Lessons and Carols will be at both worships (8:30am and 10:45am). Join with the musicians and choir of St. Peter’s as we worship with the familiar readings and carols of Advent and Christmastide.
St. Peter’s Lessons and Carols service began in 1981 with the direction of former Pastor David Henry. It was based on the “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.” The tradition was established in England on Christmas Eve, 1918, in the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. The first radio broadcast was in 1928, and has, with the exception of 1930, been broadcast each year. The nine lessons, although not exactly the same each year, narrate to Christians throughout the world the Christmas story.
Carols differ from hymns, in that they usually tell a story. For the non-reading folk of the middle ages, the carols were an easy way to understand the Christmas story, similar to the visual stories of the great stained glass windows. In 129 AD a Roman Bishop declared a song called “Angels Hymn” should be sung at the Christmas service. This slowly developed and by the 1200s carols were common in the various Christian churches of Europe.