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Worship leader and songwriter Paul Baloche is celebrating the reason for the season in his upcoming Christmas Worship Tour across Canada.
The tour starts in Winnipeg on Dec. 2 at Grant Memorial Church in Winnipeg.
"I'm thrilled to start there," says Baloche. "I love coming to Winnipeg as it has an emotional spot in my soul. It's where my father was born. My grandparents were born and raised in France. The same year the Titanic sank, a few months later they got on a big ship from France to Quebec. Then a train to Winnipeg and settled in the St. Boniface part of the city and my father was born a few years later."
Baloche was born in the U.S. and spent 25 years leading worship at a church in Texas before moving to his current residence in New York.
"I was a worship pastor and every time we got to this point in the year, I wanted to include the classic Christmas carols. I noticed we lost a little bit of that dynamic, that vertical, singing to the Lord that we have during the rest of the year. So I started to experiment, taking a classic Christmas carol and blending it into a familiar worship chorus that was more directed at the Lord."
The singer's favourite part of Christmas is when his whole family comes together.
"We have three adult children. My daughter and her husband live in France. My son, his wife, and two kids live in Brooklyn. My oldest daughter, her husband and their three kids live in Lancaster, PA. So I would say my favourite part as a dad is to see everyone come together and be together. It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful chaos."
The Christmas Worship Tour will feature Canadian Christian artists Brooke Nicholls and Joel Auge. Tickets can be purchased here.