PUBLISHED December 13, 2021 IN Campus

Duke Chapel Christmas Eve Services, Preregistration Required

The chapel will hold four services on Christmas Eve

Duke Chapel Dean Rev. Luke Powery presides at the chapel’s 2019 Lessons and Carols service.

James Todd, Duke Chapel @DukeChapel

Duke University Chapel will hold Christmas Eve worship services at 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 24.

Preregistration is required to attend a service in-person. There is no cost to register. Click here to register.

“At a time when it can feel like there is so much scarcity—of goods, of health, of peace—there is one supply chain that has not been disrupted this year and that is the abundance of grace and love that God gives us through the mystery we call ‘Christmas,’” Powery said. “Once again this festival of light and music and giving that marks the birth of Christ reminds us that the very Giver of Life not only wants us to live but to receive into our hearts ‘good news of great joy for all the people.’”

Those who register will receive a confirmation email. Please bring to the service a printout of the email or have it available to display on a phone. All those attending the services are required to wear masks inside the chapel in accordance with the university’s public health measures. Enter the chapel through the main front door or the accessible entrance facing the Divinity School.

Free parking is available in the Bryan Center Parking Garage with overflow parking in the Science Drive Garage. Duke employees with parking permits are encouraged to use the Allen Lot. ADA parking and drop off will be available in the Bryan Center Surface Lot.

All of the services will be livestream on the Duke Chapel website.

The Christmas Eve services are:

2 p.m., a family-friendly service, lasting about 45 minutes, with favorite hymns and carols, as well as a brief homily jointly preached by Powery and the Rev. Bruce Puckett, assistant dean of the chapel;
5 p.m., a service with music from the Durham Children’s Choir and Amalgam Brass, and a sermon from Powery and Puckett;
8 p.m., a service with music from the Amalgam Brass Ensemble and soloists, as well as a sermon from Powery and Puckett;
11 p.m., the chapel’s traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols with a choir, harp, and organ music, scripture readings and Christmas carols.

A live sign language interpreter will be present at the services, with seating reserved in the front-right of the main sanctuary for people who use sign language.

The Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service at 11 p.m. will be broadcast statewide by Spectrum News 1 on Spectrum cable channel 1, as well as on the radio on WDNC, 620 AM. All four of the services will be broadcast on channel 12 of the Duke Hospital TV system.

At 9 p.m. on Dec. 24, PBS North Carolina (formerly UNC-TV) will present the Chapel’s 2019 television Christmas special “The Marvel of This Night” on its North Carolina Channel.

In addition to the Christmas Eve services and the chapel’s weekly 11 a.m. Sunday morning worship services, these concerts and events at the Chapel will mark the season:

Dec. 12–26, the Duke Chapel Choir presents an online version of this year’s performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” It can be viewed on-demand up until the day after Christmas. Purchase tickets for this virtual concert from the Duke Box Office;
12 noon Wednesday, Dec. 15, the Duke Chapel by Candlelight Christmas Open House, free and open to the public, is an opportunity to see the Chapel decorated for Christmas; the event lasts two hours and includes music from the carillon and organs, remarks from Dean Powery, and hymns for Advent and Christmas;
4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 19, the Choral Society of Durham’s Holiday Concert “And On Earth Peace” presents "Gloria" by John Rutter; tickets are required and are available through the Duke Box Office;
11 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 2, as part of the chapel’s Bach Cantata Series, the Duke Bach Ensemble and Mallarmé Chamber Players will offer J.S. Bach’s cantata “Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele” and
Giovanni Palestrina’s motet “Lauda anima mea” during the chapel’s Sunday morning service.

The chapel will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. for visitors except on these days: