A Christmas Eve service from England has become a beloved tradition for many churches in Arkansas and around the country -- the Advent Service of Lessons and Carols.
The service, which includes nine lessons from the Scriptures interspersed with nine carols, has been a tradition at King's College Chapel in Cambridge since 1918. The dean, Eric Milner-White, with the help of organist Arthur Henry Mann, based the service on one created by E.W. Benson, who would later become archbishop of Canterbury. Benson put together a simple service of nine lessons and carols for his congregation in Truro in Cornwall, England, on Christmas Eve in 1880.
The idea was to use Scripture and song to retell the story of salvation. The King's College service is broadcast worldwide each year, and churches of various denominations have adopted, and adapted, the service for use in their own congregations. The Service of Lessons and Carols has been a longtime tradition at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock.
Jim Maase, minister of music, arts and worship, said the church's service is an abbreviated version of the traditional one. The church broadcasts its services during a one-hour time slot on television, so the service had to be shortened to seven lessons instead of nine to fit the time restraints.
The Service of Lessons and Carols will be presented during the 9 and 11 a.m. worship services Sunday and will air on KATV, Channel 7, at 10:30 a.m. The church is at 4823 Woodlawn Drive.
"As for the history of lessons and carols, the whole idea is it's an Advent work, it's not a Christmas work, so to speak," Maase said. "It's readings of prophecies and talking about the coming of Christ."
Maase said the lessons or readings start in Genesis and continue into the Gospels. The readings are traditionally kept consistent, but the carols and hymns vary from church to church and often change each year. Maase said that in the late 1800s, composers in England wrote pieces specifically for the lessons and carols services.
At Pulaski Heights UMC, the service will feature choirs of children, youths and adults, as well as congregational singing.
"It will be kindergarten through adults," Maase said. "Some churches just use an adult choir but we like to use all ages to tell the story."
Some featured songs include "Prepare the Way of the Lord" sung by the children and "Prepare the Way, O Zion" by the Chancel Choir. The
congregation will join in for "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" and "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming." Other songs include "My Soul Gives Glory to My God," sung after the reading from the first chapter of Luke that tells of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to reveal that she would bear the son of God, as well as "I Saw Three Ships," about the wise men, and Franz Biebl's version of "Ave Maria."
To close the service, the choir will surround the congregation in candlelight and sing "Climb to the Top of the Highest Mountain" as a benediction.
Maase said the service is always popular and music plays an important role.
"Music, whether it's in worship or in a popular vein, obviously moves us," he said. "Advent comes every year, Easter comes every year, but it's important that we recognize them because it's what reinvites the story in us and takes us to that next level, and that's what the music does."
Maase said he has found that even those who prefer contemporary worship services are often drawn back to traditional services, such as the lessons and carols, during the Advent and Christmas season.
"They want to hear bells ringing and joyous music and hear the organ and see the stained glass," he said.
At King's College Chapel, the service of lessons and carols always begins with "Once in Royal David's City," with the opening verse by a treble soloist. The same will happen at Pulaski Heights UMC. The carol is one of Maase's favorites.
He particularly likes the last stanza that hints at the Resurrection: "Not in that poor lowly stable, with the oxen standing by, we shall see him but in heaven, set at God's right hand on high, when, like stars, his children crowned all in white shall wait around."
"I've sung that hymn for a lot of years and every time I hear the choir sing it, it brings me to tears," he said.
Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Little Rock has been holding its service of Advent Lessons and Carols on the third Sunday evening of Advent for about 12 years. The service will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday and will feature the Christ Church Choir, the Compline Choir and the Children's Choir. The church is at 509 Scott St.
Steve Bullock, who serves as organist and choirmaster, said he changes up the music each year. This year's service will start with the Compline Choir singing "Matin Responsory" by Palestrina, which begins, "I look from afar and lo, I see the power of God coming, and a cloud covering the whole Earth. Go ye out to meet him and say: Tell us, art thou he that should come to reign over thy people Israel?"
After the reading of the first lesson, the choir will sing "Adam Lay Ybounden" by Philip Ledger. According to the Penguin Book of Carols, edited by Ian Bradley, the words of the carol came from a 15th-century manuscript. Although it's a common selection for the Advent Service of Lessons and Carols, it doesn't mention Jesus at all; rather, it focuses on the sin of Adam and Eve.
Bullock said the Children's Choir will sing "Lord of the Stars" by Ruth Schram. Other selections will include "Magnificat" by Grayston Ives, Daniel Gawthrop's version of "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" and "E'en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come" by Paul Manz. The songs sung by the choir will also be interspersed with congregational singing of hymns.
"It's a really neat service that touches on all aspects of Advent from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden to prophecies saying a savior would come, then Mary being told she's going to have a child. That last lesson is about the second coming of Christ," Bullock said. "You don't get that in any other service in one sitting."
Bullock said music is a huge part of the service and in the celebration of the season.
"The texts of these anthems are so descriptive and colorful," he said.
Of this year's songs, he's partial to a few but said the Manz selection is a must.
"It's not Advent until you've heard 'E'en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come,"' he said.
The hymn's text is based on the book of Revelation:
Peace be to you and grace from him
Who freed us from our sin, who loved us all, and shed his blood
That we might saved be.
Sing holy, holy to our Lord
The Lord almighty God who was and is, and is to come;
sing holy, holy, Lord!
Rejoice in heaven,
all ye that dwell therein
Rejoice on Earth, ye saints below
For Christ is coming soon.
E'en so Lord Jesus quickly come
And night shall be no more
They need no light, no lamp, nor sun
For Christ will be their all!
Religion on 12/12/2015