Four Christmas Eve Services, Registration Full, Livestream Links
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Christmas Eve at Duke Chapel
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Christmas Eve at Duke Chapel
Livestream links:
Update: Registration is now full for all of the Christmas Eve services; for anyone who has not registered, you are invited to watch any of the services online. For those who are registered to attend a service in person, please note the following:
Only people who have preregistered, and bring their registration confirmation as a printout or displayed on a phone, will be able to attend services.
Attendees must wear masks at all times.
Anyone who has symptoms of respiratory illness should not attend.
The university is monitoring conditions closely and in consultation with infectious disease and public health experts, who have been guiding Duke throughout the pandemic, so it is possible that we could make a change if needed.
Duke Chapel will hold Christmas Eve worship services on Friday, December 24, at 2:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., and 11:00 p.m.
Preregistration is required to attend a service. There is no cost to register. Click here to register.
Those who register will receive a confirmation email. Please bring to the service a printout of the email or have it available to display on your phone. Face masks are required inside the Chapel as part of the university's public health measures. Free parking will be available in the Bryan Center Parking Garage at 125 Science Drive with ADA parking available in the surface lot at the same address.
The services are:
- 2:00 p.m., a family-friendly service, lasting about forty-five minutes, with favorite hymns and carols, as well as a brief homily preached jointly by Chapel Dean Luke Powery and Assistant Dean Bruce Puckett;
- 5:00 p.m., a service with music from the Durham Children’s Choir and Amalgam Brass, and a joint sermon from Deans Powery and Puckett;
- 8:00 p.m., a service with music from the Amalgam Brass Ensemble and soloists, as well as a joint sermon from Deans Powery and Puckett;
- 11:00 p.m., the Chapel’s traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols with a choir, harp and organ music, scripture readings and Christmas carols.
The Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service at 11:00 p.m. will be broadcast statewide by Spectrum News 1 on Spectrum cable channel 1, as well as on the radio on WDNC, 620 AM. All four of the Christmas Eve services will be livestreamed on the Duke Chapel website and broadcast on channel 12 of the Duke Hospital TV system. Additionally, PBS North Carolina (formerly UNC-TV) will broadcast on its North Carolina Channel the Chapel's 2019 Christmas special The Marvel of This Night this Christmas Eve at 9:00 p.m.
In announcing the services on Duke Today, Dean Powery said:
“At a time when it can feel like there is so much scarcity—of goods, of health, of peace—there is one supply chain that has not been disrupted this year and that is the abundance of grace and love that God gives us through the mystery we call ‘Christmas. Once again this festival of light and music and giving that marks the birth of Christ reminds us that the very Giver of Life not only wants us to live but to receive into our hearts ‘good news of great joy for all the people.’”