The spirit of Christmas takes wings in Pune

St Mary’s Church, the oldest church in Pune, held its Nine Lessons carol service on Sunday evening. With Christmas round the corner, the city churches have started various Christmas services, one of the first being the Nine Lessons carol service.
The popularity of carol services has continued to grow since the late 1800s. The service includes singing carols and readings from the Bible.

The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is a service of Christian worship celebrating the birth of Jesus, which is traditionally followed during Christmas. The story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus is told in nine short Bible readings from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols, hymns and choir
music.

The opening carol of the service is always 'Once in Royal David’s City', and there is usually a new, specially commissioned carol. The service begins with an organ prelude. The service started with the hymn by a soloist followed by the choir and the
congregation.

As per the custom, the blessing was said by the presbyter-in-charge of the church, Rev Sumesh Jacob. The prayer was followed by the lesson readings by different members of the church with a carol after each lesson
reading.

Members of ministries such as Pastorate Committee, Women’s Fellowship, Youth Fellowship, Young Adult’s Fellowship, Sunday School, Cottage Bible Study and Senior Citizens participated.
The choir was ably conducted by Vinodh James of The Bishop’s School, accompanied on the violin by Abhijit Roy. The choir consisted of young and old members of the church, the youngest being 12 years old.

Both children and the elderly participated in the bonfire on one of the coldest nights of the season bringing in the Christmas cheer and the fun of the festival two weeks before Christmas eve. The programme was planned and organised by members of the church under the leadership of Ranjan Samuel.