Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church may serve as the host site for Welcome 2025, but the annual New Year's Eve event is for everyone, said Cammy Anderson, who serves on the event committee.

"This is a community event. It's not just a church event," she stated. "There's such a nice variety of activities, and other than the chicken barbecue, there's no charge for anything. It's wonderful being together to watch that star raise, and we finish out with great, big-time fireworks. They're really impressive. Our motto is to receive and share the light of Christ, and what better way to share the light of Christ than with a star raising and fireworks?"

Welcome 2025 will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, in and around the church, 75 E. High St., Elizabethtown.

A chicken barbecue will be served from 3 to 6:30 p.m., featuring Kauffman's BBQ. Meals will be available to eat in or take out and include a half-chicken, a baked potato, a roll and butter and water. Tickets are available for purchase in advance at the church office, and a limited number of meals will be available at the door.

A variety of food, including hot dogs and soup, will be available for free in the church social hall from 3 to 6:30 p.m., and food will also be available for no charge outside from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Outdoor options will include popcorn, hot chocolate and s'mores.

At 4 p.m., pastor Michael Reist from St. Mark Lutheran Church in Annville will entertain with a magic show in the church nave.

"Everybody's going to be entertained by him," said Christ Lutheran pastor A.J. Domines. "He was here in August for our Bible school, and he was great. I'm sure he's going to have a message, a spiritual Gospel message, along with his act. It's not purely entertainment."

Bingo will be held in the Lutheran Lodge on-site from 4 to 6:30 p.m., and a variety of events will also take place at the Winters Heritage House Museum, located at 47 E. High St. The museum will feature children's crafts and balloon twisting from The Balunguy from 4 to 6:30 p.m.

A DJ will provide music outside during the event, while Christmas music on the organ will be featured in the nave from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. Puppies from Susquehanna Service Dogs will also be on-site in the church parlor.

The event will culminate in the raising and lighting of a star to usher in the new year.

"The star raising was my idea," Domines said. "We use a star because it's Christmas and we want to emphasize that Christmas isn't one day; it's 12 days. The star symbolizes the light of Christ. Why would we want to drop it? That's a negative direction. Everything gets dropped. The star actually hangs in the sky, so we raise it for a more positive direction."

The event also stands out because the new year is celebrated at 7 p.m. rather than midnight. "We count down to the new year at 7 p.m. because that's the time it's midnight in the sister city of Elizabethtown, Letterkenny, Ireland," explained Anderson.

Christ Church took over organizing the new year's celebration in 2014, when the organization that previously coordinated the event stopped doing it. "We found out in November, and we threw something together," said event chair Phil Clark. "We are a church that does a lot of outreach, and it was important to us to keep this event going. We've expanded and improved on it over the years."

He emphasized that it takes a village to pull off such a big event, noting that up to 45 people volunteer to ensure everything runs smoothly.

"We really enjoy offering this event for the community," Clark said. "The only thing we charge for at all is the chicken barbecue because that helps to pay for things like the fireworks and makes it possible to keep doing this year after year."

East High Street in front of the church will be blocked off for the event, and participants are encouraged to use municipal lots in town to park since parking is limited at the church property. A free trolley will transport people from Market Street to the church and back.

For more information, call the church office at 717-367-2786 or visit http://www.christlutheran-etown.com.