A Festival of Lessons and Carols

A FESTIVAL OF LESSONS AND CAROLS

In 1880 E. W. Benson, then Anglican Bishop of Truro, England, composed a Festival of Lessons and Carols, based on ancient sources, for Christmas Eve. In 1918 it was adapted for the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, but its Dean, Eric Milner-White, who also wrote The Bidding Prayer. The Blessing after that Lord’s Prayer, addd by Milner-White, was first included in its present form in 1930. The Lessons given here have been customarily used in recent years at King’s College. The service has been edited for United Methodist congregations.

—United Methodist Book of Worship—