The Road to Christmas, 2026 Christmas Cantata

The Road to Christmas

The Road to Christmas is an original Christmas cantata written and composed by Phillip E. Mitchell and Arden Mitchell for the First Christian Church Chancel Choir. Through eight original songs and accompanying narration, the work invites us to imagine the journey to Bethlehem and to consider how that ancient journey reflects on our own, both the journey through Advent to Christ and the overarching journey of our lives.

We sometimes forget how strange and extraordinary the Christmas story is. There are angels announcing impossible things, dreams that alter the courses of ordinary lives, and a carpenter named Joseph who must decide whether to trust what he cannot possibly understand. There are generations of people waiting for the fulfillment of promises, singing songs of hope even when hope seems unreasonable. And there is a road, sometimes dark and difficult, leading toward a child born in the most unlikely of places.

But The Road to Christmas is not simply a retelling of the Christmas story. It is also an invitation to enter it through the imagination. What would we have thought had an angel visited us in a dream? What would we have seen standing beside the manger? And what might we discover if Mary placed the infant Jesus into our own arms?

These questions lie at the heart of the cantata. Through music and narration, we travel toward Bethlehem, carrying with us our doubts, our grief, our hopes, and our longing for something beyond ourselves. And when we finally arrive, we discover that the road does not end at the manger. Another journey awaits us, one that leads back into the world with its suffering and uncertainty, but also with the possibility of love, peace, and grace.

The Road to Christmas will be presented during worship on Sunday, December 20, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. The performance features the First Christian Chancel Choir, the First Christian Ringers, and an instrumental ensemble of piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, and violin.

The First Christian Cantata Choir

Gary Bielefeld
Bonnie Brown
Terry Brownson
Angela Bruce
Mike Bruce
Stacy Castlen
Barbara Chavez
Bev Chelgren
Kirby Chelgren
Janet Corum
Emily Crane
Debby Crone
Ruth Ann Dearness
Bethany Duke
Seth Duke
Susan Edmondson
Janet Estes
Connie Ford
Carroll Laswell
Joey McKinley
Chris Michael
Laura Michael
Francy Miller
Arden Mitchell
Sherry Rhoads
June Stapleton
Gloria Strehl