“How many carol services have you attended?”

Somebody asked this question at the Guernsey Prison carol service last Saturday afternoon.

My answer was that I wasn’t counting.

In any case, each one is different, with a unique atmosphere shaped by the place and the people who are attending.

I have been attending carol services in churches all my life. But the gatherings at the Prison and the Princess Elizabeth Hospital had a special significance for me, perhaps because of the circumstances of those who were there.

Almost every carol service shares a common theme – familiar readings from St Luke’s gospel and usually the reading from St Matthew’s gospel about the wise men, who come on the scene sometime after the shepherds and the angels whom Luke celebrates.

And carols – I can sing many of them off by heart because they are so deeply engrained on my memory.

They are old and familiar friends who have helped to shape my faith – and especially have given me a sense of wonder and thankfulness that God has taken the trouble to come amongst squabbling and fractious human beings, to live with us, and to experience the highs and the lows of human life. Jesus knows the joys of friendship and being loved and cared for. He also experienced rejection, betrayal by a close friend, and crucifixion.

Whilst the sentimentality of the carols is harmless, and I enjoy it as much as anyone, I still raise my eyebrows at the line in ‘Once in royal David’s city’ where Mrs Alexander, the author, writes: ‘Christian children all must be mild, obedient, good as he.’

No pressure, then!

And I doubt very much that Jesus never cried as a baby – as the unknown author of ‘Away in a manger’ suggests.

But only a few carols bring us face to face with the reality of the world into which Jesus was born – and therefore why he was born.

That’s why one of the carols which resonates so powerfully with me is, ‘It came upon a midnight clear…’.

To quote one verse:

And those whose journey now is hard,

whose hope is burning low,

who tread the rocky path of life

with painful steps and slow:

O listen to the news of love

which makes the heaven ring!

O rest beside the weary road

and hear the angels sing.

These words speak of the experience of many people here in Guernsey and across the world this Christmas. In these words, we recognise the reality of human need, and catch a glimpse of why Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Because God loves us, and he gives us the hope we need so much.

Happy Christmas.  

Tim Barker

The Very Revd Tim Barker is the Dean of Guernsey