An Ascension tradition since 1983.
We listen to Scripture, we listen to and sing carols, we celebrate by candlelight. Led by Ascension's Choir and accompanied by organ, piano and strings, we gather to celebrate the anticipation of Christ's coming at Christmas.
Join us to celebrate the spirit of Christmas and pray for peace and good will to all at the 44th Annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
For more information, contact Joel Bolen.
Nine Lessons and Carols
In the late 1800’s, Christmas carols were typically performed by carolers visiting people’s houses, and were generally secular in content. The rising popularity of hymnody in the Victorian era inspired musicians to introduce carols into Christian worship. John Stainer (composer and organist) compiled the collection Christmas Carols New and Old, and, in 1878 he introduced these carols in the Choral Evensong service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The seeds of what were to become the Festival of Lessons and Carols had been sown.
Also, that same year, the choir of Truro Cathedral sang a service of carols on Christmas Eve. As reported by the Royal Cornwall Gazette:
The Choir of the Cathedral will sing a number of carols in the Cathedral on Christmas Eve, the service commencing at 10pm. We understand that this is at the wish of many of the leading parishioners and others. A like service has been instituted in other cathedral and large towns, and has been much appreciated. It is the intention of the choir to no longer continue the custom of singing carols at the residences of members of the congregation.
— Royal Cornwall Gazette, 20 December 1878
In addition to caroling in homes, it was also common to celebrate the festive season at the local pubs. The Right Reverend Edward White Benson, Bishop of Truro, sought to attract the revelers out of the pubs and into the church to keep his flock from enjoying too much of the wrong kind of festive “spirits.” The idea for a service consisting of Christmas carols interspersed with Scripture readings was proposed by the Reverend George Walpole (who later became Bishop of Edinburgh). And, on December 24, 1880, the first service of “Nine Lessons and Carols” was performed with over 400 people attending.
In 1918, the service made its way to King’s College, Cambridge. This celebration at King’s College occurred only 43 days after the conclusion of World War I. Dean Eric Milner-White, having served as an army chaplain in the “Great War '' was concerned about people’s distress from the war and hardening attitudes toward religion. It was at this time that “Once in Royal David’s City” and a bidding prayer penned by Milner-White were introduced. The service at King’s was first broadcast in 1928 and, with the exception of 1930, it has been broadcast annually ever since.
In 1934, Eric Milner-White devised our Advent Carol Service. Many churches use the older “Christmas” format when they celebrate this Liturgy on Christmas Eve as part of the Celebration of the Nativity. However, when the Liturgy is not part of the Nativity celebration, the Advent format is more appropriate and it is the format you will experience this evening.
The nine “lessons” or scripture passages outline the story of the fall of humanity and the promise of the Messiah. The carols, anthems and hymns expound on the feeling of expectation and longing, themes of the Advent (derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”).
Ascension’s first Nine Lessons and Carols service was in 1983 and used the original Christmas lessons and later changed to the Advent Lessons and Carols service. We hope that you will experience a sense of fellowship and Holiday spirit as intended by Right Reverend Edward White Benson at that first Lessons and Carols in 1880. We hope that you will experience a sense of peace and hope as intended by Dean Eric Milner-White in 1928. We hope that you will experience the wonder of this Liturgy like those who attended our first Lessons and Carols in 1983. We hope that you will experience all of this and many, many more blessings this Christmas and in the new year to come.