As Christmas approaches, holiday concerts abound.

Sunday, two churches are inviting the public to Christmas cantatas: First Presbyterian Church and First United Methodist Church in Washington.

First United Methodist’s choir will perform “Joy Has Dawned” by Lloyd Larson at the regular 11 a.m. church service. Along with pianist Leigh Stanley, the choir will be joined by guest singers and instrumentalists on trumpet, clarinet, saxophone and flute.

“It’s about a 30-page cantata, so it goes beyond what’s normally done on Sunday,” said choir director Susan Crawford. “It’s very traditional; it has all the traditional carols in it — “Away in the Manger,” “Angels We Have Heard on High” — but it also has many pieces he used in previous cantatas, but has created different arrangements.”

Crawford said the cantata starts with a bang with “Joy to the World,” an unusual placement, and ends with a jazz/gospel arrangement of “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”

“There are a lot of pieces that are about joy,” Crawford said. “It has a lot of things that people will recognize and enjoy hearing.”

Later than night, a 25-piece orchestra and a slate of professional singers join the choir of First Presbyterian Church for “A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols.”

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., the concert starts at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a reception in the Fowle Fellowship Hall.

“Following the English format of reading scripture passages from both the old and new foretelling of the birth of Christ by prophets and disciples, anthems and vocal solos are sung to correspond with each lesson,” Chris Watkins, First Presbyterian’s music director, wrote in a press release. “Music from every genre of music will be sung, including arias from Handel’s ‘Messiah,’ American spirituals and works by John Rutter and Mark Hayes.”

Guest soloists include sopranos Katherine Lakoski, Kali Clougherty and Bonnie Doughtery,   mezzo-soprano Alexandra Fee, tenors Dan Callaway and Joshua Allen, and baritone Dale Stine — all professionals who have sung in major opera houses in Europe and with major orchestras in the United States, according to Watkins. Singing bass, choir member Bill Taylor and Carsen Rowe, a child soprano, who sings in local churches and in school chorus, join the other soloists, as well as an orchestra that includes a professional lineup of strings, woodwinds, brass players and percussionists.

The performance wraps up with the congregation joining in on a candlelight rendition of “Silent Night.”

Both Sunday performances are free to the public.

“We’re hoping to have a good crowd and would love to have the community join us,” Crawford said.

First United Methodist Church is located at 304 W. Second St.; First Presbyterian is located at 211 W. Second St. (entrance on Gladden Street) in Washington.