Christmas in Christ Chapel is an annual event in which over 300 Gustavus students, faculty and staff participate. The event takes place Dec. 2, 3 and 4 and includes five performances. Over 1,000 people are expected to attend each performance in Christ Chapel, which is themed “Julljus: Light from the Old World, Light to the New.” The thirty-ninth annual service coincides with the college’s sesquicentennial celebration and the fiftieth year of Christ Chapel’s existence.

“In this sesquicentennial year at Gustavus Adolphus College, we reflect on the faith of our founders—their trust in the Light of the Christ Child and their dedication to the Light of Knowledge,” President Jack Ohle wrote in an introduction to the services.

The theme changes yearly. Past themes have typically centered upon a historical topic with a twist of the new. They’ve included “Letters and Carols,” a variation on the traditional English Christmas service, Lessons and Carols and “Joyeux Noel,” centered upon French celebrations of the Christmas season. This year’s theme was chosen to reflect the Swedish-Lutheran heritage of Gustavus. The service will include pieces in Latin, Swedish and English.

The services celebrate six individuals: St. Ansgar, St. Birgitta, Olaus Petri, Eric Norelius, Edgar Carlson and Kao Kalia Yang. All have their own story of bringing light from the old world to the new. St. Ansgar was a Benedictine monk and missionary who served in Sweden. St. Birgitta, the Patron Saint of Sweden, recorded many influential religious texts and spent much of her life serving underprivileged Romans. Petri championed the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, translating many Lutheran texts to Swedish. Norelius emigrated from Sweden to the U.S. and founded Gustavus Adolphus College. Carlson was a professor and president of the College, teaching religion and often speaking at Chapel services. Yang is a Hmong immigrant who writes about her past life, immigration and subsequent experiences.

“Certainly the Swedish heritage of the College is mirrored in the title and content of the service: many connections will become apparent as the service progresses,” Cantor of the Chapel Chad Fothergill ‘06, a member of the Christmas in Christ Chapel planning committee, said. “However, the service should first exhort us—both individually and as a community—to look beyond mere anniversaries at the wider significance of the Advent-Nativity-Epiphany cycle: 150 years is not that impressive when compared to the 2000-year history of the narrative central to the Christmas in Christ Chapel service.”

The planning committee consists of Professor Rob Gardner, Chaplain Rachel Larson, Professor Greg Aune and Fothergill. The members have worked together to create a program including a bit of the old world and some of the new.

The Swedish Reverend Sabina Koij from the Storkyrkan Cathedral of Stockholm will participate in the service and Julotta, traditional Christmas matins, will anchor customary as well as contemporary performances from Gustavus orchestras, choirs and dance groups.

In addition to Koij, the Nordic-American Psalmodikon Quartet will also be a guest at Christmas in Christ Chapel. The group, based out of Eden Prairie, features the psalmodikon, a traditional one-stringed instrument that immigrants from Scandinavia brought to the U.S.

The Gustavus ensembles involved include the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, Gustavus Choir, the Choir of Christ Chapel, the Lucia Singers and the Christ Chapel Ringers as well as three student dancers and student and faculty narrators and actors. Five concerts in three days is no easy feat, and in preparation, the groups practice together and for longer hours the week before performances take place.

“[For three days] it’s pretty much nothing but the concerts, eating and sleeping. There’s not time for anything else,” Senior Music Major Nicole Wamma, a member of Gustavus Choir and Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, said.

Fothergill, who has participated in Christmas in Christ Chapel services as a student and now a faculty member, echoed Wamma’s sentiments.

“I played piano and organ accompaniments as a student, so I’m accustomed to running back and forth between the balcony and chancel area. I thought I understood the scope of preparation as a student, but my third time around as a faculty member has clearly demonstrated that I only glimpsed a fraction of the entire preparation during my student days,” Fothergill said.

Each performance will, as always, end with a rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful” with all the choirs, the orchestra, handbells, herald trumpets, a full organ and the assembly.

“There’s something really powerful … with that last “O Come All Ye Faithful”… the choirs stand up and we all join hands. There’s so much sound coming at you. It’s really worth it for that magic moment that we always were told about,” Wamma said.

The performances are Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 4 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Students receive one complimentary ticket. Limited tickets are still available at www.gustavustickets.com.