Hope College issued the following announcement on Nov. 18.
This year’s Christmas Vespers service at Hope College has been prerecorded and will be shown online beginning on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. It is an adjustment born of necessity that has also enabled the organizers to blend beloved elements from the traditional event with some new additions.
Out of an abundance of caution due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no in-person audience. Instead, the music-filled worship service, now in its 80th year, will be featured on the college’s YouTube channel, where it will remain for viewing not only throughout the Advent season but beyond. The service is approximately an hour long.
The exclusively virtual format is a first for Christmas Vespers, which since beginning in 1941 has always had an audience on-site. While portions of this year’s service such as the scriptural readings take place in the event’s traditional home of Dimnent Memorial Chapel, most of the musical performances were recorded in the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts to better accommodate both physical distancing of the participants and technical needs.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Hope College
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