Zion United Church of Christ at Second and Iron streets, Lehighton, hosted its annual Ecumenical Christmas Cantata on Sunday evening inside the church. “His Name Is Jesus: A Musical For Christmas”was created by Dennis and Nan Allen.

The singers were accompanied by the Zion’s Festival Orchestra.

“The cantata featured singers from 23 churches from around Carbon County, not just Lehighton but Jim Thorpe, Summit Hill, Palmerton, all over the area,” explained Zion UCC Music director Bradley R. Cressley.

The cantata is an annual tradition at Zion.

“Zion has been doing cantatas like this for many years,” Cressley said. “My father-in-law, the later Paul Smith had been doing them for years. This is my 14th or 15th year doing them.”

The program began with several instrumental selections performed by the orchestra, including Christmas Visions, Concert Suite from The Polar Express, Christmas Rocks at the Pops, and more.

The choir sang music from the Cantata, which included Michael W. Smith’s song “Emmanuel,” “He Knows My Name,” and featured solo selections sung by Dave Riegel.

Narrators for the program were Dave Riegel and Kathy Long.