Students and the larger Hillsdale community will get a chance to share the spirit of the Christmas season in song at this year’s Lessons & Carols event. 

Lessons & Carols will be held in Christ Chapel Sunday, Dec. 7, at 6 p.m. The program is a joint effort between the music department and the office of the chaplain.

“The Lessons & Carols service was first developed in the late-19th-century Church of England, which we have adapted for our purposes here at Hillsdale,” Associate Professor of Music Timothy McDonnell said. “The general premise is to blend readings of Scripture and music in telling the story of Christ’s first coming in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.”

This will be the college’s fifth year holding the event, which was suggested by College President Larry Arnn after the establishment of Christ Chapel on campus in 2019, McDonnell said.

“The musical selections include choral works as well as popular carols for our guests to join in singing,” McDonnell said. “In addition to professional and faculty collaborating musicians, we are excited to welcome student instrumentalists to the program for the first time. We are also extremely pleased to be joined in performance by our own hometown opera superstar, Julie Adams.”

Lessons and Carols is a liturgical service that helps people meditate on the Incarnation and nativity of Jesus through Scripture and music, junior Viola Townsend said.

“Lessons & Carols is my favorite event in the semester,” Townsend said. “It is an amazing way to prepare for Christmas and meditate on the birth of Christ and how the Israelites prepared for him over centuries. It is a good reminder of the gift that they spent so long waiting for.”

College Chaplain Adam Rick will lead the service. Structurally, each of the nine lessons from Scripture is followed by a musical response, with the congregational parts being well-known Christmas carols, according to Rick.

“The service opens and closes with prayer,” Rick said. “It became globally famous when King’s College, Cambridge, began to live broadcast their service in 1928, which they still do every year on Christmas Eve. It’s become a treasured part of Christmas rhythms for millions around the world, and has been widely adapted by a range of western Christian churches, Protestant and Catholic.”

McDonnell chose the musical selections and coordinated them with readings that tell the story of Christ’s birth. He will conduct the Choral Scholars and guest musicians.

“Our purpose in creating this program is to bring the heart of Christmas into the heart of our campus, Christ Chapel,” McDonnell said. “As we approach the intensity of the exam period, this is an opportunity to take some time with our colleagues and friends, ponder the mystery of God-made-man, and join in a hearty carol or two in the soaring arches of our chapel. This year’s program includes some special guests and features that are not to be missed. Come and stir up the spirit of Christmas for yourselves and the community.”

Townsend said this will be her third time attending Lessons & Carols. She is a soprano in Choral Scholars and will be singing during the program. She said it is important to remember why Christ came to earth and to think about what that means for our lives. 

“Music helps to do this in a special way because it both moves our passions to receive its beauty and inspires our reason to reflect upon the text being sung,” Townsend said. “We are so blessed to be able to sing this music and share it with the college and with the community. We work very hard to make it as beautiful as possible and would love to see the chapel full to bursting. Please come, even if only for a little bit. You won’t regret it.”