December 20, 2026 | Sunday, 4 p.m.

One of Columbus's most beloved holiday traditions returns to First Congregational Church for an evening of music, scripture, and candlelight. The Service of Nine Lessons and Carols weaves together readings from the Bible with some of the finest choral music of the Christmas season, telling the story of the nativity from the promise of the prophets to the birth in Bethlehem. Rooted in the great English cathedral tradition and first celebrated at King's College, Cambridge in 1918, the service has been a fixture of the Christmas season at First Church for generations.

This year's service features the First Church Choir and First Church Ringers, with the full splendor of two pipe organs, brass, and percussion. Come as you are and bring the whole family.

Free and open to the public | Freewill offering

January 30, 2027 | Saturday, 11 a.m.

How does a pipe organ actually work? What does it feel like to sit at a four-manual console? How do nearly 8,000 pipes produce sound? Find out at our Fourth Annual Family Organ Day, a free and interactive morning designed for curious minds of all ages. Visitors will explore First Church's two magnificent organs up close: the grand four-manual 1931 Kimball and the 1972 Rudolf von Beckerath Gallery organ. Children will also get to build and play a real working pipe organ using the OrgelKids kit, a traveling educational program developed in the Netherlands that empowers young children to assemble a working two-rank, two-octave pipe organ. No musical experience needed. Just come ready to listen, ask questions, and discover the king of instruments.

Free and open to the public

May 2, 2027 | Sunday, 4 p.m.

First Church's own Minister of Music closes the season with a solo recital on the church's two magnificent instruments: the four-manual 1931 Kimball organ, with its 4,407 pipes, and the 1972 Rudolf von Beckerath Gallery organ, with its 3,719 pipes. The First Prize winner of the 2016 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition, Stafford has been praised for his "meticulous technique, innate and highly mature musicality, and constant musical engagement." His programs regularly span transcriptions, improvisation, and the full breadth of the organ repertoire. An unmissable afternoon to close a landmark season in downtown Columbus.

Free and open to the public | Freewill offering