Christmas Eve - Midnight Service

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Our first Christmas Eve in Australia and we chose to attend midnight service at St John's Cathedral in the City.

The sandstone building is not yet complete and the interior is fairly stark and ordinary, particularly by comparison to St Nick's in Newbury where we have attended Midnight Service for so many previous years.

By contrast, the life-sized nativity figures sculpted in cardbord were beautifully made in representational form. The three Kings stood majestically opposite us.

We arrived 30 minutes early for the 11.00pm service and we got seats about two-thirds of the way back down the nave. It was very well attended, so we did not have a view of the high altar, but everything could be heard including the excellent choir, albeit we thought the organist was a little 'pacey'.

Although a little 'high church' for us, the order of service was pretty much what we were used to so, there was no difficulty there. Some of the carols had slightly different wording and we were surprised to be singing the verse "Yea Lord we greet thee, born this happy morning" at the beginning of the service, but 'when in Rome' as they say.

The Bishop was attended by a huge entourage and gave his address on darkness and the light. I thought several times of David Cook and his wonderful gift of preaching as I listened and wished he could be speaking to us.

We were definitely uplifted by the experience and it was a joy to celebrate the coming of Christmas in this way, particularly this year as we reflect on our decision to move away from those we love and hold dear.

Although we shall chat by telephone and Skype, Christmas without them will not be the same.

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