Faith

A village Christmas

"We'll begin by singing carol number five," declared the priest with confidence and authority.

The voice from the organ console was less certain. "Can anyone tell me what carol number five is?" he whispered hesitantly.

Towards the end there was another murmur of dissent. The order of service - and the announcement from the front - was that we would sing O Come All Ye Faithful, "omitting verses 3, 4 and 5". The choir looked angry: who would deny the descant from verse three? And surely now - as the clocks had ticked past midnight - was the perfect time to sing "born this happy morning" from verse four. The congregation looked perplexed: there was no verse five; was its theology so dark that it had been hidden for centuries?

The matter was resolved by the now confident organist who continued after two verses; the "choirs of angels" sang and the congregation got their happy morning.

It may have been slightly shambolic but no-one would be in a position to disagree with the opening words of the sermon: there's something special about Midnight Mass in a village church.

Happy Christmas.