Bryan Newman
Don’t miss Risen Savior’s annual Community Christmas Concert on Sunday, Dec. 12, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
We held our first annual Community Christmas Concert in 2014. That year, we performed to a standing-room-only audience of about 475. In 2015 we added a second performance, and since that time, the audiences have continued to grow. Over 1100 people attended both the 2018 and 2019 concerts. In 2020, of course, we canceled the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this year, we’re back, and our facilities are bigger and better than ever! Last December, we opened our newly constructed 700-plus seat Worship/Performing Arts Center, located immediately south of Safeway on Alma School Road. As a result, we have greatly expanded our ability to welcome an increasing number of guests at our popular community events. However, the admission price for the Christmas Concert has not changed—it is still two cans of food per adult to benefit the Chandler Food Bank. If you enjoy well-performed Christmas music, like to sing Christmas carols, and want to have a really good time, you should truly enjoy this audience-friendly celebration of Christmas.
Whether your favorite Christmas songs are secular (i.e., “White Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”) or religious (“Joy to The World” and “Silent Night”) or both, we have a cast of talented musicians who will perform them for you, or even put the lyrics on a big screen and accompany the entire audience in singing many of their favorites.
As Ron Burcham, Risen Savior Senior Pastor and Master of Ceremonies for the Community Christmas Concerts, commented, “Our purpose for holding this annual event is to help the Chandler Food Bank better serve some of our neighbors who need food assistance at Christmas. It may please you to know that since our first Community Concert in 2014, our guests have donated over 1000 pounds of food every year.”
Pastor Ron continued, “We are excited about presenting the 2021 concert. Although we ask members of the audience to join us in contributing food to the Chandler Food Bank, Risen Savior bears all the costs associated with hiring guest musicians, advertising, and managing the performances. We view this concert as our gift to the community in return for their enthusiastic support for the many philanthropic programs that we conduct each year. I am extremely proud of, and most appreciative for, the efforts of our members and many guest musicians who have joined together to create this momentous event.”