Merry Christmas, friends! I'm glad we get to do this together. Blessings in the year between now and when we gather again! #9lc

Mild he lays his glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth. Hark! the herald-angels sing Glory to the new-born King. Amen and amen. #9lc

WORD!!!! #9lc

Somehow, I wish there were even MORE than seven verses. #9lc

Well, if you dozed off during the Rutter, you're awake now! #9lc

My entire family is listening with me (yea!) and they all just agreed that this Rutter lullaby is ... working. #9lc

I sort of think the opposite, actually. This is the one that's too sweet for me. #9lc

Honestly, all the readings have been exceptional here. The Vice-Provost really bringing out the drama of the dialogue in the eighth lesson. #9lc

I think this is such an interesting Christmas sentiment--Jesus, don't forget the little people: "In the land that lies before thee, Forget not us who linger here! May the shepherd’s lowly calling, Ever to thy heart be dear!" #9lc

It's so very Rutter. A lullaby for stress and worry, which just drifts off... #9lc

Did I know this Britten? It's caught me off guard. So spare, then so grand, and ending so meaningfully. #9lc

I'll show up for Beth-LEE-hem every year. #9lc

Transeamus. (Translation: Let's GOOOOOOOOO!) #9lc

I'm having really mixed feelings about Bruckner in this service. I feel like we have stepped away from Christmas a little. #9lc

Wow. This commissioned carol makes bleakness beautiful, entrusts the gospel to the thrush's song, and weaves harmony into hope. I will sit with that one for a long time. What a triumph. #9lc

It is the hymn of our age: "Yet with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong; And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song which they bring: O hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing!" Amen! #9lc

I found that third reading very powerful. It was as though the reader began to contemplate the magnitude of its prophetic claims as she read. The words got bigger, and her voice got smaller and more reflective. "The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" almost a whisper. Powerful. #9lc.

What a beautifully evocative 15th-century text: "As the sunnè shineth through the glass, So Jesu in his mother was..." #9lc

They've let an American student sneak into the festival! A fine second lesson reading. #9lc

Ralph Vaughan Williams right out of the gate is as it should be. #9lc

Am I the only one who can feel the weight of the world falling away from my shoulders the moment that boy soprano starts singing? #9lc

All is ready #9lc

If you’re looking for a place to listen to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols today, may I suggest 91.9 Classical KC, on-air in Kansas City or online at www.classicalkc.org. If you listen long enough, you might even hear me give the station ID or ask for your financial support. #9lc

If you think my posts with election results are nerdy, wait until you see my live posts during the #9lc broadcast from Kings College, Cambridge. See you here in less than 12 hours! www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/festi...

To read more about today's recall election results in Jackson County, check out reporting from @kcur.org's Savannah Hawley-Bates... www.kcur.org/politics-ele...

And there it is. The final unofficial results from all precincts are in: Frank White Jr. has been recalled as Jackson County Executive, with 85% of voters voting YES to remove him from office, effective immediately. @kcur.org

It's looking like at the end of the day, Jackson County's voters will have decided about 5-to-1 to remove Executive Frank White Jr. Next up: Jax Co Legislature Chair DaRon McGee will appoint an acting Executive to serve up to 30 days. It must be a Democrat residing in the county.

Voter turnout today in the KC Election Board part of the county was 10.62%. For comparison, 14.5% turned out for last April's school/special elections, and 54.4% turned out for the general election last November. In Nov. 2022 (the last time Frank White was elected), turnout was 38.5%.

Now with all KCEB precincts reporting and 59% of JCEB precincts reporting: KCEB JCEB Total YES 17593 28137 45730 83% NO 5654 3445 9099 17%

Now Jax Co Election Board is at 39.4% of precincts reporting. Total between both election boards is now 39,344 (83%) YES, 8,288 (17%) NO. I think we can safely call it: Frank White Jr. has been recalled as Jackson County Executive by a wide margin. @kcur.org

And ... Kansas City Election Board is now calling its results the "final unofficial," meaning that's the last report for tonight. In KC alone, the YES votes have prevailed 17593-5654. Still at just 15.4% precincts reporting in Jackson County Election Board territory.

More results now from KCEB, which has added in some of the early voting and mail-in absentee ballots. The YES vote leads by at least two to one in all categories, and more than three-to-one overall. The total count is now 30,379 YES, 7,235. That's 81% to recall White as county exec. @kcur.org

Now with 15.4% of precincts in reporting in JCEB territory, the YES vote is widening its lead. Total for both voting jurisdictions is now 21985 YES (83%), 4592 NO (17%).

Still quite early, although it's hard to know what voter turnout to expect tonight. Combining the KCEB and JCEB numbers, we're at 16,127 YES to recall and 3,927 NO. That's 80% yes. Even if there remain a lot of votes left to count, that's a good sample size. @kcur.org

First batch of results from the Kansas City Election Board: YES 9199 (75%), NO 3011 (25%). There's no indication in the posting what percentage of the precincts are represented in those numbers. @kcur.org

While we're waiting for election results tonight, a couple reminders: First, a YES vote is a vote to recall Frank White jr., removing him immediately upon certification of the election, as county executive. A NO vote would retain him, and he would serve the remaining 15 months of his term. (1/2)

It's super early, but with just a 1 out of the 104 non-KC Jackson County precincts reporting, the YES vote (to recall Frank White) is leading 6928 (88%) to 916 (12%). That's presumably some of the early/absentee votes, as they were released right when the polls closed. @kcur.org

As a reminder, there are two election authorities counting votes tonight: The Kansas City Election Board (which covers all of Jackson County inside the city limits), and the Jackson County Election Board (which covers all the rest of Jackson County). We add them together for the final counts.

Polls are now closed in the Jackson County election to recall Frank White Jr as county executive. I’ll be posting election results here as they are reported. @kcur.org

Whoa. I filled in his name in today’s NYT Crossword and within an hour, he was dead. Alarming.

A joy as always to be announcing the names of @umkc.bsky.social graduates today at commencement along with my @kcur.org colleague Lisa Rodriguez.

Voter-approved Paid sick leave law for Missouri will take effect as scheduled May 1 after Supreme Court decision today, even as #moleg continues debating ways to undo it. missouriindependent.com/2025/04/29/m...

BREAKING from @kcur.org : KCMO City Manager Brian Pratt has been suspended. www.kcur.org/politics-ele...

What was going on with that "He Gets Us" ad in the Super Bowl? A Kansas-based foundation created the campaign two years ago, aimed at humanizing Jesus and re-branding Christianity. The ads are funded, in part, by Hobby Lobby. Read our original 2023 story:

So I’ve asked a couple other people… Did the President forget to put his hand on the Bibles when he took the oath?

One can only imagine how Billy Graham would have responded to his son using the inaugural invocation to give a campaign-style speech of praise for any President-elect and his victory rather than for God and God’s guidance.

I’ve just realized there is no poetry on today’s inaugural program. That makes me sad in a completely non-partisan way.

However one feels about the inauguration, what a day it must be for young musicians (like the University of Nebraska Choir rehearsing now) to sing in the Capitol rotunda. You can see it on their faces. The Marine band conductor looks pretty awestruck by it, too.

Sharp observation from @jaketapper.bsky.social displaying pic of owners of Meta, Amazon, Apple, X and Google at this morning’s church service, paraphrased: The quantity of control over information held by those men (now all together rallying around one person) is something to notice.

It is interesting to note that despite the decline of mainline Protestantism and its influence on national politics, traditions like this service at St John’s Church (a progressive congregation in a progressive denomination) remain baked in to our most sacred civic moments. One wonders for how long.