Advent Vespers
by Jeni
Warning: liturgical inappropriateness abounds.
Last night I attended Augsburg College's 29th annual Advent Vespers service at Central Lutheran Church. I've made it a habit to attend since I was a student back in 2000. It's a festival of readings, prayers, songs and anthems that begins in Advent and concludes in the promise of Christmas. This year's service was call "At the Name of Jesus" and included readings from Luke, Paul, Henri Nouwen, Dietrich Bonheoffer and Oscar Romero, just to name a few.
The congregation sang great seasonal standbys including O Come, O Come Emmanuel, O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night and others. Four different choirs sang Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Handel and a handful of chants, French carols and the like.
As we closed with singing Silent Night I remembered Christmas Eve last year while I was on internship. We too closed our worship with this candlelit song. I remembered closing my eyes in Sierra Vista and dreaming of Advent Vespers. Last night when I closed my eyes I dreamed about being back in the sanctuary singing with the saints in Sierra Vista. I opened my eyes and was thankful for the saints with whom I could sing.
It's fun to talk to friends who attended other Lutheran Colleges in the area who have similar nostalgic needs for the season: St. Olaf, Concordia and Luther students especially. What a witness and beautiful tradition. What a blessing.
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
Last night I attended Augsburg College's 29th annual Advent Vespers service at Central Lutheran Church. I've made it a habit to attend since I was a student back in 2000. It's a festival of readings, prayers, songs and anthems that begins in Advent and concludes in the promise of Christmas. This year's service was call "At the Name of Jesus" and included readings from Luke, Paul, Henri Nouwen, Dietrich Bonheoffer and Oscar Romero, just to name a few.
The congregation sang great seasonal standbys including O Come, O Come Emmanuel, O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night and others. Four different choirs sang Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Handel and a handful of chants, French carols and the like.
As we closed with singing Silent Night I remembered Christmas Eve last year while I was on internship. We too closed our worship with this candlelit song. I remembered closing my eyes in Sierra Vista and dreaming of Advent Vespers. Last night when I closed my eyes I dreamed about being back in the sanctuary singing with the saints in Sierra Vista. I opened my eyes and was thankful for the saints with whom I could sing.
It's fun to talk to friends who attended other Lutheran Colleges in the area who have similar nostalgic needs for the season: St. Olaf, Concordia and Luther students especially. What a witness and beautiful tradition. What a blessing.
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
posted by Jeni at 3:56 PM
1 Comments:
I also attended an Advent Vespers at a local college on Sunday, but they did not sing in harmony! On the hymns - on Silent Night of all things - even the CHOIR did not sing in harmony. Just myself and my pew mate boldly pulling off a bass and an alto line in defiance of the crowd.
It made me yearn for St. Olaf's Christmas Festival all the more. . .
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