On a blistering cold Monday evening, Dec. 1, Ouachita students and faculty gathered in the amphitheater for the third annual Christmas Candlelight Service.
The congregation sang Christmas hymns, heard the Christmas story and President Rex Horne shared a brief message before the crowd lit candles and sang “Silent Night” to conclude the service.
“[It’s a way] to get the season started in a nice way,” Horne said. “[It is] an extension of Thanksgiving and the gratitude we have for Christ.”
This was Horne’s 19th Christmas Candlelight Service. He has served 16 as a pastor and three as president of Ouachita.
Normally, candle-lit services are held on Christmas Eve; however students are away from campus at that point, so Ouachita holds its service just after students return from Thanksgiving break.
The annual service is a great “reminder of the centrality of our faith and the hope we have in Christ,” Horne said.
The point of the service is not to put a “different spin on Christmas,” Horne said, but to remind students and faculty that we are founded on Christ.
Horne said it is one of the most meaningful services to him, “because it’s so simple.”
One of the reasons for having a Christmas service is to “introduce a good feeling and remembrance of Christmas to our campus,” Horne said.
“It was nice to take the time to stop and reflect on the special time that is Christmas,” said sophomore Ali King. “Getting caught up in preparing for the holiday to the point you [miss] celebrating is so easy [to do].”
Philip Williamson, a junior, agrees with King.
“It was a great opportunity to slow down for a few minutes, hear the Christmas story and be reminded of why we get excited about the season in the first place,” Williamson said. “It was a great event and one I hope continues to be a tradition at Ouachita.”
Horne said he hopes “it becomes an event that builds year by year.” He encourages students, faculty and staff continue to “just show up [for the service], it’s a brief break in the afternoon [to focus on Christ]” before the stress of finals week and the end of the semester.
