Thirty-third Annual Christmas in Christ Chapel

Christmas in Christ Chapel services for this year will be held during the weekend of December 2-4 at Gustavus Adolphus College.

A Gustavus tradition since 1973, Christmas in Christ Chapel has been an opportunity for students, their parents, faculty members, staff, and alumni to gather and celebrate the birth of Christ with music and visual art. This year’s service, “Ageless Visions of a Timeless Moment,” features music and text that represent some of the ways that the birth of Christ has been depicted from the early Christian communities to today.

“I wanted to hold together the notion of eternity coming into time,” Chaplain Brian Johnson, artistic director for Christmas in Christ Chapel, said of the theme. “Also how visual artists and musicians have looked at the idea differently. Timeless moment — birth of Christ, eternity being born in time. Ageless visions — visual artists and musicians looking at this experience differently.”

Many of Gustavus’ choirs and ensembles will be performing, including the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, the Gustavus Choir, the Choir of Christ Chapel, the Christ Chapel Ringers, the Lucia Singers, and brass ensembles.

Gustavus Emerita Professor of Classics Patricia Freiert, a shibori artist, was commissioned to create an installation, “Westward Leading,” for this year’s services. Shibori, a Japanese term, describes several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, folding, or twisting the material. The artwork is a visual interpretation of the hymn text “westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to the perfect light.”

The service will be held five times throughout the weekend: 7:30 p.m. Friday; 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The service is approximately two hours in length and costs $15 per person. A Christmas buffet is available before each service at an additional cost of $15 per person. Tickets for both the buffet and the service are limited. For ticket information, contact the Office of Marketing and Public Relations/Special Events at (507) 933-7520, or register online.