Week filled with Christmas celebrations

Christmas pageants, Christmas cantatas and Christmas worship services are filling the schedule this week as Valley churches prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birth next Saturday.

• A special combined worship service will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at Spokane Valley United Methodist Church, 115 N. Raymond Road. The service will feature a performance of Christmas play “God With Us.” Following the service all children age 3 through the fifth grade are invited to a “Jesus Birthday Party” that begins at 11:30 a.m. There will be a puppet Christmas story, crafts and cake. The community is welcome and children are asked to bring a nonperishable food item for the Spokane Valley Partners Food Bank.

The church will have a contemporary Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a traditional service at 10 p.m.

• The children of Zion Lutheran Church, 8304 E. Buckeye Ave., will present the Christmas program “Star of Wonder” during the 11 a.m. worship service Sunday. Refreshments will follow the service.

The church will offer three Christmas Eve services to choose from on Friday. A traditional service will be held at noon, followed by a family candlelight service at 5 p.m. and a candlelight communion service at 7 p.m. The family service will include a dramatic retelling of the Christmas story. All children younger than 12 may participate in the drama as shepherds or angels.

• A Christmas program written by a member of Veradale United Church of Christ will be performed by the children during the 10:30 a.m. worship service Sunday at the church, at 611 N. Progress Road. A Christmas Eve candlelight service is also planned for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

• Peace Lutheran Church, 4124 N. Harvard Road, will begin its Christmas Eve service at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The celebration will include a birthday cake for Jesus.

• The Sunday School Christmas program “All I Want for Christmas is Jesus” will be performed at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Foothills Community Church, 11102 N. Forker Road. The church will also offer a Christmas Eve candlelight service at 7 p.m. Friday.

• A Christmas Eve service will begin at 6 p.m. at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 810 S. Sullivan Road.

• The Spokane Valley Church of the Nazarene, 15515 E. 20th Ave., will have its Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m. Friday.

• A Christmas pageant will be presented during the 10 a.m. service Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, 15319 E. Eighth Ave. The church will also have Christmas Eve services at 7 and 10 p.m. Friday. A Christmas Day service will begin at 9 a.m. next Saturday and will be followed by a brunch.

• A children’s Christmas musical called “Starry Starry Night” will be presented during the 9:30 a.m. worship service Sunday at Opportunity Presbyterian Church, 202 N. Pines Road. A family Christmas Eve service will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a communion service at 8:30 p.m.

• Christ Lutheran Church, 13009 E. Broadway Ave., will begin its Christmas Eve candlelight service at 5 and 8 p.m. Friday.