FROM STAFF REPORTS 

MONTEVALLO – The American Village will hold its 15th Annual Festival Service of Nine Lessons and Carols on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. in the Lucille Ryals Thompson Colonial Chapel.

Music will be provided by the Montevallo Community Chorale with soloist Mildred Lanier, pianist Denise George and organist Dr. Laurie Middaugh. The event is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

In 1880, Edward White Benson, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote what he called a “Little Service of Nine Lessons and Carols” for use on Christmas Eve at a small wooden shed, which served as Truro Cathedral in western England. In 1918, it was adapted for use at King’s College in Cambridge by its Dean, the Very Reverend Eric Milner-White.

The service begins with the procession from the west door of the Chapel, symbolically passing from darkness to light, and continues with lessons—readings from Holy Scripture which range from our disobedience in the garden of Eden, to the miracle of the Word made flesh in the birth of our Lord.

The American Village service is a combination of the Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service and an Advent adaptation of the service traditionally used on the first Sunday in Advent.

Attendees are invited and encouraged to participate fully in the service by singing the hymns and praying the prayers printed in the service leaflet.

The American Village is located at 3727 Highway 119 in Montevallo, Alabama.

For more information, call 665-3535 ext. 1031 or visit Americanvillage.org.