Guest Post by Chris Iverson, President of Chicago Pro-Life Future
Each year for the past five years, Chicago Pro-life Future has participated in the tradition of singing beautiful Christmas carols outside an abortion facility. At our first event in 2016, Phil Corridon, a seasoned sidewalk counselor, said a woman came up to him a couple years ago and said she chose life for her child after hearing “Silent Night” while waiting for the abortionist to come into the room. She couldn’t go through with the abortion after hearing this song and got off the exam table.
On Saturday, December 5th we sang carols outside the Family Planning Associates abortion facility at 4341 N. Milwaukee Ave in Chicago. We had binders with song sheets, red Santa hats, and my friend Jordan led us in singing. We also displayed our red and green banner that reads “Love your baby like a Christmas gift from above.” Finally, we enjoyed delicious hot chocolate and cookies. We experienced mostly positive reactions from people honking and waving as they drove past. One man came up to shake Jordan’s hand. You could tell he was emotionally touched by the moment. Another young man came over smiling and moving his hands as though he was our conductor. He declined our invitation to sing with us, but he did accept a Santa hat.
There are many advantages to this kind of event. It’s easy to ask people who are pro-life to sing carols even if they are uncertain about joining other pro-life activities. It is a great introduction to the world of pro-life events. The carols are enjoyable and they are like a communal prayer where we express the beauty of new life coming into the world and the promise of peace and goodwill. The contrast to abortion couldn’t be clearer. This activity introduces new people to expressing some kind of opposition to an abortion facility and it lends itself to building up the pro-life community because of the social interaction that naturally happens as you take breaks between songs to chat.
The Pro-life Action League started this creative event in 2003 and each year, they organize this nationwide event with local leaders. This year, pro-life groups in 30 states have a caroling event organized. Each group organizes it in their own way. If you want to start your own tradition of singing carols, you can find resources to help you start here. If you want to locate caroling happening in your area, those events are listed here.
