How to plan a Swedish Advent service

by Mark Safstrom

Many congregations of Swedish origin across the country have—or at one time have had—one or more of several celebrations or services during the Christmas season, especially Julotta and Sankta Lucia. Due to the busyness of life in the latter half of the 20th century, these congregations usually opted to swap Julotta, or an early Christmas morning sunrise service, for the more mainstream late-night Christmas eve services. It’s hard to compete with a cozy Christmas morning at home, with its stockings and presents. The stalwarts who continue this high and holy practice often have some difficulty finding local people who can read the gospel in Swedish, or even preach in Swedish. (If you have such skills, go seek out a Julotta service near you and offer your talents immediately. They’ll be thrilled!)

Since December 13, Saint Lucy’s Day, moves about the weekly calendar, the celebrations often get scheduled on the nearest weekend. It is worth noting that although the Sankta Lucia tradition has centuries-old roots in Western Sweden, those customs were mostly done at home, within the household. The modern iteration of a choir of singers entering with candles into a darkened church or hall was popularized by the 1920s, when large public celebrations became common across Sweden and then spread to the United States. So the custom of Swedish-American congregations holding St. Lucia programs is a relatively recent import. In any case, the challenge with the Advent season is how to fit it all in, when a congregation is small and there are limited hands and resources to make it all happen. And do the kids have the attention span to do both a Lucia procession and a nativity pageant?

This article is intended to give some ideas as to how to keep this musical heritage alive, by gathering some of these traditions into one service or program. For the last twenty years, I have been involved in planning at least one, two, and lately three Lucia programs each year, at Augustana College, Ravenswood Covenant Church, and North Park University, as well as formerly the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In all these events, I have stuck to a general principle of trying to include at least a glimpse of all the key moments in the march from Advent to Epiphany. I’ve borrowed the formula that I learned at the “Julfest” at First Covenant Church in Seattle, the historic “Swedish Tabernacle.”

Growing up at First Covenant, Advent was really a magical time. For decades, the first Sunday in December at 4 pm was a huge, all-church undertaking known as the Julfest. For a time it was so big that it was held on both Saturday and Sunday. This afternoon service included all of the high points of the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons all rolled into one musical service. The music was drawn from the Swedish Covenant and Scandinavian Lutheran musical treasury. The beginning of the program was the triumphant First of Advent, and then the music carried through to St. Lucia’s day, Christmas Eve, Julotta, and then Epiphany. Kids were dressed as Lucia attendants and star boys, pepparkaksgubbar (gingerbread men), and tomtar (Christmas gnomes).

A festival choir led the singing of hymns, culminating with John Holstedt’s Swedish-American anthem “Lyssna.” Afterward, the tables in the fellowship hall were spread with Scandinavian decorations and food. The smell of almond cookies, cardamom bread, cheese, coffee, and candle wax wafted through the air, and it seemed to us kids like the grown ups would never stop talking. No wonder it was so popular!

In college, I participated in the North Park Lucia program, and happened to notice that our song lyrics were the very same photocopy we had had in children’s choir in Seattle. There was clear cross-pollination at work! Later while in graduate school at the University of Washington, I found myself co-chairing the Julfest at First Covenant with my cousin, Johanna (Knudsen) Staman, between 2004 and 2008, and together we published an article about the Julfest in the Covenant Companion (“Lighting the way forward,” 12/2008). During those four years I developed a real curiosity for all of the music behind these traditions. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Julfest in 2008, we also invited the choir from Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola (SVF) in Jönköping, Sweden, to perform at the Julfest and give a tour in Washington, with 11 concerts in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Yakima. The repertoire from SVF expanded my appreciation for the depth of this musical canon, stretching back to the Middle Ages, including songs such as the ballads for St. Stephen, or “Sankt Staffan,” as well as other older hymns, such as “O Bride of Christ, rejoice.” (SVF’s Christmas album “Norrsken” was the basis for their tour repertoire and includes many of the songs listed on the next page.)

How did such a magical Christmas celebration come to be? Church musician and organist Winston Johnson wrote an essay about the origins of the Julfest, which is included in this issue. It was in a conversation with Winston in the narthex following one of the Julfests that I had co-chaired that he pointed out to me that the intent of the program was to move through the entire liturgical season. (The music in the Julfest had shuffled enough by that point that the liturgical progression was no longer clear, and Winston was concerned!)

I took Winston’s suggestion to heart when planning the Lucia program at the University of Illinois after I started working there as lecturer in Swedish in 2010. The first half of the program was a short “sing-along” through the Christmas season, which culminated in the Lucia procession. This program was geared toward a secular audience, but still featured traditional Christmas carols. When I started at Augustana College as professor of Swedish, there was already a long tradition of having a Lucia program, and I could more explicitly lean into the Augustana Lutheran musical heritage. Together with colleagues and students in the music department and campus ministries, we have built this back into being a marquee college event again, held in Ascension Chapel.

