Christmas Carols

I usually go to a carol service in a cathedral but nothing planned this year so far.

The services I enjoyed most were the Christingle services, children carrying oranges with lit candles in them. Parents and teachers looking on anxiously

I'm not a fan of carols or the pop Christmas songs but I have a few cd's of beautiful christmas music that I play every year .Thea Gilmour's Strange Communion and Sarah McLchlans Wintersong are on the player or turntable from December 1st

We live in the depths of Wales so any Carol Service is usually a long way off in Cardiff. But we always listen to Carols from Kings and have several, well used, carol cds

I agree it’s so lovely to go to a carol service and hope you manage to find something. Also there will be a service televised on Christmas Eve from Westminster Abbey organised by the Princess of Wales. Last year it was absolutely wonderful.

That's sounds wonderful siope just what I would love. You lucky people having carol services. My favourite one is " O holy night "

chocolatepudding

Primrose53

I can’t listen to Christmas Carols especially with children because it makes me cry. I lost twin boys many years ago and seeing kids faces and hearing their little voices just sets me off. 😢

Oh Primrose53, that is so very sad, Awful.

I can imagine how Carols would make you cry - in fact, the whole Christmas focus must be very upsetting.

I'm so sorry for your tragic loss. 😢

Our church carol service is on the Monday before Christmas. It's my job to find people to do the readings. We do it by torchlight and lots of candles in the windows. We used to hold candles but changed to torches when we got rid of the pews and went over to upholstered chairs and carpet.
In our village we used to go around door to door singing carols (and in the pub for mince pies and sherry). It was a lovely thing to do but over time fewer people came out to listen, (they were all indoors watching telly and, despite us ringing a large bell, didn't hear us).

Our DD died a few days before Christmas 40+ years ago, age 7 months. I can sing most carols but the hardest one is Away in a Manger. Even now I can only sing the first two verses and mime the rest. I go to Carol services and midnight Mass.
My love goes to all bereaved parents

I sing with two local choirs,I’m not a brilliant singer but have sung in choirs since a child. We do two concerts and sing carols at the church Christmas bazaar.

Choirs are a very popular activity these days after Gareth Malone popularised community choirs on television so I would ask around, I am sure there are some near you giving concerts. In our market town there are five choirs performing Christmas music and there is the tree festival at the church with carols being sung all day by lots of groups including schools.which are open to all on a pop-in basis. I think this happens all over the country.

We had a rehearsal this afternoon and it was glorious, 77 people singing their hearts out from the age of seven to mid eighties. We all came out of the hall on a high.

I love traditional carols, when sung by proper choirs to familiar tunes, and not mucked about. We usually manage to go to a church carol service during the week or so before Christmas. The town centre church chucks in mulled wine and mince pies afterwards. 😋🎄

YouTube is brilliant for traditional carols, sung by really good choirs, e.g. King’s College. Once we’re into December I play a lot of those.

Oh, I love proper carols, not Christmas songs, my favourite being “oh come Emmanuel”.
My own church has a Carol service as does the one my DD is rector of. Can’t remember offhand when they are - usually the weekend before Christmas.

Where are you Aldom? None of the churches near me will be holding services exactly as you describe. There are several churches in our group of village parishes and we all make sure that the carol services don't clash (and we go to each other's), so they spread over 2 or 3 weeks and are all traditional. We usually have a Midnight Mass but the other churches in the group don't.

polomint, are you in the UK? Have you tried looking on the Church Near You website?

I do love a traditional carol service. Sadly it's quite hard to find one these days. I went to a local church with my family a couple of years ago but it was very modern and the music was songs rather than carols. It was quite fun as far as it went.

On December !st my Christmas CDs will be playing in my car!

We have two village carol singing evenings, one on the village green, one in the school playground, both of which I go to, and the church has carols at various services, which I don’t attend.

I also go to a very large and popular outdoor carol concert at a local tourist venue every year, which has a choir and professional musicians.

And I try to go to one concert of secular seasonal music.

In between, I bop about to as many Christmas songs as I can squeeze in when my very musical and bah-humbug husband isn’t around to complain.

Some years I have sung in over 12 carol services and concerts. I love the very old traditional ones and some of the more modern ones, but I don’t like Christmas songs, especially those you hear endlessly in supermarkets.

DH is a chorister so I attend quite a few carol services. I find them emotional every time for the true meaning of Christmas.
Primrose and Aldom.

Churches everywhere will be holding their Advent carol services on Sunday December 3rd. Most churches hold a Crib Service in the afternoon of Christmas Eve usually followed by Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. All with traditional carols and readings.
Primrose . Carols upset me too, as my adult son died just a few years ago.

Liverpool anglican cathedral every year....followed by tea at our favourite Greek restaurant

Primrose - so sorry

During Covid, when no church services indoors were allowed, we attended an outdoor Carol Service held in a farmyard.

It was a great success. People remained sitting germ free in their cars with speakers to hear it being broadcast.

But a Carol Service in our beautiful little village church is lovely.

I don’t enjoy all the Christmas hype nowadays, but that to me is what it’s all about, the traditional carols, a few prayers and Christmas readings,

I can’t listen to Christmas Carols especially with children because it makes me cry. I lost twin boys many years ago and seeing kids faces and hearing their little voices just sets me off. 😢

When I was still singing in a choir attached to a symphony orchestra, I used to do about eight carol concerts every Christmas. I don't think there are any carols I don’t know! Unless there are some written very recently. I still love them - with some exceptions - even after all that,

Yes yes yes to all festive music, can't beat spotify for a 'tailored' playlist. I like all the folksie Old English Carols as much as anything else. Enjoy a carol service too but nothing is quite so magical as an infant's nativity play

I too love Christmas carols. Like 29th century pop songs , for many people , heard or read carols are acutely attached to personal feelimgs