As Eleanor Farjeon’s carol reminds us, the time is near of the crowning of the year: Advent draws nigh, with Christmas right behind. Although parish music programs across the church have probably turned their Christmas-preparation gears for a few weeks now, these ten thoughts, like the tress that decorate so many of our homes and church spaces, are offered as evergreen reminders of the season that is a high point of the year for so many.
1. Blend old and new: Explore the breadth and depth of the tradition(s). The tradition of singing the Nativity is nearly as old as the celebration. Every generation of the Church adds poetical-musical expressions to the canon of Christmas carols and hymns. “Silent Night” (No. 111 in the Hymnal 1982) is only 207 years old, while “Of the Father’s love begotten” (No. 82) pairs a fourth-century text by Prudentius with a (probably) 12th-century tune. “A stable lamp is lighted” (No. 104) was composed in 1958, while its musical setting by David Hurd dates to 1983. All these hymns were new at one time! And new carols—texts and tunes—continue to be written. Likewise, as members of the Anglican Communion, it’s always good to be reminded that our church crosses borders and cultures and languages, and our siblings in Christ across the globe all sing the Nativity, too.
2. Listen to both the oldest and the youngest members of your congregation. The elders of your church keep the memory of how Christmas liturgies have been celebrated in that place over the long term, and their voices can speak to the authentic DNA of the parish in a deep and abiding way. At the other end of the age spectrum, your youngest members can provide wonderful creativity and imagination —and surprising theological depth—through the Christmas hymns that speak to them and bring them joy and excitement about our Lord’s birth.
3. Keep the main thing the main thing. Remember that, above all else, amid all the greenery and pomp and extra rehearsals and brass quartets and extra bits, the Christmas services at your church are still the liturgy of the Church, and Jesus is the focus. For some people, this might be the only liturgy they experience all year, and the music, in Martin Luther’s classic phrase, is its handmaiden. It’s particularly important to not lose the plot: don’t let the “special stuff” crowd out the liturgy! Sing the Gloria in excelsis Deo. Sing the Nicene Creed. Sing the Lord’s Prayer.
4. Fear not (to sing the whole story)! We hear the angels tell people time and again not to be afraid. The Gospel of Matthew account is the Christmas story, too, even with its darker bits. Hymn 98 (“Unto us a boy is born” / Puer nobis nascitur) is a wonderful carol text and shouldn’t be eschewed simply because it references Herod and the Holy Innocents. Matthew’s account has deep theological resonances for how the world receives its incarnate God, and these can be preaching and teaching moments prepared for by and through song.
5. Let your congregation sing a lot. Particularly (but not only) in smaller-sized places, the traditional “half-hour prelude” on Christmas Eve can be the source of stress on your music planning (and strain on your budget). Don’t overlook the joyful potential of having that time be —at least in part, if not whole —a congregational carol-sing. There are always more favorite Christmas hymns than there are places in the service to sing them, so why not provide the space to fit more in beyond the bounds of the liturgy? Similarly (and this suggestion may be controversial to some), if you’re a place that offers multiple services on Christmas Eve, one of them could be a “carol” service, in the style of the King’s College Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. This can provide the container for a “seeker’s service” beyond the Eucharist that is normative for most everywhere (and can strategically help preserve Advent as a discrete season with four Sundays).
6. Yes, Mary knew! Remember that hymn and anthem texts are theological documents, too. As with suggestion (3), if it’s not about Jesus, it’s not about the Feast of the Nativity. Likewise, sometimes our beloved folk hymns and carols flirt with theological ideas that aren’t quite up to snuff: “Away in a manger” (No. 101 in 1982), with its infamous second-stanza “no crying he makes” would seem to flirt with the heresy of Docetism—the teaching that Jesus in his human form only seemed to be human, but was exclusively divine.
7. Avoid (over-)sentimentality. Suggestions 6 and 7 go together as a pair, but it bears repeating. Even some of the offerings in our authorized hymnals might not always be a good fit for your congregation’s context. “The snow lay on the ground” (No. 110 in 1982) can be a rollicking good Victorian time, but how much snow are we talking about in Bethlehem, really? And how might that image get in the way of a robust connection to Christmas in the more subtropical and tropical corners of our church?
8. Sing the season: Christmas lasts for 12 days! And this includes Christmas Day itself. Even if your Christmas Day liturgy is small and intimate, it can and should involve singing—with or without an organist! Folks who are otherwise reluctant to sing in church will gladly belt out “Joy to the world” or “The first Nowell.” Likewise, keep those Nativity hits coming through the First Sunday of Christmas, and the Second, too, in those years when we reach it. Be countercultural. When the world starts putting away its decorations and putting its trees out on the curbside, the church is just getting fired up with its Nativity hymns. Lean into that practice, and sing out with gusto and without apology. Many of our Christmas hymns (“The first Nowell” in particular) also are clear choices to sing—again —on the Epiphany.
9. Be authentic to your congregation’s context, makeup, history, traditions, and identity—but don’t let the tail wag the dog. Every parish and worshiping community has its beloved traditions, favorite hymns, and musical-liturgical moments at Christmas. The vast majority of these can and ought to be embraced and preserved, so long as they point to the Word made flesh and serve the larger mission and ministry of the church.
10. Don’t overthink it! The beauty of churches embracing the celebration of Christmas year after year is that the hard work has already been done for us by the generations of saints who have gone before. Reinventing the wheel is rarely necessary and even more rarely desired. As I began with a reference to Eleanor Farjeon’s delightful Advent hymn, it seems fitting to give her the final say as well, reminding us that as much as any other time during the year, Christmas is a season of song: Set every peak and valley humming / With the word, the Lord is coming. / People look east and sing today: / Love, the Lord, is on the way.
Mark Ardrey-Graves, DMA, is assistant professor of church music and organist-choirmaster of the Chapel of the Apostles at the School of Theology of the University of the South (Sewanee). Before his post at Sewanee, he served parishes in North Carolina and Virginia as organist and choirmaster. He served on the Task Force for Prayer Book and Liturgical Revision during the 2018–20 triennium, and is active in the Association of Anglican Musicians and the Royal School of Church Music in America.