Similarly, at North Park University the past four years, the Lucia program has been a very rewarding collaboration between the Center for Scandinavian Studies, the Swedish program, and alumni, and is held in Isaacson Chapel. The first part of the program is a sing-along of half a dozen Covenant and Lutheran Christmas carols, with short narration of the stories behind these songs, which follows the same liturgical progression outlined above (Dave Bjorlin and Tim L. Johnson have provided the commentary). The hymn sing is then followed by the Lucia procession.

At Ravenswood Covenant Church in Chicago, the bulk of the children are young pre-readers, so we focused on English translations of songs that could easily be memorized with limited practice. For many years this was a Lucia coffee hour in the fellowship hall following the Sunday service. In later years, we changed this so that the Lucia procession was the conclusion of the Sunday morning service in the sanctuary, after which we followed the kids downstairs for an extra special coffee hour. Each one is different and has its own local character, limitations, and opportunities. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution here! The key is experimenting with the unique combination of people and resources you have in your congregation.

Here are a few guiding principles that I keep in mind when planning:

This should be a worshipful Advent service with a cultural flavor—not a corny ethnic pageant. The distinction may seem slight, but it happens all too often that church programs become about “honoring” a heritage instead of just celebrating Christmas with these traditions. If it feels stilted and awkward, then it is time to freshen up the program.

Less talk, more rock! Don’t waste valuable time explaining the tradition. It can get tedious. Type up a short description to include in the bulletin for people who are curious. Keep spoken explanations brief and get to the music!

Recruit instrumentalists to play Scandinavian tunes as special music. This expands the length of the program without needing to teach people the language. More complicated songs can be a beautiful instrumental solo on piano, violin, or guitar. At Augustana we have often included a brass quartet or the college bell choir. This lengthens the candlelit portion of the program, which everyone always wants to last longer. It also can include talented musicians who otherwise would not want to sing, or are intimidated by learning another language. (For sheet music for songs listed below that are not in the hymnal, consult anthologies like “Julkörprisma för blandad kör och diskantkör” distributed by Gehrmans Musikförlag.) These tunes can be excellent as preludes, postludes, and offertories.

Use translations in English when working with younger kids or when rehearsal time is limited for pronunciation practice. For example, at Ravenswood, we have been singing five songs with the kids, most in English, including “Hosanna, Son of David,” “Now it is Christmas time” (“Nu är det jul igen”), “Now shine a thousand candles,” “Listen, listen, hear the angels singing” (“Lyssna”), and “Silent night.” (The more complicated “Sankta Lucia” processional and recessional are sung in Swedish by a duo or ensemble of adults.)

Focus on the Swedish-American hymns that are unique and even endangered. Consult the list of carols in English translation in the hymnals. (“Lyssna” is a Swedish-American song composed in 1898, and is virtually unknown in Sweden. Every effort should be made to include this song more often in the congregation’s repertoire. Use an English version and encourage your church’s music director to include it at Christmas Eve, as well. It’s a real Covenant classic.)

Include readings that make sense for your setting. Many congregations include readings from the Christmas gospel during Lucia processions, or various shorter scripture passages about the theme of light (e.g., Isaiah 60:1). Viktor Rydberg’s “Tomten” or Erik Axel Karlfeldt’s “Lucia” are beautiful, but may not make much sense for a church service.

Read Rydberg’s “Gläns över sjö och strand” as a poem instead (it was written in Jönköping, after all!), or better yet, Bo Setterlind’s “Tänd ljus” (translation included in this issue). These are more spiritually meaningful texts. Rather than including sentimental stories of Swedish Christmas or dubious folktales about Lucia feeding the starving Värmland farmers, tell the story of the real Saint Lucy (d. 304 AD), which is much more inspirational. (For a children’s book about the historic St. Lucia of Syracuse, see Rebecca Rosengren’s “The Legend of Lucia”; for the classic medieval account, see the entry for Lucia in Jacobus de Voragine’s “Golden Legend.”)

Rotate the set list. There are plenty of songs to choose from. Shuffle the music from year to year!

Whether you are planning a special Advent service or Lucia program next year, or even if you are just looking to insert these hymns into the regular worship line up throughout the season, these are great traditions worth keeping.

God’s peace—Guds frid!

