Coe College to celebrate Christmas with Convocation and Vespers services
Christmas will be celebrated with the annual Christmas Convocation beginning at 11 a.m. and Christmas Vespers at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, both in Sinclair Auditorium. The services will feature the Coe College Chorale and Handbell Ensemble.
Coe Chorale, directed by Assistant Professor of Music Loralee Songer, will perform traditional anthems and Christmas music. The Coe Handbell Ensemble, directed by MacMillan Assistant Professor of Piano Brett Wolgast, will also perform. Wolgast will accompany the services on the organ.
Both services follow the grand British Lessons and Carols tradition and are patterned after that of King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England. During the services, hymns and carols are used in place of psalms and canticles.
A beautiful perspective on the meaning of the Christmas season will be presented through the message of biblical scriptures and verses in carols and anthems. Both services will include the story of Jesus’ birth presented in lessons read throughout the service by Coe College Chaplain Melea White, as well as students, staff and faculty members. Participants will be invited to join in singing several of the Christmas hymns and carols.
The Coe College Music Department and Office of the Chaplain are co-sponsoring the services. Both services are free and open to the public with refreshments following each service. For more information, please call 319.399.8605. If you are unable to attend either program in person, you can access the Christmas Convocation webcast at 11 a.m. on Dec. 4, by clicking here.