On the 23rd December, I attended the Festival of Lessons and Carols at the beautiful Lichfield Cathedral. Led by the Very Revd Adrian Dorber, Dean of Lichfield, the service began with a stunning rendition of “Once in royal David’s City”, which was followed by The Bidding, delivered by the Dean.
The first lesson, Genesis 1.1-5, 26-27; 2.1-2, was delivered by a Cathedral volunteer, and was followed by our next hymn “O little town of Bethlehem”. A member of the Choral Foundation then read the second lesson, Isaiah 53.1-3, before a member of the Cathedral School read the third lesson, John 1.29-34.
The fourth and fifth lessons were read by a member of the Cathedral Worshipping Community and a member of the Cathedral Council respectively, before the choir beautifully sang The Shepherd’s Pipe Carol and the Coventry Carol. The sixth lesson, 1 John 2.7-17, was read by a member of the Cathedral Chapter and they were followed by the Dean, who read the seventh lesson, Colossians 1.15-20. The whole congregation then joined in with “O come all ye faithful”, before the Bishop read the final lesson of the service, John 1. 1-14. We all then sang “Hark! The herald angels sing”, before the Bishop closed the service with The Blessing.
It was a wonderful service and I would like to thank everyone involved for a very festive, yet meaningful, evening.