You are invited to Lessons and Carols

“One of the most beloved traditions of Advent and Christmas from England is a form of worship known as the “festival of Lessons and Carols”.  The pattern for the service is the proclamation of God’s Word contemplated in a special sequence of readings, prayers, and song.  The service of nine lessons and carols was first conceived by Archbishop Benson for use in the Truro Cathedral in the late nineteenth century.  It was simplified and adapted for use in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, in 1918, by Dean Eric Milner-White.  Our service is an adaptation of the basic pattern from the King’s College Chapel version.  The beauty of the service is its flexibility and its musical dialog based upon the Christmas Lessons.”

This is the description that we have included in the bulletin in years gone by for our “Lessons and Carols” Service.  We have used it in different ways and different places, on a Sunday leading up to Christmas and as our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.  We have also sought to modify it, taking it down to five lessons for a couple of years.

This year, Lessons and Carols falls on our Youth Sunday.  The readings will be done by members of the Youth Group and their families.  Mary Lu Farrell has redone the Carols for this Service, drawing on a couple of new ones from our Hymnal and a couple of old favorites outside our Hymnal.  It is one of my favorite services of the year. 

In years gone by, readers were given a choice of using the Pew Bibles, in the New Revised Standard Version of Scripture or using the King James Version.  The poetry of the KJV, especially with these verses, touches the very soul of the service.  This year, all the readings are going to be drawn from the King James Version for its poetry and to compliment the wonder of this traditional service.

Worship is at 10am, please invite your friends to join us in this wonderful celebration of the Christmas Season.