Lucky me, I thought, getting to write a column for Christmas! I vacillated from starting with the list of your favorite holiday songs to a number of other suitable topics until a phone message settled the indecision cold.

There is here and now a strong obligation to apologize in print to the Rev. T.A. Powell, the congregation of Liberty Baptist Church, the Mike Speck Trio, and any of you who were inconvenienced by my blunder in the Saturday church notes. I typed instead that a free Sunday night concert was to take place in First Baptist Church North Main Street. Though it was correct the previous week, my recent retyping and oversight reportedly caused much confusion and headaches.

After hearing Powell’s message, my already flagging spirit sank even lower, an image came to mind of a funereal-looking sanctuary with a despondent trio of people and a pastor wondering where was everyone. I sincerely hope that those of you who went to the wrong church found your way to the proper place in time, and that Liberty Baptist still enjoyed a successful evening. I’m praying that since a church is involved I’ll eventually be forgiven for this aggravation.

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Apropos to the topics of forgiveness, congregations and Christmas, last week I interviewed the Rev. Greg West who lives in the Burbage Grant section of town. He is a young married man with two kids who was called to the ministry, and has accepted the challenge of forming a new United Methodist church in the Portsmouth District, which includes those Suffolk UMCs.

The core group of 17 people is considering calling its future community either Grace Harbor UMC or Faith Harbor UMC. If my vote counted it would be the former for two reasons, the first being mentioned above. The second has to do with one of the definitions of grace, which is blessing.

In Christian theology, the belief is that God saw humanity needed more than just a worldwide flood to bring it in line. Out of compassion and wisdom He created a son – The Word – that became flesh, which we call Jesus Christ. His teachings were intended to be simple, easily understood and accessible to everyone. By following His example we can indeed live better lives by treating others and ourselves respectfully. More importantly, to forgive when necessary prevents or breaks a vicious cycle. That latter aspect of Christ’s message clearly separates Him from many other philosophers, and has saved many a person from a wretched life. For that invaluable grace from God, we have good reason to celebrate the Mass of Christ on Dec. 25.

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On to the Christmas songs!

Though last week I mentioned Alvin and The Chipmunks singing &uot;Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer,&uot; I’m going to take the liberty of stating &uot;Coventry Carol&uot; as sung by either The Virginia Chorale or Alison Moyet, formerly of Yaz, a 1980s British band. I picked this not so much for the words as for the tune and voices. By the way, I hope you got a chance to visit the chorale’s Web site. In case you missed it the first time, here it is again: www.vachorale.com

Speaking of the ’80s, my sincere thanks to Lynne and Tim Copeland, a former News-Herald editor, for their entry: &uot;Christmas Wrapping&uot; by The Waitresses. It’s a fun, bouncy and offbeat tune, and up until two weeks ago I had not heard it in quite a long time. Thanks also for sending the lyrics. For those of you who want them, please e-mail: stephen.cowles@suffolknewsherald.com

My friend Howard J. Bunger from Hampton said he likes anything from the South Park Christmas.

There was one dedication from Terry Boone to his fianc, Juanita R. Yates, &uot;Please Come from Christmas,&uot; by Charles Brown.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Halley of Suffolk Christian Church wrote &uot;Mine is ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ – and I particularly like the Latin version!&uot;

Dorothy Cogswell wrote in, &uot;One of my favorite songs is ‘Mary’s Song.’&uot;

By the way, St. Mary of the Presentation Catholic Church, 202 S Broad Street, Suffolk will hold its

Christmas Eve service starting with Christmas music at 4 p.m. and then the Mass at 4:30 p.m. Christmas Day, the Mass will be at 9:30 a.m.

That’s all that were sent in, but I am not disappointed; after all I only gave everyone less than a week to respond. Next year the request will go out much earlier and stronger, and perhaps the topic then will be Christmas TV specials.

Stephen H. Cowles is the managing editor and a regular columnist for the News-Herald. He wishes a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.