A community gathering for the Christmas season

Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary will present its annual Service of Lessons and Carols on Friday, Dec. 5, at 10 a.m. in the Frank H. and Fannie W. Caldwell Chapel. Admission is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.

The first historical Service of Lessons and Carols was held in 1880 at the cathedral of Truro in Cornwall, England. This service also incorporated the tradition of door-to-door caroling to villagers. In 1918, King’s College, in Cambridge, England, established the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols as a traditional closure to the Advent season, with their first performance on Christmas Eve. Since the early 1900’s, the service has become a traditional holiday celebration of God’s loving purpose, from Creation to the Incarnation, presented in Scripture and carols.

At Louisville Seminary this annual event marks the end of the fall semester and the beginning of research and study days prior to final exams. This year’s Service of Lessons and Carols will include traditional English carols and hymns used during the Advent season, such as Break Forth, O Beauteous Heav’nly Light by Johann Sebastian Bach, O Magnum Mysterium by Tomas Luis de Victoria, and John Rutter’s arrangement of Rise Up, Shepherd and Follow. The service will be led by The Seminary Choir, comprised of students, faculty and staff and directed by Dr. Thomas E. Goetz. Goetz serves as adjunct professor of music, organist and choir director for the Seminary.

Goetz, who also serves as Organist and Director of Music Ministries at Louisville’s St. Paul United Methodist Church, brings to the Seminary a wide range of experience including: leading choral music at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Ill.; organ scholar, assistant conductor and instructor in organ at Northwestern University; associate professor of music at Trinity International University in Miami and director of music and organist at Miami’s First United Methodist Church. He has degrees from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. (MM and DM), Florida International University in Miami (BA) and another bachelor’s in sacred music from Trinity International University, Deerfield, Ill. Goetz has conducted numerous choir and orchestra performances throughout the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean.

An “Apples for Advent” reception, featuring delicious foods made with apples, will be held in the Winn Center immediately following the service.

For more information, call the Office of Communications at (502) 895-3411, ext. 460. Louisville Seminary is located off Lexington Road at 1044 Alta Vista Rd. in Louisville. E-mail: lpts@lpts.edu