Over 350 students and staff, along with their families, alumni, and people of the community will gather on campus for the 45th annual Christmas in Christ Chapel this weekend.

   The show is one of the biggest events at Gustavus, each year with its own theme.

   This year’s theme is Life Abundant to celebrate the 500th year anniversary of the Reformation when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church.

“We commemorate the spark of renewal that Martin Luther ignited 500 years ago,” Artistic Director and cantor of Christ Chapel, Chad Winterfeldt, said.

   “In this service, we immerse ourselves in the rich heritage of the Lutheran tradition.”

   The Luther Rose is the symbol used to emphasize the Lutheran tradition and represents abundance, love, and joy during the Reformation celebration.

   Also known as C in CC, Gustavus students and staff prepare and look forward to the first show.

   “It’s my first Christmas in Christ Chapel, but I can tell by the way people talk about it that it’s really going to be something special,” First-year Rose Eerdmans member of the Lucia Singers, said.

   “I really like how it’s already bringing together so many different people.”

   According to the Gustavus website, “Christmas in Christ Chapel 2017 will celebrate the nativity through the rich and diverse heritage of music, word, and art inspired by the global Lutheran movement – both historic in depth and continually emerging in scope.”

   The Gustavus Choir, Choir of Christ Chapel, and the Lucia Singers, as well as the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra and the Christ Chapel Ringers, will perform music centered around the Reformation. “You’ll see there’s a lot of music [from] reformation composers, some of the early music,” Dr. Gregory Aune, director of the Gustavus Choir, said.

   This year’s service will include two pieces by Martin Luther, From Heaven Above and Savior of the Nations, Come.  Other music by Praetorius, Bach, and F. Melius Christiansen will be performed.

   “This years show sets the tone right away with a huge combined choir and orchestra rendition of “Joy to the World,” which will surely put all spectators and performers in the holiday spirit,” Sophomore Coleden Wedge, member of the Choir of Christ Chapel, said.

   “[We try] to make it kind of relevant to our time as opposed to just looking back at it as a historical event.  We want the music and the thematic, textual side of it to mesh as much as possible so it’s kind of a seamless message,” Aune said.

   To give it that modern push, the hymn “God Among Us” was commissioned for this year’s Christmas in Christ Chapel by poet Susan Palo Cherwien and composer Robert Buckley Farlee.

   It is a central part to this year’s service and contains a mix of the congregation, choir, and orchestra.

   “O Come All Ye Faithful” will again close the show.  It has been the closing hymn since its commision for Christmas in Christ Chapel in 1976.

   “This service is extremely distinctive among all colleges… the level of sophistication and thematic integration into musical performance is extraordinary,” Dr. BrandonDean said.

   Students are also very excited to perform on new risers this year. “We had a committee that worked on kind of designing [it] and we hired a company… It was provided by a gift from the president’s office,” Dean, director of the Lucia Singers and Choir of Christ Chapel, said.     

   “We’re very thankful to the president and everybody responsible for overseeing the installation and purchase.”

   According to Dean, the choirs both look and sound better: “It’s a different formation and all of the choirs are gonna sound better. There’s a little more room up there which is nice and more importantly, they’re safe for our performers,” he said.

   For the last two years, Christmas in Christ Chapel has been broadcasted over livestream thanks to alumni and Friends of Music donors and has received very good feedback.

   Over 5,600 households in 45 states and 25 countries viewed the live stream in 2015.

   It will be broadcasted this year during the Saturday evening performance.

   The Gustavus Hill Crew will also be sponsoring a hats and mittens drive throughout the weekend of the show.

   Students and families are invited to donate their new or gently used hats and mittens in Christ Chapel and they will be donated to the Salvation Army in Mankato.

   A Scandinavian holiday buffet will be taking place prior to each show for those who purchase tickets.

   Students and staff are allowed one free ticket for one of the five shows happening this weekend.