Carols are Nice -- But Don't Forget the Lessons

              In early December Marilyn and I traveled to Charlotte to see our granddaughter’s choir perform as part of a service of “Lessons and Carols” at Covenant Presbyterian Church.  Our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are members of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, but our granddaughter began singing in Covenant’s children’s choir when she attended pre-school there.  Covenant, which has a renowned music program, is in the family’s neighborhood, so she has continued to sing in the choir even though she no longer goes to school there.

            Covenant’s service, which is modeled after the one at King’s College, Cambridge that is broadcast around the world each Christmas Eve, showed why the church’s music is held in such high regard.   It featured multiple choirs, two hand bell ensembles, talented soloists and the church’s splendid Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ – plus a full orchestra.  All of the music – which encompassed very traditional carols as well as very modern ones – was magnificent.  When the service ended the congregation exited to the sound of still more carols played on the church’s 48-bell carillon.

            Alas, the lessons simply did not measure up to the music.  The readers’ affects ranged from hyper to desultory.  Several read much too quickly.  A couple were so monotonic that they might has well have been reading a grocery list.  One man appeared to be addressing his necktie.  Only one read with the verve and feeling appropriate for passages that collectively recounted the greatest and most miraculous story in history: God coming to us in the form of a baby.  I observed to my son and daughter-in-law that “It’s too bad that no one spent the time to train and rehearse the lectors the same way they trained and rehearsed the musicians.”

            The next day, a Sunday, we attended church at St. Martin’s where, coincidentally, the service also was “lessons and carols.”  In contrast to the majesty and pomp that we had experienced at Covenant, the music was quite nice, but comparatively simplistic:  just the lovely mellow church organ accompanying the parish choir and the congregation.  On the other hand, the St. Martin’s lay readers were superb; every one of them read his or her assigned passage clearly, at the proper pace, and with appropriate emotion and attention to the punctuation. 

            I don’t know why the Presbyterians gave the lessons such short shrift in comparison to the carols; perhaps the explanation is as simple as the fact that, as a non-liturgical church, Covenant simply has little experience with having lay people give voice to the Word.

            Whatever the explanation, I have an easy solution to the problem.  Next year, let the Presbyterians provide the carols and bring in Episcopalians to read the lessons.