Carol Services at Christ Church and St Anthony of Padua
Three spellbinding Carol Services took place on Tuesday 10th December in 2024.
Due to the size of the School, not all of the girls could be accommodated at Christ Church Cathedral during the day so Years 7 and 8 took the shorter walk down Headley Way to Headington Rye’s Roman Catholic parish church, St Anthony of Padua.
Lay Chaplain Mrs Fran Walsh led the service, with over 55 pupils involved in reading the Christmas narrative from scriptures, leading prayers and leading the singing of carols as part of the Headingtones Choir.
Due to the extra space in the church, for the first time it was possible to invite Lower School parents to join the daytime service and around 70 parents, grandparents and family members joined their voices with those of the girls.
Years 9 – 13 had a little further to walk to Oxford’s Anglican Cathedral in Christ Church College.
The Chamber Choir led in the singing and the seven lessons were preceded by short readings from Genesis and the Gospel of John, highlighting the narrative of light triumphing over darkness – a theme Rev Tom Howell, Chaplain, spoke of in his homily.
This service was then repeated later on in the evening at Christ Church, with many parents and alumni attending.
During the service, there were readings from the Head Girl Quad, Headmistress, Chair of Governors and pupils of all ages.
Singing was led by Headington Rye’s Chamber Choir supported by the Staff Choir and guests, with musical accompaniment from a selection of the School’s string players. In the morning, the first verse solo of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ was sung beautifully by Felicity, while in the evening Maya provided a magical rendition of the solo.
Christina, Year 13, provided a particularly moving moment with a spellbinding solo during ‘Three Kings from Persian Lands Afar’, while a massed Chamber Choir, Staff Choir and string performance of ‘And the Glory of the Lord’ from Handel’s Messiah threatened to raise the roof before the whole congregation joined together in a joyous rendition of ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’.
Over the three services, more than 1,500 attended.
During the evening cathedral service, a collection was made for the Disasters Emergency Committee Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.
Rev Howell and Mrs Walsh said: “It was a joy to run the Carol Services and to hear, once again, of God’s immense love for humanity as demonstrated in the Christmas story.
“We are very grateful to the clergy from St Anthony’s and the Cathedral for enabling us to have such excellent venues to enter into, and engage with, the Christmas narrative.”
