Amidst all the other seasonal demands, this liturgical orchestration can often feel burdensome, and in the process of attending to many details, certain other ones can be easily overlooked.
Even though this service traditionally relieves the preacher of the need to prepare a sermon, the preacher should keep his or her exegetical lenses near at hand, and attend to the following considerations in order to ensure the service is decent, orderly, and coherent:
(1) If there is a printed bulletin and the readings are listed therein, ask your readers to refrain from announcing the readings, and also from saying "The Word of the Lord/Thanks be to God" at the end of each reading. This practice is fine for a Sunday morning, but it grows tiresome and redundant in a service where there are nine lessons or so.
(2) Pay attention to where you ask people to sit and stand. The first time I planned such a service, I made the mistake of having people stand for every carol and sit for every reading. About halfway through the service, I realized this was ridiculous, and the congregation found ways of confirming it! Group your standing elements as best you can, as well as your sitting elements. If your tradition asks people to stand for the Gospel readings, you need to bear that in mind. I generally consider the quieter carols those that are best sung while seated, and the more lively, joyful, and triumphant carols best sung on one's feet. This is not always easy to arrange when you are seeking to ensure that readings and carol texts tell the story with a certain progression and coherence, but it is a good general rule of thumb.
(3) Obviously the choice of Carols can be endlessly adapted, and will depend on the hymnal(s) and songbook(s) you have available in the pews. So too can different scripture selections be made so as to include other passages not traditionally read on Christmas Eve. No doubt there will be complaints if the readings depart too markedly from, say, the infancy narratives (as would occur if you used Year D texts right off the page, with no regard to "tradition").
(4) There is an old tradition that provides for a progression through the ecclesial hierarchy when it comes to the ordering of readers, so that the first reader is a child or youth, and the last is the bishop, the vicar, or the "highest ranking" minister on hand. This seems to me to get things the wrong way around where the gospel is concerned.
I have tried to consider the nature of the reading, sometimes going from eldest to youngest, so that the reading of the Gospel is offered in a young voice with what we might call "the Linus effect." Or I simply do away with such progression and work to match the reading with the vocal quality of the reader. A (theologically) hard reading, e.g., may go down better, or at least invite people to listen more receptively, when the reader has a softer, pleasing, "innocent" voice. As a practical matter, I have generally led both opening and closing elements, in part because this allows me to both set the tone and ring the last note of the service, as it were.
(5) A significant, if not quite the primary, aim of the service should be to ensure that those who come but once or twice a year hear the gospel anew, and not merely in the same word-for-word fashion to which they may be accustomed.
The following liturgy is adapted from a service that was punctuated with several other solos, anthems, and items of "special music," so the interweaving of read and sung elements was even more intricate. The form I have printed below is stripped of those extra musical elements, so you may wish to assess how well you think these elements fit together at the transition points, bearing in mind the musical tempo and key, opening and closing lines, dominant images, etc., all in relation to the content of the readings that will either precede or follow them.
Several traditional readings are included here, but others are also included, notably the Romans and Hebrews texts, that frame things in (I think) a fresh way. I hope this at least helps you get started on planning such a service, and gives you some new texts to consider for reading within this lovely traditional liturgy.
Christmas Eve, December 24
Words of Introduction:
Our worship service this night follows roughly the liturgy of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols as first held on Christmas Eve 1918 at King’s College Cambridge, originally planned by Dean Eric Milner-White. The service this evening, however, incorporates a significant revision of that service where the selection of the lessons is concerned, seeking as it does, to recount the story of the birth of our Savior and Lord on the grand stage of salvation history, the whole drama, from Genesis to Revelation, of God’s plan to redeem the cosmos, the nation of Israel, the church, and the individual from the powers of sin, death, and the devil. May you find it conducive to your worship of God and may the Holy Spirit inspire you to ever greater joy, humility, and gratitude as you offer worship and adoration to him, our Wonderful Counselor, our Almighty God, our Everlasting Father, and to Jesus Christ, our Prince of Peace. To God be the glory. Let us worship God.
*Prologue: 1John 1:1-10
*Carol: “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
*Bidding Prayer and The Lord’s Prayer:
Beloved of God in Christ, on this holy night, let us undertake to be reminded, to understand, and to delight in the great, mighty, and loving purpose of our holy and gracious God, from the first days of our primeval temptation, our fall, and our banishment from the Garden, to the final victory won for us by Jesus Christ, a victory that is foretold and promised in holy scripture, and by all indications is coming soon to its fulfillment. Let us hear again the story of the Incarnation of the Word of God, of the birth in Bethlehem of our glorious redemption, Jesus Christ, who came to save. And let us ask the Lord to guide, quicken, and enliven our listening, by laying before him all concerns and offering him our full devotion and attention this night. Let us pray:
O Lord our God, surely it pleases you when we remember before you the needs of the whole world, especially the need for peace on earth and good will toward all people; the need for unity and love, for gentleness and fellowship, and all the fruit of the Spirit, within the church that your Son Jesus came to build, and especially, here in this congregation, in this denomination, and in all churches where you are sought.
Lord, we are reminded of the poor and the homeless, the cold, the hungry, the lonely, the sick, those who mourn, those whose relationships have suffered in this year that is passed and those whose faith has been sorely tested. We are reminded of the needs of the aged and the infirm, of the young and impressionable, and of those who care for one or the other, and sometimes both. Give rest to your weary servants, O Lord.
We pray as well, for those who do not know you, those who do not love you, and for all who have, by sin, grieved your loving heart.
Lastly, O Lord, we give you thanks for all who rejoice with us this night, but upon other shores, your church across the world, and especially those who rejoice in your presence on that heavenly shore, in a greater light, those for whom there are no longer tears or suffering, those who comprise that great multitude that no one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh and with whom, in the Lord Jesus, we are forever and ever made one. These things we pray in the name of above all names, who taught us to pray, saying:
Our Father …
*Carol: “Angels from the Realms of Glory”
First Lesson: Hosea 6:1-7
The Lighting of the Christ Candle
Second Lesson: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:4-6, 22-24
Third Lesson: Psalm 132
Carol: “Once in Royal David’s City”
Fourth Lesson: Revelation 12:1-12, 17
Carol: “What Child is This?”
Presentation of Tithes and Offerings
Offertory
*Doxology
*Prayer of Dedication
O Christ our King, you received gifts from the wise kings of old, and we would likewise offer you these gifts. May they be to you a fragrant offering, to bring healing and hope, relief and aid, to those in need, and may they be administered wisely, in accordance with your will. Amen.
*Carol: “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice!”
Fifth Lesson: Romans 5:12-21
Carol: “See, Amid the Winter’s Snow”
*Sixth Lesson: Matthew 1:18-25
*Carol: “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
*Seventh Lesson: Luke 2:8-20
Carol: “Angels We Have Heard on High”
Eighth Lesson: Revelation 22:1-7, 10-21
*The Collect for Christmas Eve:
God of Hope, who sent Christ Jesus, our true light and our living our hope, into this dark and dreary world for our forgiveness, our redemption, our reformation, and our joy, fill us now with all joy and peace in believing in him, so that we may abound in hope by the power of your Holy Spirit, for the glory of your name and for the completion of your godly joy; in Jesus’ name. Amen.
*Carol: “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”
*The Sharing of the Light of Christ
*Carol: “Silent Night, Holy Night”
*Ninth Lesson: Hebrews 1:1-4, 14; 2:1-3a
*The Blessing (Jude 24-25):
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
*Postlude
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