The Chapel of Rest will celebrate a quarter century of playing host to an annual Christmas Eve service for the community.

The annual event at the historic chapel will take place Thursday, Dec. 24 at 4 p.m. and is open to all members of the community.

The guest speaker for the service will be the Rev. J. Gary Gloster of Blowing Rock. In addition, music will be provided by Martha Cartee on flute, James Hogan Jr. on guitar and Patsy Hollar on keyboard. All of them are from Lenoir.

Gloster's sermon will be a reflection - "A Shepherd Boy's Gift."

The Rev. Gloster was born in 1936 in Hopkinsville, Ky., and earned his Master of Divinity (1962), Doctor of Ministry (1989) and Doctor of Divinity (1996), all from Virginia Theological Seminary.

He became an ordained deacon and priest in 1962 in the Diocese of Indianapolis, Ind., and served several communities of faith in Danville and Bean Blossom, Ind., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pulaski, Va., He enjoyed seven years as Vicar of the chapel of Christ the King, a small inner-city congregation in Charlotte from 1989-96. In 1996 he was elected Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina where he served until his full retirement in 2006. He currently assists at St. Mary of the Hills in Blowing Rock.

As a volunteer he has worked with Habitat for Humanity in Mexico (2008); chair of Resource Development for N.C. Council of Churches, board of directors for Thompson Child and Family focus in Charlotte and with Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI)/USA. Mission trips have taken him to Costa Rica, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Brazil, Israel and Palestine.

Cartee and Hogan are local attorneys, both active in the choirs and other music of St. James Episcopal in Lenoir.

A musical prelude will begin at 4 p.m., featuring "Canon in D" by Pachelbel on guitar and the traditional carol "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" on flute and guitar.

The opening hymn of "O Come All Ye Faithful" will be followed by a congregational carol sing, accompanied by Hollar. Other flute/guitar pieces will include "the First Noel," God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Carol of the Bells" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" with "Silent Night" to close.

The Chapel of Rest is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, a designation it has had since 2005. It is located on N.C. 268 adjacent to The Patterson School campus, nine miles north of Lenoir.

For more information about the Christmas Eve service, call 828-758-0906.