Advent Event At Trinity

In conjunction with the Newtown Holiday Festival on Sunday, December 4, Trinity Episcopal Church will offer is annual “Advent Lessons and Carols” service that afternoon. The program will begin at 2 at the church, 36 Main Street.

The service of “Lessons and Carols” first began in Kings College, Cambridge, England, for the university community in 1918. The tradition, moreover, has been duplicated in cathedrals and churches throughout America.

Trinity’s annual services consists of Advent scripture readings beginning with Old Testament prophecies and concluding with the Gospel. The readings, proclaimed by various members of the Trinity community, are interspersed with carols performed by the Choir of Men & Women and Trinity Choristers, including works of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Palestrina.

The Trinity Choristers is a growing and vibrant 25-voice choir of boys and girls from Newtown and surrounding communities, under the auspice of the Royal School of Church Music. The Choristers and Choir of Men & Women are both led by choirmaster Fiona Smith Sutherland, who has trained hundreds of boys and girls in choral singing in Westchester and lower Fairfield County.

The group has sung for The Yale Alley Cats, with Vermont’s Counterpoint, under the direction of the late Richard Serbagi, and recently were part of a choir festival.

Attendees of Lessons and Carols will be invited to join in singing familiar tunes such as “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and “Lo, he comes with clouds descending.”

The Holiday Festival will be ongoing from 11 am until 5 pm on Sunday. The event is a fundraiser for Newtown Youth & Family Services, and offers family friendly activities centered along Main Street, including a Teddy Bear Tea, Nutcracker performances, staged theatrical readings, and a free-throw contest at Edmond Town Hall.

Booth Library, meanwhile, hosts a Gingerbread House Contest, Festival of Trees (a raffle of decorated wreaths and small trees), and other events. For Holiday Festival details, see page A-1.