Wilson Prepares for Christmas Vespers

Pastor Derek Wadlington will lead Wilson College’s annual Vespers Service on Sun, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. in the Alumnae Chapel located in Thompson Hall. This will be his first Vespers service at Wilson, but Pastor Wadlington does have several years of experience from his previous churches. An offering will be taken at the service and all proceeds will help fund the Chaplain’s disaster relief trip to Tarboro, North Carolina during J-Term.

This year’s Christmas Vespers will be based on the “Service of Lessons and Carols” from Kings College, Cambridge University. During the service, nine feature lessons will be read by students and staff with carols sung between readings. The choir will perform three of their own anthems. The tone is one of hope in the birth of Christ, a theme which Pastor Wadlington feels is particularly relevant nearing final exams.

“It is a chance for people to take a break from their study schedule, their hectic lives, to come together to worship and sing favorite carols. I hope people leave the service refreshed and ready face the world again with new hope,” remarked Pastor Wadlington.

In addition to leading the service, Pastor Wadlington will perform as a member of the Wilson College Choir. The choir, directed by Elisabeth Turchi, who has been the official director since 2013, features staff and students from the Wilson community,. Turchi and the choir have been hard at work since the beginning of the semester practicing. Turchi is excited for the choir to once again display their talents in following Wilson tradition, saying that “It is always lovely to be part of a Wilson tradition that has endured so long.”

Turchi is particularly excited to once again perform the “Night of Silence/Silent Night” mash-up, where the choir and congregation sing separate tunes, but the harmonies line up perfectly. She finds this epitomizes the ultimate message of the Vespers service “to come together and share the season together.”

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