Youth Choir Christmas Party

On Wednesday night, December 20th, our Youth Choir scheduled a night of Christmas caroling and partying. Richard and Norene Douglas were gracious enough to allow us to use their home for the party. The original plan was for the choir to carol in the Willow Creek community, then finish the night at the Douglas home with hot chocolate and snacks. Unfortunately, the weather decided not to co-operate.
The Douglas' were nice enought to allow us to use their home for the entire evening.
The Youth Choir sang several Christmas songs in the living room of the Douglas home before we enjoyed hot chocolate, pizza and other refreshments. Everyone really liked the chocolate fountain.



After everyone had consumed massive quantities of food, Mrs. Norene gathered everyone upstairs for a time of games and fellowship. Several people left with lots of prizes.



It was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship.
Our thanks to Richard and Norene for bravely opening up their home for use by the Youth Choir.
Enjoy the pictures.


Some of the adults tried to crash the party!!

Norene remained calm even though her home had just been invaded by 40 teenagers!

My momma always said, "You can't improve on sexiness!"


Please pass the pizza.


Bro. David trying out his new diet.


Everybody, please don't poke the bear!!!


More Chocolate, Please?


The secret key to any young man's heart.


On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....


All I want for Christmas is..........


I'm going on a trip and I'm gonna' take my cap....


"He knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!"

Rockin' around the Christmas tree.

Ho-Ho-Ho!

The rain stopped long enough for us to get this picture.

Choir Pictures, 2006

The Preschool Choir, led by Beth Simpson.


Members of the Children's Choir, led by David & Phyllis Elkins.


More Children!


The Ladies' Ensemble, directed by Sharon Morris and accompanied by Marion Meibaum.


The Handbell Choir, before their Christmas Music Program on December 17th.



The Adult Choir with accompanists Harriet Shelby, Marion Meibaum and Martha Miller.

Saturday Night Dinner Theater

The time for the doors to open on this year's Christmas Dinner Theater had finally come. Below you can enjoy some of the scenes from the Saturday night presentation. Each night, 140 people were treated to a wonderful meal and beautiful Christmas music by the Adult Choir, the Ladies' Ensemble, our Preschool Choir and the Children's Choir. Our thanks to J.B. Haynes and the Kitchen Staff (he only wanted Margaret Cepparalo and Mae Dunaway) for the food preparation. Thanks to JoAnne Lewis who organized our table servers. Thanks to all who helped decorate the Family Life Center and the Fellowship Hall. Thanks to Brantley Morris, III and Darren Dedmon who organized the kitchen and especially the clean-up. And a special thanks to all the choir members who helped all of this together.

Enjoy these images from the Saturday night presentation of our Dinner Theater. Our thanks to Seal Elder who took most of the pictures you are about to enjoy.

The Preschool Choir, under the leadership of Beth Simpson, kept everyone entertained.

Our guests anxiously await their delicious meal.

The Ladies' Ensemble gets ready to perform during the dinner.

All of our guests received first class service and left with a smile.

Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.

The Adult Choir took the stage after the meal and presented the musical, "Agnus Dei."

We remember those men and women who are unable to be home this Christmas while defending the cause of freedom around the world.

Christmas Dinner Theater, 2006

Enjoy these pictures taken during our Christmas Dinner Theater, 2006. The dinner was held on Friday night, December 8th and Saturday night, December 9th. My thanks to Seal Elder who helped take a lot of the pictures that you will see in this post. Enjoy!

JoAnne Lewis, our Serving Queen prepares the salad plates for delivery to the tables.

J.B. Haynes takes a breathier before the rush begins in the kitchen.

George Grugett checks out the sound system before everyone enters the Fellowship Hall.

Castine Arnold checks out the serving tables to make sure the food stays hot.

Darren Dedmon was a big help throughout the entire week. REALLY!!! He was!

Livera Byers gets ready to take care of all the dirty dishes about come through.

Martha Haynes and Sue Newman share some conversation while getting the tea ready.

Table Servers Norene Douglas, Tut Cain and Terry Richards get ready for the crowd.

"I'm ready for my solo, Mr. Director."

Adrian Osborn works to get the ice in the glasses.

Getting Ready

This year, our church's Music Ministry hosted our Christmas Dinner Theater. This special time of celebration has become one of the favorite Christmas traditions of our church.

Originally begun in 1993, it is a time where so many people from the church pool their talents to present a special Christmas gift to the Ripley community.

The Dinner Theater was held each year from 1993 until 1998 in the gym of the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. It was a monumental task to transform the stark, cold walls of the gym into a Christmas Wonderland. During these years, all the choirs of the church performed during the weekend celebration.

The Dinner Theater was quiet for a couple of years and brought back to life in 2001 with several changes. The Dinner was moved from the gymnasium into the Fellowship Hall of the Family Life Center. In the years 2001 and 2002, the musical celebration was held on three nights, Thursday, Friday and Saturday instead of the traditional two nights. The smaller, cozier atmosphere of the Fellowship Hall, however, allowed for more creativity in decorating. It also provided a "warmer, cozier" atmosphere for the entire weekend.

Another change was made in 2002, when the decision was made to offer this program every other year instead of every year. This decision was made easy with the decision of the church to renovate the church sanctuary in 2003.

• Decoration of the Family Life Center began on Monday night, December 4th. Each night, a crew met at the Family Life Center to begin the transformation of the building. This year, the Fellowship Hall was decorated with simple red and green. More lights than usual were added to the outside of the Family Life Center, making it very beautiful at night.

Enjoy these pictures from the week of decorating and see the work that takes place in preparing the Family Life Center for this special week.

I wonder who this belongs to?

Gail Douglas eyes the Christmas tree in the foyer to determine the best place to hang the ornaments.

Wayne Douglas and Bobby Cain help Benjamin Elkins untangle the decorations for the tree.

Norene Douglas and Kay Grugett prepare the tables.

Bonita Fullen decides the perfect place for the candles and flowers.

Norene Douglas and Carolyn Pilcher make sure that everything is done right.

Gloria Hawks wonders what she is suppose to do with all these wires.

The perfect table setting, ready for our guests!