Christmas praise in three languages

The Sudanese choir from Grace Lutheran in Edmonton

What began as a first-ever French Christmas service for Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton became a multi-cultural event.

The service, held Sunday, December 19 included French Christmas hymns, a Sudanese Lutheran choir from Grace Lutheran Church in Edmonton who sang in Nuer and a Christmas solo in Portuguese by seminary president, Rev. Dr. Manfred Zeuch. Seventeen worshippers attended in the chapel and an additional nine online. Dr. Zeuch is already making plans for next year. “We will perhaps plan it for earlier in December and with much more publicity.” Despite the late start, the event captured the attention of Edmonton’s French-language broadcast media.

“The important thing is we have contact with the French-language community…that we can develop,” said the president. He noted that making connections with French-speaking Canadians is not always easy.

Earlier in the month the seminary held a similar event in German, a more traditional Lutheran cultural group. More than 40 people enjoyed singing their favourite Christmas hymns and hearing a sermon in their native tongue.

Dr. Zeuch, is a Portuguese-speaking Brazilian who studied and served Lutheran congregations in Alsace, a French/German region of Europe.

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