Just before half past ten, I join the serried ranks of 'mayors and chairs' in Chelmsford Cathedral for the annual carol service for deaf people, organised by the Chelmsford diocese in association with RAD.
The building is packed, lively and colourful. Children with hearing impairments from various schools across Essex have come prepared to do their bit - shepherds in tea-towel headgear, little angels with tinsel haloes, wise men with cardboard crowns.
The whole service is signed; sometimes with the rest of the congregation singing along, sometimes with only the piano to accompany the movement of the hands of the signing choirs. The bishop himself signs the blessing at the end, before we all troop over to a corner of the cathedral for coffee, sandwiches and cake.
It's the most unusual carol service I've been to, and everyone agrees it's great. I've noticed from the programme that the West of Essex seems to be the only part of the county without a regular signed service for deaf people, and one of the clergy from the diocese is at pains to reassure me that they're looking to set something up in Harlow before too long.
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