Festival of nine lessons and carols
Robin Ford, 2013
It’s England in the early 1960s; Christmas Eve; late afternoon. I am seated beside the living-room fire with my parents and sister. We each have a cup of tea and a shortbread biscuit. The radio presenter has just announced the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from Cambridge.
We hear shuffling sounds from the radio as members of the congregation in Kings College Chapel stand and turn round to see the choir gathered at the end of the nave.
“Once in Royal David’s city…” The pure clear sound of a single treble voice defines the moment. Christmas has begun.
“…Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ the little child.” sings the young voice. His solo is complete. Later we might decide that this voice was even better than last years, but there’s no time for that now, for the whole choir is joining in with verse two, “He came down to earth from heaven…” and they begin the procession to the choir stalls.
More shuffling, and the congregation sits for the first reading. The precisely rehearsed voice of a chorister introduces a passage from Genesis. “God announces in the Garden of Eden that the seed of woman shall bruise the serpent’s head”.
And the ceremony continues as it has in Cambridge since 1918.
I have attended replica carol services in Sydney that follow the same format, but increasingly I felt disconnected from the present. And increasingly I noticed the words of the readings: the fall of humanity blamed on a woman, Abraham rewarded for being willing to sacrifice his son to please god. Weird stuff. The texts of many of the carols had become awkward to sing too. I was no longer able to relax into the ceremony, and I mourned the loss of one of those thin occasions where life’s mystery was so close that you could almost grasp it.
Recently I’ve tried to rework the telling of the Christmas story, retaining the lessons/songs format, but with my own choice of words and music. I have two versions: one for grown-ups and one for families with children.
The kids one runs for ten minutes. Both omit God, heaven, angels, and virgin birth. It does include songs that most young children know, and includes activities too.
In both versions there are still elements of mystery, and I think they retain the essence of the story – one of the foundation stories of our culture.
And both are designed to be adaptable.
RhymeAndReason 
Dear Robin, just enjoy and don’t worry about the virgin birth the angels and the mysogeny, the bible is so huge it contains absolutely everything, it really gives Jacob a hard time!!! , and what does it do to josephs brothers!!!!! the controversy is the reason it is still read!!! Its omissions are sometimes the best bits, I am sure Sarah never forgave Abraham!!! enjoy and argue It really is the work of a god who wants us to think. As for Jairus, he probably ended up taking marijuana in high doses the rest of his life. I have always wondered how Bathsheba ended up , no doubt she watched her son die, the Lord is anything if not merciful!! it is now called consequences of action, it used to be called the lord’s judgment!!! Happy Xmas Charissa
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Christmas eve, late afternoon. It’s dark.
The tea is made. the shortbread biscuits are handed round.
We wait for the boy treble to start singing “Once in Royal David’s City”
Was he as good as the one last year – or maybe better.
What did we make of the new carols?
But Oh those readings! Maybe they are better in context.
I love the mood and the mystery, so I constucted my own version.
I don’t worry about those other aspects any more. I used to think you had to take the whole authorised package. Now I tell my own story
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