​St. Paul's Presents Annual Festival Of Lessons And Carols Saturday ​

CONCORD, NH — For more than five decades, St. Paul's School has marked the holiday season with a much-loved celebration: the annual Festival of Lessons and Carols.

Held in the School's historic Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul, the service is modeled on a century-old program first held at King's College in Cambridge, England, at the close of World War I and features carols, readings, and anthems to herald the feast of Christmas.

While Lessons and Carols has traditionally been open to the public, this year, the School is pleased to offer a special service for the greater Concord community at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14. The event will feature the mainstays of the St. Paul's School Lessons and Carols tradition, including organ music by Director of Chapel Music Nicholas White and the singing of medieval and modern carols by the SPS Chapel Choir and members of the congregation. There also will be readings by Rev. Charles Wynder Jr., SPS dean of chapel and spiritual life, and members of the Concord community.

“Our call as an independent Episcopal school is to live into the dual commandment to love God with all our heart, soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves,” says Wynder. “We value our relationships with the community of Concord, greater New Hampshire and New England. This community offering is part our missional work of participating in the collective work of becoming Beloved Community.”

The service is approximately an hour in length. In addition to music by Handel, Ord, Poston, Rutter and Willcocks and original arrangements by White, the program includes traditional Christmas carols that all are invited to join in singing, including “Once in Royal David's City,” “The First Nowell,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”

“This will be the fourteenth time I have led Lessons and Carols at St. Paul’s School,” says White.

“Each year the experience becomes more and more meaningful. While the School population changes every year, the Chapel remains as it has done for well over a century. Another constant feature of this tradition is the members of the greater Concord community who join us as they have since the first festival in 1970. We are delighted to offer this additional opportunity to experience the service this year and want to fill the Chapel for this living and growing tradition!”

Established in 1856 by Boston physician George Cheyne Shattuck as an Episcopal boys school, St. Paul's School today is one of only a few 100% boarding high schools in the United States, home to 539 students from 34 U.S. states and 28 countries, all of whom live on the School grounds with more than 100 faculty members. With deep appreciation for its Episcopal roots and the consecrated ground on which its chapels stand, today's School strives toward becoming Beloved Community, a place where all faiths and belief systems are honored, affirmed and included.

Submitted by St. Paul's School.