(ABC 6 News) – Bells and music filled the air inside the halls of Zumbro Lutheran Church in Rochester on Sunday.

It’s something that still fills volunteer choir member Roger Harms with joy, even after 40 years.

“We like to do our best in terms of singing, all of us that are volunteering do it because we love it, and we like to be as good as we can be,” said Harms.

Combining scripture with carols, it immersed everyone in the sounds of both choirs.

“We combine the two elements, there’s nine lessons or readings and we have nine different carols,” Zumbro Lutheran church music director Matt Gender said.

It was a product of months of efforts to make Lessons and Carols memorable.

“Sometime in the mid fall, October we start bringing out our Christmas stuff, preparing for this day,” Gender said.

It was no easy task to get two groups in sync.

“The preparation for the Christmas advent season has been a rolling kind of adventure since about September, both ensembles are entirely led by volunteers, pulling them together kind of getting each of their different schedules to line up was a bit of a challenge,” Gender said.

It all paid off in the end to make a merry night for all.