United Christian Cultural Association hosts Grand Christmas Carols Nite Banquet
United Christian Cultural Association hosted a grand Christmas Carols Nite Banquet brimming with carols, colorful dances, skit, inspiring yuletide sermonette. Singer and composer Quincy Chett entertained the guests with his melodic compositions. The interfaith and interdenominational celebration was held at the Monty's Elegant Banquet in Bensenville, Illinois drawing over 300 guests.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, chief guest of honor, highlighted the significance of Christmas as a time of coming together of all religions. He said while Christmas is dear to Christians, it remains special to the people of all faiths, as Christmas is largely a set of ideals that symbolize the birth of savior Jesus Christ who is revered as the prince of peace and concluded that we should not preach sermon, but live the essence and ideals of sermon.
UCCA women's team Havilah Maddela Devarapalli, Ujwala Neela, Saritha Pasumarthi, Persis Dadepogu, Sujata Pulikuri, Margaret Sanyogita Charles and Dr. Ramya Joshua all dressed in resplendent colors took to the stage to honor Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Dr. Priya Krishnamoorthi with shawls and flower bouquets in appreciation and gratitude for his inspiring remarks and for their gracious presence.
T.D. Bhutia, Deputy Consul General of India, offered special greetings on behalf of the office of the Consulate General of India and thanked UCCA team for hosting truly a spirited Christmas celebratory event.
Earlier, Dr. Heyer Paul Devarapalli welcomed the guests and outlined the mission and purpose of the United Christian Cultural Association. Devarapalli emphasized that UCCA is deeply committed to advance the culture and faith of the Christian community and added UCCA has conducted several charitable mission drives including hosting health fair for the underserved families. Director Keerthi Kumar Ravoori said Christmas is largely celebrated as a universal festival all across the world and added Christmas represents peace, joy and more importantly, it offers an opportunity to foster an interfaith harmony in a largely polarized world.
In his yuletide sermonette, the Rev. Peter Pereira presented the contemporary vision of Christmas and said Christmas is timeless, and the same message is still relevant today. In fact, the central story of Christmas has a lot to say about the world we live in today wherein the birth of Savior Christ gives us hope to the entire world, said Rev. Pereira.
Dr. Heyer Paul Devarpalli, Raju Pasumarthi, Emmanuel Neela, Sunil Joshua, Vasanth Charles, Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, Satish Dadepogu and Ravi Pulukuri were the principal hosts for the Christmas Banquet. Raju Pasumarthi Enoch, UCCA President, said that UCCA has been initiating innovative programs to empower the Telugu Christian community to make a difference in the lives of the people. UCCA Vice President Emmanuel Neela outlined the vision statement of the UCCA and spelled out its future programs, which includes music festivities, cricket tournaments, and family retreats.
The event was attended by a large number of Christian families, complemented by the presence of representatives from the Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communities including Ajeet Singh, Gladson Varghese, Nag Jaiswal, Vinesh Virani, Vibha Rajput, Shree Guruswamy, Alli Dhanraj, Chris Veteran, Babu Verma, and Khurram Syed. There was a large Telugu organizational leadership presence including Madan Pamulapati, Murthy Koppaka, Srinivas Yelamchanchali, Mahesh Kakarla, Srinivas Pidikit, Srinivas Boppana from NATS; Rao Achanta, Ravi Achanta and Hema Chandra. Media Partners Suresh Bodiwala of Asian Media USA and Prachi Jaitley, Phani Krishna of IUSA Media were present. Several local pastors & clergies attended the celebrations including Rev. David Vidysagar, Rev. Robert Saturi, Rev. Smt. Subhadra Vipparthi, Rev. Thomas Polepaka & Rev Omega.