Festival of Lessons & Carols to be Held Nov. 29

The Spartanburg community is invited to join in a longstanding holiday tradition, the annual student-led Festival of Lessons & Carols, to be held Thursday, Nov. 29 in Twichell Auditorium on the Converse campus. Pre-service music including some of the most beloved traditional carols will begin at 7:30 p.m., followed by the program at 8 p.m.

The event is open to the public with free admission. The Festival of Lessons and Carols has become a favorite tradition for those at Converse as well as in the community.

The Converse Chorale, Spartanburg Festival Chorus, Converse Wind Ensemble, and soloists will perform and lead the congregation in singing carols and hymns between verses of the Christmas story, which will be read by Converse students.

Luminaries will adorn the front campus grounds on the night of the service. Purchased by members of the Converse community in memory or in honor of loved ones and friends, proceeds benefit the Converse Student Benevolence Fund. The Festival of Lessons and Carols was first held on Christmas Eve 1918 at King’s College, a constituent college of Cambridge University, England. It was planned by Eric Milner-White, who at the age of 34 had just been appointed Dean of King’s after experience as an army chaplain which had convinced him that the Church of England needed more imaginative worship.