BBC Essex brings Christmas celebration to Brentwood Cathedral

Brentwood Cathedral

BBC Essex is to hold its annual Celebration of Christmas service at a packed Brentwood Cathedral for the first time this year. The service is on Sunday 16 December at 3pm and will be hosted by BBC Essex’s Ian Wyatt.

There will be carols led by the Brentwood Cathedral Choir, St Helen’s Junior School and the Ursuline Prep and the Brentwood Royal British Legion Youth Band. The music will be directed by Andrew Wright, Master of Music at Brentwood Cathedral.

The service will include the world premiere of a new carol – A Great and Mighty Wonder – dedicated to the Brentwood Cathedral Choir by the renowned composer Sir Philip Ledger. Sadly, Sir Philip died at the end of November so the performance will be dedicated to his memory and his long service to music, especially in Eastern England.

Bishop Thomas McMahon will be giving a homily and the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Lord Petre, will be giving one of the readings.

The service is being recorded for broadcast on BBC Essex on Christmas Eve at 5pm and Christmas Day at 7am.

A collection will be taken for the Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society, a social care agency which provides counselling for children and young adults up to the age of eighteen, regardless of their beliefs.

This is a ticketed event and all 650 tickets were snapped up within hours of being made available.

Father Martin Boland, Dean of the Cathedral, said hosting a county wide ecumenical event at Brentwood Cathedral was a great honour: “We are delighted to be working with BBC Essex to bring their popular Celebration of Christmas to the people of Essex. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to welcome hundreds of visitors to the Cathedral, many of them I expect for the first time.

“It is a great showcase for many of the things we are proud of at Brentwood Cathedral, especially our excellent music and our links with the local community”, said Fr Boland.

Full details of the Choirbook for The Queen project can be found at www.choirbookforthequeen.org.uk/book/