I don’t know about you, but Christmas is a season and holiday which I look forward to celebrating each year more than any other. As great as we Christians understand Easter/Resurrection Day to be, I’ve found that Christmas tends to be happier than any other time of the year. I believe Christmas ties us into the joy of the Great Feast which we so eagerly anticipate enjoying upon entering the Kingdom at Christ’s return.

I also think the irrepressible joy of the Christmas season is something which many others outside the faith try to emulate, even if they consistently fall short. I mean, how could they compete with the joy and hope that Christians have in knowing their sins have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb?

But I won’t go too far with that in this entry.

The men in my family tend to be singers. We love singing good hymnody more than we can express. This means we love solid Gospel-focused text which preaches a hope from outside of us, leaving us out and focusing on what was done for us by God Himself. But just as important, in our opinion, is the tune as well.

One of the things we in my family have struggled to find each Christmas Eve is a church which will offer a service of simple Scripture readings and hymnody. And when I speak of hymnody, I mean we’re looking for the same basic, most commonly known and beautiful and singable ones that so many know and love. Though it’s not too hard to find a church which will offer simple Scripture readings and hymnody for the service, I find that it is incredibly difficult to find one which will offer commonly known hymns. We consider ourselves lucky if 50% of the hymns we sing in a Christmas Eve service to be ones we know.

Ironically, the best experience we’ve had was years ago at an Episcopal church which I couldn’t even name at this point. (Ironic in that we as Lutherans had to skip many Lutheran churches to find the Episcopal one.) I remember standing there with my father and looking through the service booklet to see what was lined up. I think there was only one which I didn’t know and love. As a matter of fact, there were hymns in there which I had forgotten about it had been so long since I’d sung them. Those hymns couldn’t even be found in the last couple Lutheran hymnals we used in our Missouri Synod churches.

Wow.

Time passed and we learned about the recorded Christmas Lessons and Carols services at King’s College in Cambridge, England. The CDs have been standard listening in our houses - for hours upon hours on end - every Christmas season. Why? Because when it comes to a traditional Christmas Eve service like I’ve been describing above, nobody does it like King’s College. Period.

(Also, I should note that a couple years ago, we found the King’s College service being broadcast live on our local NPR radio station when we woke up Christmas morning. What a joyful discovery! May we be so lucky each year.)

And then several years ago, we saw the DVD of the service. We actually got to see what we’d been listening to for so long. It was so beautiful and majestic, our whole house, many friends included, was brought to tears. Whatever happened to those majestic churches which had architecture which was designed to actually preach the Gospel to you themselves? They used to, you know. The Christian cathedrals of England and Europe are stunning in their beauty. But they also contain unbelievable meaning regarding Jesus Christ and what He did to rescue us from sin, death and the devil.

And so, I wanted to offer up to you for your edification the wonderful song and services of King’s College Cambridge as you celebrate the happy Christmas season. I simply can not recommend them enough.

Get the CDs and don’t miss the DVD. If you get nothing else, get the DVD first. It will help you understand the sounds by seeing what is going on in that chapel.

I only pray that some day we’ll get the chance once again to worship in a building as majestic as the Christian theology. Isn’t it only fitting?

By Ted R

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