Services & Preacher

  • The Family Mass on Christmas Eve is at 4pm.
  • Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve is at 10pm.
  • Both services are preceeded by 15 minutes of Christmas instrumental music (see below).
  • Our Celebrant and Preacher today is the Rev. Matthew Hoxsie Mead, Rector.  Deacon Emerita Katie Lawrence will be with us; Deacon Chisara Alimole is away on a mission trip in Nigeria.
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About Today's Service

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The Holy Eucharist, the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's Day and other major Feasts, and Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, 1979, are the regular services appointed for public worship in the Episcopal Church. At Christ Church we celebrate the Holy Eucharist every Sunday at 8am and 10am, occasionally Sundays at 5pm, and also on Holy Days and other occasions. The 10am celebration of the Holy Eucharist includes organ music, congregational hymnody, and during the academic year psalms, anthems, and motets sung by our choir. 

Christians began celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25 near the beginning of the fourth century.  By the beginning of the fifth century, a midnight celebration on Christmas Eve was held in Rome and spread throughout Western Europe.  Christmas Masses soon became among the most beloved services of the year for Christians. The gospels of Matthew and Luke both record the story of Christ’s birth.  John’s gospel begins with a proclamation on the meaning of it.  

Music & Lectionary Notes for the Christmas Eve Masses

  • Prelude: A Medley of Traditional Christmas Carols by Modus Operandi Orchestra MOO Strings, Justin Bischof, conductor
  • Procession Hymn: 83, O Come, all ye faithful, Adeste fideles
  • Gloria in eleison: 96, Angels we have heard on high, Gloria
  • Old Testament: Isaiah 9:2-3, 6-7
  • Gradual at the Family Mass: Away in a manger sung by the Children's Choir
  • Gradual at the Midnight Mass: Ding dong, merrily on high! sung by the Parish Choir
  • New Testament: Titus 2:11-14
  • Sequence Hymn: 79, O little town of Bethlehem, St. Louis
  • Gospel: Luke 2:1-20
  • Offertory Anthem: Hallelujah (Messiah) by George Frederic Handel 1685-1759
  • Offertory Hymn: 87, Hark! the herald angels sing, Mendelssohn
  • Sanctus & Benedictus: S114 from Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena, Healey Willan (1880-1968)
  • Agnus Dei: S158 from Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena, Healey Willan (1880-1968)
  • Communion Anthem: Hodie Christus natus est  by Francis Poulenc 1899-1963
  • Post-Communion Hymn: 111, Silent night, Stille Nacht
  • Christmas Carol: 100, Joy to the world! Antioch
  • Processional Postlude: Toccata (Symphony No. 5) by Charles-Marie Widor 1844-1937
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