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Our traditional service of Carols by Candlelight took place on Sunday 22 December, the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Thanks you the efforts of our volunteers, All Saints' looked beautiful and ready to welcome so many worshippers from across the town. Our next Carol Service will be at the End of the Christmas Season, on Sunday 5 January; the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord.
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Just before schools broke up for the Christmas holidays we celebrated the second School Mass of the Autumn Term with Thomas Whitehead Academy. The theme for the Mass was "Advent Celebration", bringing together elements of both Advent and Christmas. Pupils led the readings and composed the intercessions. Parents and members of the congregation we also invited to attend the Mass. Photos Copyright: Thomas Whitehead Academy, used with permission.
On Saturday 14 December we held Houghton Regis Christmas Fayre at All Saints' Parish Church. The fayre was organised to run alongside the Christmas events planned by the Town Council at Houghton Regis Library. Hundreds of visitors came through our doors and the fayre was accompanied by handbell ringers, carolling from our choir, and music by our organist. We are very grateful to all our parish volunteers, members of PCC, and churchwardens for running such an engaging and fun event in the run up to Christmas. Christmas Day features the celebration of four Masses, beginning with the Vigil service at 5:30pm on Christmas Eve and ending with the Sung Mass at 10:30am on the Day. The reason behind this extraordinary number of services is the Christmas story itself. Over the four celebrations the story of Jesus birth as narrated in the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John unfolds. At the the 5:30pm Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve we read verses from Matthew 1:1-25; at the 11:00pm Midnight Mass we read Luke 2:1-14, the birth of Jesus, at the 8:30am Dawn Mass (at St Thomas' Church) on Christmas Day we read Luke 2:15-20, Jesus in the manger; and finally at the 10:30am Mass we read John 1:1-18, a meditation on the coming of the Lord Jesus as "the true Light" coming into the world. If you cannot attend all of these services, take time to read quietly the Bible passages set for them over Christmas. On Sunday 18 December, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we held our traditional service of Carols by Candlelight. The service featured the retelling of the Christmas story, prayers, joyful carolling, and choir anthems. The PCC of Houghton Regis would like to thank the volunteers who decorated the church for this special occasion and for the approaching Christmas celebrations. Photos: Dr Matthew Hurley Copyright: All Saints' PCC Houghton Regis Our service of Carols by Candlelight to place on the Fourth Sunday of Advent – the last Sunday before Christmas. The first known Christmas service of lessons and carols took place at Truro Cathedral on Christmas Eve 1878. Since then countless churches world-wide have adapted that first liturgy for their use - including King’s College Chapel, whose yearly broadcast of Lessons and Carols begun in 1928. Following this time-honoured pattern of worship, our service alternated reading and singing. As we listened to the readings, and sung joyful carols of prayer and praise, we travelled in spirit to the stable of Bethlehem, to see with the eyes of faith heaven united with earth, and our humanity united to the divine nature in the Child of Mary, Jesus the Son of God. Another carol service – Carols around the Crib – took place earlier in December. At that service the congregation, helped by children and young people, set up the Crib in anticipation of Christmas. We held our Christmas Fayre on Saturday 7 December – yes, the same date at the Mayor’s Carol Service. It was a fun and lovely day filled with festive cheer, homemade food, and caroling sung by our choir. Visit our What’s On page to find out more about our regular social events. |
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