I hope you are as excited as I am about our Christmas Eve service from 6-7 this Friday evening! Christians have been gathering together to worship on Christmas Eve for centuries. The first formal gathering of “Lessons and Carols” that I have found on record took place at Truro Cathedral in England in 1880. This was then adopted in 1918 by the King’s College in Cambridge. You can see the original order-of-service here.

Our service this Friday will be very similar. Like that service, ours will include 10 Scripture readings, though ours are grouped as 7 lessons and we will be singing 10 songs instead of 14. If you’re unfamiliar with any of these carols, sing through them before we gather on Friday to help us sing well, as the linked versions are the versions we’ll be singing:

• Carol 1:
• “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
• Words and Music: 1751
• Carol 2:
• “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (vv. 1, 2, 4)
• Words: ~12^th century | Music: 15^th century
• Carol 3:
• “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”
• Words: 1744   Music: 1830
• Carol 4:
• “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (vv. 1, 4)
• Words and Music: 1868
• Carol 5:
• “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
• Words: ~5^th century | Music: 17^th century
• Carol 6:
• “What Child Is This?”
• Words: 1865   Music: 16^th century
• Carol 7:
• “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”
• Words: 1739   Music: 1840
• Carol 8:
• “Joy to the World! The Lord Is Come”
• Words: 1719   Music: 1742
• Carol 9:
• “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem”
• Words: 1899   Music: 1893
• Carol 10:
• “Silent Night”
• Words and Music: 1818

“O Come, Let us Adore Him!”

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Evan