Here beginneth the first lesson.
How to put together a carol service order of service
Your biggest congregation of the year will read this booklet, and many of them will not have been in a church since last December. Here is a running order, the traditional readings and the carols to go with them.
Updated 5 November 2026
The short answer
A traditional carol service alternates readings with carols: nine lessons in the full form, or five or six for a shorter service. It opens with a bidding prayer, and it ends with John 1 and a final carol. Print the words of every carol, and put your Christmas service times on the back page.
Set your carol service
Start from a carol service pattern, with Nine Lessons already in order and the carol words set.
No sign-up to try it. Ten services a year are free.
A running order that works
The form most churches know began at Truro around 1880, and King’s College, Cambridge, laid down its familiar shape from 1918. It is simple to adapt. This version has six lessons, which suits most parish churches.
The nine lessons
The full Festival of Nine Lessons traces the story from the Fall to the Incarnation. If you need fewer, keep the first, a prophecy or two, Luke 2 and John 1.
Who reads which
The custom is that readers rise in seniority through the service, ending with the minister or the most senior person present. In a parish that often means a child first, then a young person, then a churchwarden and someone from the wider community, such as a head teacher, with the vicar last. Print their names beside each lesson. People like seeing them, and it reminds the readers to come.
Carols to print
Print the words of every carol. Plenty of people will have no hymn book to hand, and fewer will know the third verse. These are all out of copyright in the UK.
The traditional opening, with a solo first verse if you have a treble.
The natural last carol, with a descant if you can manage one.
A strong close, and everyone knows it.
Good for the Epiphany lesson.
Fits Luke 2 neatly.
Forest Green is the tune most English congregations expect.
Holst’s tune, Cranham, works for all to sing. Darke’s setting is for a choir.
Children can lead the first verse.
Lovely near the end, sung quietly.
Better in Advent, but it can open a service.
If you sing a modern carol, keep the title in the booklet and add the words under your church’s licence. Our hymn library only holds texts that are out of copyright.
Make it work for visitors
- Say when to stand and when to sit. Most people will follow the booklet closely.
- Add a short welcome that assumes nothing. Plenty of people will be unsure whether they belong.
- Put your other Christmas services on the back page, with times, so nobody has to ask.
- Say how to give, and include a QR code if you can. Plenty of people carry no cash.
- Add one line about what happens next, such as your first service in January.
- Print more than you think you need. Last year’s number is a good start, plus some spare.
Get it done in good time
- 1
Book your readers
Ask now. December diaries fill up early.
- 2
Choose the carols with your organist
Agree which are for the choir, and which verses to sing.
- 3
Set the booklet by the start of Advent
You will have everything else to do by the middle of December.
- 4
Print one test copy
Read the names aloud to someone, then print the rest.
Set your carol service
Start from a carol service pattern, with Nine Lessons already in order and the carol words set.
No sign-up to try it. Ten services a year are free.
Questions people ask
How long is a carol service?
A full Nine Lessons service usually runs for about an hour and a quarter. With five or six lessons and no sermon, you can keep it to an hour.
What is the order of the nine lessons?
They run from Genesis 3 to John 1, through the promise of a saviour, the annunciation and the birth of Jesus. The full list is above.
Do we need a sermon?
A traditional carol service has none, because the lessons tell the story. A short reflection is common, though.
Can we print carol words?
Traditional carols are mostly out of copyright, so you can print them freely. Modern ones need a licence. Check each one, because a modern translation or arrangement can have its own rights.