Dickens of an Evensong

Step back in time for Wellsboro’s “Dickens of a Christmas” festival held annually on the first Saturday in December. The Community’s Victorian gaslights and live Christmas decorations lend the perfect setting for a host of community events which create a very special pre-Christmas celebration.

Wellsboro’s Main Street and the surrounding side streets will be closed to traffic and will become an early Victorian marketplace featuring all types of delectable wares for eating and drinking, as well as delightful gift items for wearing or enjoying.

Dickens traditionally includes craft and food vendors lining Main Street. Craft and specialty vendors in Victorian costume offer handcrafted wooden items, ceramics, clay pottery, commemorative Christmas ornaments, wrought iron, wreaths and tasty Dickensonian treats. The ever-popular, roving “Dickens Players” perform all manner of entertainment. Local bands, choruses and dancers join in the fun as well. The entire community joins in the fun. ~ Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce

St. Paul’s is open all day on Saturday, December 2nd, when Dickens folk always stop in to enjoy the warmth of our parish’s hospitality.

Refreshments and hot beverages will be available as you visit our Cookie Sale and enjoy visiting with some of Dickens’ colorful, costumed characters.

The Model Train Show will be open from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM.

Parish volunteers also will present tours of our historic church home, from 10:00 AM until 2:45 PM.

At 4:00 PM, St. Paul’s will host the community’s historic service, Choral Evensong featuring our Choral Scholars from Mansfield University.

In the rich Anglican tradition, music finds a natural setting in the ancient office of Evensong (a combination of the medieval monastic offices of Vespers and Compline). Here, beauty in language and music can speak to us in a rich and diverse way, allowing participants to forget the ceaseless activity of daily life… and be still.

For those not familiar with this historic form of worship, which is still in use in many churches to this day, Evensong may be considered as an opportunity for reflection. Here, we may leave ourselves open that God may speak to us through the Psalms, Scripture readings, and canticles which are the core of the service.

Chamber of Commerce Dickens Website