For more than two decades, on one evening each December, two congregations a world apart have kept Christmas together. The 21st Annual Service of Christmas Lessons & Carols will be simulcast live between the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral and Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem — just steps from the place where the Christmas story began.

Hear familiar carols and the ancient lessons read in Arabic and English, sung by choirs in both cities, and listen for a word of hope spoken from Bethlehem to the wider world. As one service held in two languages and two lands, it bears witness to a Church that is not bound by borders.

The simulcast grows out of the long companion relationship between the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, joined by Lutheran partners in the Holy Land and here in Pennsylvania. This year's preacher will be announced closer to the service.

All are warmly welcome to gather in person at the Cathedral, and to join from anywhere in the world by livestream. The service is free; your gifts help sustain this shared ministry of peace.