” “ Silent Night ,” “ In the Bleak Midwinter ’ s Night ,” “ O Little Town of Bethlehem ,” and many other favorites .
Also joining the performance will be a bell choir along with a full orchestra , which Briscoe believes will bring the whole program together .
Briscoe said they can ’ t wait to bring the program and have people listen and hear the message of God this Christmas season .
“ We are progressing well . We practice once a week and we have a couple of Sunday afternoon rehearsals and will have a clinician from the University of Oklahoma ,” Briscoe said . “ We want this to be a quality thing , not just a church choir event . We want this to be a quality program as well that is also worshipful . I think both of those elements are important . We want to make sure that we are giving our best offering of worship together as a choir .”
The event will take place at 4 p . m . on Dec . 11 at First United Methodist Church . Doors will open at 3:30 p . m . with a suggested donation going to Foundation ’ s Learning Center this year . DM