Churches plan Advent season events

Two new chime choirs, Chimicles and Generations, will give their debut performances at the worship service at 10 a.m. Sunday at Cutler United Methodist Church, 2718 Cutler Road.

The church bought the chimes a few months ago instead of the traditional English hand bells because the chimes are more durable and easier to learn, according to Karen Staake, choir director.

“Oftentimes many people say that they can’t sing,” she said, “and the chimes provide an opportunity for anyone of any age to play music without having to really know how to read music in the beginning. Plus they create friendship and camaraderie in learning together that might not otherwise happen.”

The Chimicles is a children’s group, and Generations is made up of older teens and adults.

“The children of the Chimicles choir are so excited about what they are learning and how good they are getting that they want to take the chimes to the homes of shut-ins so they can also enjoy the beautiful music,” Staake said.

For information, call 259-4425.

A program on the history and the tradition of carols will be presented by the church youth group at 6 p.m. Wednesday at People’s United Methodist Church on Depot Street in Union.

Much of the information used in the program came from the 1948 book “Christmas: Its Carols, Customs and Legends” by Ruth Heller, according to a church press release.

The origin of caroling as a part of the Christmas celebration is not known, according to Heller, but music of some kind has been part of early church festivals honoring Christ’s birth. Some church historians have said carols were sung as early as A.D. 129. Other authorities have said they began in the fifth century and some have said they weren’t sung until the eighth.

“It is said that St. Francis of Assisi and his brethren sang simple carols at the first presentation of a life-size representation of the Nativity scene in 1223,” Heller wrote. “The idea of the creche spread to all parts of Europe: and perhaps in its wake, also the idea of caroling. Dancing as well as singing at the creche was common.”

The first modern English collection of traditional carols was published by Davies Gilbert in 1822, according to the author. Many of them will be sung at the program.

For more information, call 785-4114.

The Temple of the Feminine Divine in Bangor will celebrate the winter solstice at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 120 Park St.

Every culture celebrates the rebirth of the sun, according to a press release from the temple. Members will enact the Japanese myth of Amaterasu. She is the Japanese Shinto sun goddess, according to the Web site Encyclopedia Mythica. Amaterasu was so bright and radiant that her parents sent her up to heaven, where she has ruled ever since.

When her brother, the storm god Susanowa, ravaged the Earth, according to the myth, she retreated to a cave and closed it shut with a large boulder because he was so noisy. She was lured out of the cave by the laughter of other gods. They grabbed Amaterasu and returned her to the sky when she went to look at her own reflection in a mirror that had been hung in a nearby tree.

Drumming and dancing also will be part of the celebration.

For information, call 941-0261.

The annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols performed by the Dennysville Festival Choir will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23, at the Dennysville Meeting House.

The service was started by the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, England, several hundred years ago.

This year’s program in Dennysville will begin again with “Adam Lay Ybounden.” That hymn harkens back to the beginning of humankind and continues through the nine lessons from the Bible, according to a press release. Surrounding the lessons are carols old and new. They mostly will be told in English, church Slavic Polish and Latin.

For information, call 214-4540.

The third annual Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival will be held Friday through Sunday, Jan. 4-6, at Rockland Congregational Church, 180 Limerock St.

The festival is a re-enactment of ancient celebrations that marked the end of the 12 days of Christmas with the Feast of the Epiphany, when the Magi offered their gifts to the Christ child. In medieval England, it was recognized by a celebration in the manor hall with the presentation of a wild boar’s head that symbolized Christ’s triumph over Satan.

The event is staged in the sanctuary of the church that is decorated like a manor house. The boar’s head is carried in by Beefeaters, followed by a procession of cooks and staff, who bring in the great feast. Carolers, King Wenceslas, the woodsmen carrying the Yule log and the holy family also take part in the celebration.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, at 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 6. Tickets are $15 for reserved seats, $10 for general seating.

For information, call 594-8656.

Judy Harrison may be reached at jharrison@bangordailynews.net or 990-8207.