Chigwell’s Christmas Carol service draws a large crowd at St Mary’s Church.
Christmas is upon us and this magical time has attracted around 400 guests at our local church. St Mary’s church was filled with the sound of Christmas favourites on Thursday evening and the Chigwell community our pupils, their families, and staff got into the festive spirit, with a selection of carols sung by our talented choir.
The Service of Lessons and Carols is an act of Christian worship (not a concert) that tells the story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus told in short Bible readings (Lessons) from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of Christmas Carols and choir anthems. The origins of the service go back to Truro Cathedral where an imaginative cleric tried to construct a re-telling of the birth of Jesus to lure the locals away from the public houses at Christmas. The service went to King’s College, Cambridge where the annual service of 9 Lessons and Carols is now broadcast by the BBC. It is estimated that 390 million people listen to or watch the BBC broadcast each year.
Rev. David Wilson said: ‘My Christmas doesn’t truly start until I have heard the singing of the first (solo) verse of Once in Royal David’s City. We wish the entire Chigwell School community a healthy and happy festive season.’
Director of Music, Mr Ebden, commented: 'It was a joyous Carol Service and all the more special because it was our first here in Chigwell for 3 years.'