Nine has become a Grace tradition of re-inventing the tradition of Nine lessons and carols. We take the nine traditional readings from a nine lessons and carols service and ask nine volunteers to produce something to reflect a reading and to choose a 'carol', i.e. any tune they think fits, to be played with or after their bit.

It's a Grace service that lets anyone get involved in planning a bit of it (about a ninth of it to be precise!) and until the night is over no one really knows what is going to happen.

If you'd like to volunteer to take part we'd like to know! You can volunteer as an individual, a couple, a family or a few friends together. We'll give you a reading from the nine below or if you have a burning desire to do one in particular then let us know (on a first come first served basis!) then you just have to come up with an activity to go with it.

The readings are:
1: The creation, Genesis 1, vv 1-5, 26-8, 31
2: The fall, Genesis 3, vv 8-15, 17-19
3: The people who walked in darkness... Isaiah 9, vv 2, 6, 7
4: Isaiah's vision of the kingdom, Isaiah 11, vv 1-3a, 4a, 6-9
5: The Annunciation, Luke 1, vv 26-35, 38
6: The Nativity, Luke 2, vv 1, 3-7
7: The shepherds, Luke 2, vv 8-16
8: The Magi, Matthew 2, vv 1-12
9: The Word, John 1, vv 1-14

Your activity could be a film to watch, a meditation, a ritual, something to make, an activity everyone can join in, a story (maybe with pictures or actions!) it could be anything you think of. What it doesn't have to be is you standing at the front giving a talk.

Your bit should last about 5 minutes (so that we have time to also read out the readings and finish the service in about an hour!) and cope with all 30-40 people that may be at the service doing it at once. Please also think about your activity being family friendly, ie kids can take part with a parent.

Your music track can be played as background to your activity or at the end as a space for reflection. It doesn't have to be a carol, it doesn't even have to be 'Christmassy', equally it could be a full-on cheesy Christmas single. It could just be a good bit of music to go with what you are doing because it's the right mood or has appropriate lyrics. It could just be your favourite tune and you've always wanted an excuse to get it played in church! (Music will have to be brought in one of the following forms: on CD, on your own mp3 player, or as an mp3 on a memory stick. If you want to use music that you have in another form, such as an LP, please contact us.)

We don't need to know all the details about you bit before the night but it would help us, to plan the flow of the service, if we knew the type of activity you have chosen to do. Also if you are doing something techie, eg something to be projected, then we would love to know so we can make sure it'll all work on the night.