Dec 4 - Lessons & Carols in Swanee
This may not be on your bucket list, but, if you have never experienced a Lessons & Carols Festival during the Christian Holiday Season, you don't know what you've missed. While Sewanee's Advent carol services date back to 1933, the more formal Lessons & Carols services began in 1960 in the newly completed All Saints Chapel.
Katie Morrow, a staff writer for Southern Living found the true spirit of Christmas in Sewanee, TN. She found herself standing on this snow covered Tennessee mountain, waiting to step inside one of the most beautiful churches she had ever seen. This wasn't her first pilgrimage to the annual Festival of Lessons & Carols, nor would it be her last. For over half a century, Southerners of all faiths have traveled to the university's All Saints Chapel for an evening of scripture readings and traditional carols.
As the doors opened, she joined the waiting crowd for what had to be the most polite concert rush imaginable. She hurried to her seat and settled in. The two-hour candlelight service is based on one that has been sung annually since 1918 at King's College Chapel in Cambridge England, fitting for a church as steeped in history as All Saints'.
The geographic and symbolic heart of the university, the chapel incorporates elements of world-famous churches-- the stained glass windows of Notre Dame in Paris, and the tower of Saint Mary the Virgin on the Oxford University campus in England. As if the chapel itself weren't breathtaking enough, students and community members decorate it every Christmas with boughs of pine and spruce, bitter-sweet vines and sumac berries, roses made from dried ginkgo leaves-- all gathered from the mountain. The whole church smells, in a word, "divine." Old friends lean over pews to hug hello, and then the service begins with music, a procession, and the swinging of incense.
The Sewanee Lessons and Carols program, as always, will consist of nine biblical lessons and nine Advent and Christian carols and, as always, the 900 seat chapel will be packed to the eaves as they squeeze in 1,200 people. "I can't tell you how many people say, 'My Christmas would not be complete without Lessons and Carols,'" says Sewanee music professor and choir director Robert Delcamp, whose 40-member student choir joins its voices with the massive chapel organ and a brass quintet of Nashville musicians.
The Music City Miata Club will gather at Cracker Barrel at I-24, Exit 81 in Murfreesboro at 11am. Those not wishing to eat should plan on arriving by 12noon. Dave will be leading the group from the Cracker Barrel at 12:10pm. Lunch
is
highly
recommended, as we will not be having dinner until after 6:30pm. Be sure and depart with a full tank, a full belly, an empty bladder, a strong radio and heavy clothing suitable for seasonal weather on Monteagle Mountain in early December. We will be outdoors for approximately two hours waiting to enter the All Saints Chapel for the Service. Dave has planned a route that will take a little over 1.5 hours, including one rest stop.
We'll head south on I-24 for 7.3 miles; Take Exit 89 toward Buchannan Rd.; Then turn left onto Epps Mill Rd for 0.6 miles; Turn right on Ten-2 E/US-41 S/Manchester Pike for 16.1 miles; Jump back on I-24 at exit 105 for 8.2 miles; Take Exit 114 Hillsboro Rd/ 41 South for 21.5 miles. At this Exit, we'll pit stop for 20 minutes. A Shell and a Murphy’s gas stations are right off the exit (on the right) and directly across the street from an O'Charlie’s. Then on to Monteagle/Sewanee with several twisties as Hwy 41 climbs the mountain. Turn right toward West Main Street / Hwy 41A for 5.5 miles; Then turn right onto University Avenue for .7 miles, arriving at destination just after 2pm.
At that time, we should be able to find a reasonably close parking spot and take our place in line. We will make plans to provide hot chocolate to keep the chill down and our spirits up, as we wait to enter the All Saints Chapel at 4pm. The service begins at 5pm and should be concluded by 6:30pm.
Immediately following the Service, we'll stroll next door to the University of the South, McClurg Hall www.sewaneedining.com , for a wide variety of good food at very reasonable prices. This large dining cafeteria is adjacent to the ChapeL and has adequate indoor plumbing.
What can I say ? This is either something you are willing to wait in line out-of-doors for an hour or so to experience, or, not so much. But if you've never experienced a Lessons and Carols Service during the Christmas season, we promise it will be well worth your time and patience.
If you want to join Dave and get an early start on the heartwarming spirit and traditional meaning of the Christmas season, just RSVP to Dave Wideman at healeyman@blomand.net OR (931) 212-5088.
GOD BLESS
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