Each year at Cascade Christian Academy in Wenatchee, Washington, students and staff plan church service programs to share with their six constituent churches. With the various pandemic restrictions that have come to pass over the last eight months, however, these Education Sabbaths have taken on a different look. Thanks to technology, CCA has continued to “visit” the churches in the Wenatchee Valley.
The usual church service consists of students and staff sharing a Sabbath message based on the school’s annual theme memory verse and musical offerings by various classes and students.
This year the theme verse is Prov. 3:5–6, which has definitely become a go-to verse for this anomaly of a season.
During December the theme shifted to Christmas, so on Sabbath, Dec. 12, 2020, CCA presented a hybrid program of music and a “Christmas in July'' story,“All Is Well,” about a single mom and her child who couldn’t seem to keep up with the bills and were losing hope. Their neighbors came together to offer assistance during a very difficult time — the kind of story that reverberates what’s happening in communities today. The program was held at the Wenatchee Church, which proved a perfect venue for the presentation with its stunning vibrant red poinsettias and “forest” of beautiful lit trees.
Cheryl Gabel, CCA’s music and technology teacher, was able to coordinate the finale song, “All is Well,” by videoing Google Meets, so the congregation could see the students accompanying on handbells and other instruments, while students of all ages sang. In the “grid,” Gabel, as well, could be viewed conducting and playing the piano.
At the close of the service, attendees were given a small dough ornament with “All Is Well” written on one side and “2020” on the other. Hopefully these ornaments will be a small reminder that God is still in control and all IS well all because of a Baby born in a manger.