Join us during the 8:30 & 11 AM worship services on Sunday, December 17 as we will offer our annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. 

“Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed, where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed…” So begins the traditional service called A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, first celebrated on Christmas Eve, 1880, in England. The service was later revised by the staff of King’s College, Cambridge, and presented in the new format for the first time in 1918, partly to honor those killed in World War I. Through the years, the service has undergone revisions, but its original intention, as stated in the opening prayer, is to show again “from Holy Scripture the tale of the loving purposes of God from the first days of our sin unto the glorious redemption brought by this Holy Child,” and to “make this place glad with our carols of praise.”

The carols may vary from year to year, but the backbone of the service, the lessons and prayers, remains virtually unchanged. The lessons are chronological, beginning in the Garden of Eden, then on to the story of Abraham, continuing through the prophecies of Isaiah, and on through the New Testament story of Christ’s birth. Each carol serves to emphasize or highlight the scripture lesson which preceded it. Thank you for joining in this celebration of prophecy and fulfillment, offered through scripture and song. Please plan to attend and bring a friend to church!