Tonight, 400 senior residents will join in the singing at Anglican Retirement Villages' (ARV) carols service - and 20,000 people around Australia will hear them.
This will be the third year the ARV Castle Hill carols service will be aired on the Aged Care Channel, a service which screens in 1000 aged care facilities around the country, with a reach of up to 50,000 residents, staff and family members.
It is expected that around half of this number - around 20,000 - will watch the service when it is aired on Friday December 21 at 10am.
ARV's senior chaplain, Canon John Butler says the service gives residents opportunities to reach out to those around them.
"We challenge our chapel congregation to invite their friends and neighbours, because an event like this has a wider draw for people to come," he says.
However having the service shown on television screens in aged care facilities around the country undoubtedly enhances this missionfield, according to Aged Care Channel director, Andrew Ricker.
"It's not just the people present on the day who will see it," he says.
"It's also residents in other facilities who are frail and in their twilight years who can hear a very strong evangelical message in the talks."
Feedback has also indicated that the popularity of the service among residents in other facilities is due to the sense of community and togetherness they feel with those they see on screen.
"A lot of the facilities are small " the average facility would be 25-to-30 beds - so they are very encouraged when they see a very large group of other residents together in one place, and they feel like they are part of the wider aged care community," he says.
"They see a sea of faces with grey hair and there's a sense that "we're all in this together' " that's the pulling power of the program."
30 years and still strong
The carols service, which Mr Butler estimates has been running for 30 years, used to be held outside, attracting more of a community crowd.
In later years, the service has been held indoors, in the village's Dover Hall and attended mainly by residents from Castle Hill and ARV facilities in other regions including Winston Hills, Penrith, Woollahra and Gordon.
"It's a fairly major event in our normal calendar, but we have a fairly strong program that happens constantly throughout the year," Mr Butler says.
This year, the service will be compered by the Rev Dominic Steele, and artists will include the NSW police band, accompanied by a group of about 30 singers from the village.
The Rev Steve Abbott will give a Christmas message and entertainment will be provided by professional soloist Judy Rough, Graeme Anderson of Turramurra South parish, and the five Pendlebury sisters, whose father Ross is ARV's manager, Corporate and Mission.
Year 11 students from Castle Hill High School will volunteer to help residents out of their buses and to their seats, as well as helping serve snacks and cleaning up afterwards.
“The residents love having the students here,” Mr Butler says.
Screening at a facility near you
The Aged Care Channel's usual weekly screening program includes talks by Dean Phillip Jensen and Bishop Al Stewart, which are specifically aimed at seniors.
The Introducing the Bible program, produced by Anglican Media Sydney and Moore College, has also been aired on the channel, and Mr Ricker says residents have often gathered to watch these programs in their small groups.
The channel has been going for four years, with this year being the third time the channel has shown ARV’s carols.
The Aged Care Channel's content is narrowcast to 1000 facilities that are mainly Christian-run, with some Masonic, Jewish and council-run facilities as well.
