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Lessons and Carols Service Held at St. Mary’s Dec. 16

Dec. 6, 2012. The choir of St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church will present a traditional Lessons and Carols service Sunday, Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. in the nave of the church. The church is located on Main Street in Blowing Rock, and everyone is truly welcome.

Familiar to Christians everywhere through BBC broadcasts from King’s Chapel, Cambridge, the service tells the story of the fall of Adam, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus in short Bible readings interspersed with carols and hymns. Sung in Anglican churches all over the world since the 1880s, the service is a lovely beginning to the Christmas season and celebration of the miracle of God’s love as expressed by the birth of the Christ child.

The St. Mary’s choir, under the direction of Dr. James Bumgardner, has made several trips to study with the foremost directors of Anglican choral music in Cambridge, England, including George Guest at St. John’s, Stephen Cleobury at King’s, and Tim Brown at Clare College. The group has been choir-in-residence at Durham Cathedral in England twice, and has sung services for St. Mary the Virgin in New York City, as well as representing North Carolina at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

For more information, call 262-3450.