Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

This service has been a very meaningful one for our church family. It embodies the wonderful tradition described below. The nine lessons are the same ones read around the world this Christmas season. Interspersed between these readings are favorite hymns sung, praises sung by soloists, choirs and the worship team, and our pondering of the significance of what we hear through a sequence of short meditations.

Sign up to attend in person the service of your choice as space is limited due to COVID restrictions. We will also livestream the service.

Childcare: The Trinity Kids nursery wing will be open for 10 preschool-aged children (walkers to pre-K) during each service. Nursery wing sign-up is on the same page as your ticket for the worship service.

Children kindergarten and older: They will stay with their parents in both the 8:45am and 11am services.

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols Background

The first service of lessons and carols was held late at night in a large wooden shed in Truro, England on Christmas Eve, 1880. The shed was a temporary structure serving as the Cathedral of Truro at the time, and the service was drawn up by E.W. Benson, dean of the cathedral, who would later become Archbishop of Canterbury. Benson arranged a sequence of nine lessons followed by carols. Each lesson was read by a member of the church ranging from a small boy up to the bishop.

In 1918 this service was adapted for use at King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England. To this day the service is celebrated every Christmas at King’s College and broadcast around the world by the BBC. For many years the service has begun with a soloist singing the first verse of Once in Royal David’s City.