Recommended Scandinavian carol tunes

Blomstre som en rosengård (N.F.S. Grundtvig, Blossom like a desert rose)*

Deilig er jorden (Beautiful Savior)

Den signade dag

Det är advent (Carl Boberg, Advent is here)*

Ett barn är fött på denna dag

Forunderligt at sige / Förunderligt och märkligt (H.A. Brorson, Perplexing and amazing)*

Frid på jord (Sofia Karlsson/Kjell Lönnå, A reader’s carol)*

Giv mig ej glans / En etsi valtaa, loistoa (Z. Topelius/Jean Sibelius)

Gläns över sjö och strand (Viktor Rydberg/Alice Tegnér, Starlight on sea and sand)*

Herdarna spela för barnet Jesus (Alice Tegnér, Shepherds play for the baby Jesus)*

Jul, jul, strålande jul

O jul med din glede

Sankta Lucia

Staffan och Herodes

Staffansvisa (several versions)

Så mörk är natten

*Translations by Mark Safstrom available on Pietisten.org

Ring dance songs for Christmas Eve

Hej tomtegubbar

Nu ha vi ljus

Tomtarnas julnatt

Tre pepparkaksgubbar

Ritsch, ratsch, filibom-bom-bom

Räven raskar över isen

Vi äro musikanter

Bell choir

“Swedish Christmas Medley” arrangement by Margaret Tucker (Augsburg Fortress)

Available online for purchase, originally commissioned by First Covenant Church in Seattle. Includes “Lyssna,” “Hosianna, Davids son,” “När juldagsmorgon glimmar,” and “Sankta Lucia.”

English translations for children’s choir use

Hosianna, Davids son**

Hosanna Son of David,
Blessed be his holy name,
Glory to the Son of David,
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna, hosanna.
Glory to the son of David,
who comes in the name of the Lord.

Nu är det jul igen***

Now it is Christmas time,
O now it is Christmas time
our hearts are filled with love and gladness.
This is the time of year,
O this is the time of year
when joyous songs will banish sadness.

Lyssna, lyssna, hör du änglasången*

Li-sten, li-sten; hear the an-gels sing-ing?
Li-sten, li-sten: “Glo-ry be to God!”
Li-sten, li-sten; hear the an-gels sing-ing?
“Glo-ry, glo-ry, glo-ry be to God!”

Glo-ry be to God, in the high-est,
In the high-est, in the high-est.
Glo-ry be to God, in the hi-igh-est,
On earth, on earth, good-will to all (Good will to a-all)
Glo-ry be to God, in the high-est
And on earth good-will to all!

(Glo-ry be to God on hi-igh)
Glo-ry be to God in the high-est
In the high-est, in the high-est
Glo-ry be to God in the high-est
Peace on the earth (Peace on earth)
Peace on the earth (Peace on earth)
Peace on earth, good-will to all, good-will to all!

*Translation by Mark Safstrom

**Translation by J. Irving Erickson

***Lyrics used by the First Covenant Church kids choir

Scandinavian Advent and Christmas hymn translations

The hymn numbers below are from The Covenant Hymnal (1996), and where indicated also in The Song Goes On (1990) and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006). Whereas the Covenant Hymnal preserves the most Scandinavian carols (15), almost all are of Swedish origin. The half-dozen Scandinavian carols in Evangelical Lutheran Worship include two Swedish, two Danish, one Norwegian, and one Finnish. Original Swedish texts appeared in Sions Basun (1908), and formed a core for the Julfest program at First Covenant Church, Seattle. Remarkably nine of these carols survived in the 1996 hymnal.

122, O Zion, acclaim your Redeemer / Gå Sion din konung att möta (35, SB)

128 (264, ELW) Prepare the way, O Zion / Bereden väg för Herran (33, SB)

(39, SGO) Hosanna, son of David / Hosianna, Davids son

132, O Bride of Christ, rejoice / Gläd dig du Kristi brud (34, SB)

136 (264, ELW) Rejoice, rejoice, believers / Haf trones lampa färdig

351, Jesus of Nazareth passes by / Jesus av Nasaret går här fram

495, My soul now magnifies the Lord /

Min själ lovsjunger Gud med fröjd (SB, 458)

769 (243, ELW) Hide not your face / Lost in the night

176, Now shine a thousand candles bright / Nu tändas tusen juleljus

160 (271, ELW) How glad I am each Christmas Eve /

Jeg er så glad var julekveld

166, Joy bells are ringing / Julen är inne, fröjdes hvart sinne (SB, 40)

(298, ELW) The bells of Christmas / Det kimer nu til julefest

179, O thou joyful, O thou wonderful / O du saliga, O du heliga (SB, 44)

180, All hail to thee, O blessed morn /

Var hälsad sköna morgonstund (SB, 39)

181, When Christmas morn is dawning / När juldagsmorgon glimmar

187, Our day of joy is here again / Nu glädjens timme inne är (SB, 42)

193, I think of that star of long ago / Som fordom i fjärran österland (SB, 48)

(301, ELW) Bright and glorious is the sky / Dejlig er den himmel blå