>> abernethy: coming up: "the house" in washington, d.c. where inner-city kids are told their lives have aning. >> i never felt like anybody else cared until i came to the house. >> coming to the house really made me, like, a better person. >> abernethy: also, this christmas week, the festival of lessons and carols. ♪ captioning sponsored by the lilly endowment >> abernethy: welcome. i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. televangelism pioneer oral roberts died this past week. he was 91 and suffered from complications of pneumonia. roberts was one of the first ministers to use television to spread his pentecostal message and is widely credited with helping to bring the charismatic movement into the american mainstream. roberts' broadcast reached millions. largely with donations from that audience, roberts built a multi- million dollar empire that included broadcast studios, skyscrapers and oral roberts university in tulsa, oklahoma. roberts' emphasis on miracles and faith healing, as well as fundraising, sometimes generated controversy. in 1987, he was roundly criticized for declaring that if he did not raise $8 million, god would quote, "call me home." roberts raised the money. a public memorial service is planned in tulsa on monday. in copenhagen, president obama joined other world leaders at the global conference on climate change. religious leaders such as anglican archbishop desmond tutu, also called for continued efforts to protect the environment. in washington, religious leaders are calling for reform of foreclosure laws. an interfaith group gathered outside the u.s. treasury building monday to demand that people faced with foreclosure be allowed to remain in their homes. the group pointed out that many people are losing their houses this winter just as wall street is distributing bonuses to its executives. >> those whose behavior caused this crisis we have bailed out, but those whose behaviors were not responsible are the ones, whom you have just heard, are the ones paying the price. >> abernethy: also in washington, the d.c. city council voted to legalize gay marriage. congress has 30 days to review the legislation. gay marriage has been a contentious issue across the country. five states have already legalized it, but otr states have rejected it. one-third of all countries worldwide restrict religion, according to a new study by the pew forum on religion & public life. the report measured the effect of both government constraints on religion and non-governmental hostility. it found that in 64 countries religions, especially minority faiths, face repression. in israel, an influential rabbi made a rare visit to a west bank mosque after the mosque was vandalized allegedly by jewish extremists. rabbi yona metzger, the chief rabbi for ashkenazi jews, condemned the attack. citing the holocaust, he said israelis have a particular responsibility to protect places of worship. a new survey from the christian group world vision finds that americans identify poverty as the biggest problem facing people around the world, with three-quarters of those polled saying the u.s. should address poverty here at home before trying to overcome it in other countries. often, on this program, we have looked at the enormous problems facing poor, young people growing up in the inner cities. today, a lucky severson story about giving hope to some of those kids in the poorest part of washington, d.c., anacostia. >> reporter: halftime show at the homecoming at anacostia high school. a big time for any high school kid. but something was missing here: parents. the school has more than 900 udents, but only a few of the mothers showed up. hardly a father to be seen. listen to the personal resumes of some of the students and former students. >> when i was eight-years-old, i joined a gang. and i been in a gang ever since. i¡ve done things that threatened my life, and other's lives. know what i'm saying? >> reporter: what kind of trouble were you getting into? >> oh, fights, drugs. >> reporter: gangs? >> gangs. girls left and right, you know. >> all the females in my family got pregnant really young-- 13, 14, 12. >> reporter: in fact, one girl in nine will get pregnant while attending anacostia high school. less than half the freshman class will graduate. drugs and violence, broken families. >> it's amazing that they even go to school. it's amazing that they even have some of the successes that they have. you know, i mean they're real heroes, because they go through so much and they keep trying, they keep trying to, you know, make things happen. >> reporter: lawonda harris knows. she spends most of her working days in the neighborhood. >> when you have young people and you say, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" some of them just look at you like, "why would you ask me that question? why would i dream when i'm eher probably going to end up dying or i could end up in jail?" >> reporter: but in this neighborhood, something different has been happening. ten years ago, steve fitzhugh and rickey bolden, botof whom played in the national football league, helped raise enough money to buy this former crack house at 17th and q streets. >> when we began the house, we needed the house to be a place that was a refuge. it was a safe place, a safe haven, a safe haven for students who come after school. >> reporter: during the drug wars in d.c., in the late '80 bodies were dumped along this railroad track, a block away-- so many bodies that the police called it "murder row." that crack house, now known simply as "the house," has expanded. this building next door was donated, and it is now the youth center. the doors open as soon as school lets out. for lots of teenagers, from any neighborhood, music is the here, they can make music. and record it, in this state-of- the-art studio. >> so many of our students have what i call pain on top of pain. they don't have a chance to unpack that pain. and we give them a chance to do that through the recording studio. and now, they're writing a song. they're writing poetry. they're singing about it. and then their heart becomes fertile ground for us to begin to get to the core of some of their hurt. >> reporter: jacob johnson, who's been a gang member most of his life, now wants a career in music. he's looking for a way out of anacostia. >> you got to look at your surroundings, you know what i'm saying? everybody in the neighborhood basically focuses on doing neighborhood things. everybody wants to follow the crowd. you can't do too much of anything if you're just being like everybody else. you know, being out on the street, smoking, drinking, robbing people. that's what differentiates certain anacostia students. but me, i got plans. >> reporter: the annual budget for the house is about $700,000. most of it comes from private donations, nothing from the government. there are 90 kids this year. it provides them with things to do that they can't do anywhere else in anacostia. >> these kids come in here and we have games and we just start hanging out, we start playing video games with them and we play pool with them, we hang out with them in the studio, and we build a relationship, and they start to trust us. >> reporter: it's more than a place where kids can go after school. it's more than a place where they can find adult role models, the house offers a faith-based message that says "your life matters and we care." the staff and volunteers are required to be born-again christians. but they are very careful not to force religion on the kids, many of whom have a skeptical view of god and church. >> there are a lot of students who would love to live a righteous lifestyle. but they don't necessarily want to be like the church people they understand religious people to be. and a lot of these students have been the victims, have become victims of adult failure in their lives. so we try as a staff, as a team, not to beat them over the head with the bible. >> let's present a little scenario. this is the scenario. >> reporter: one afternoon a week, the kids are given what's called a life session. it's a religious, a moral, message delivered in their language. >> calvin sees jada, and jada sees calvin. jada says, "you're looking real good, calvin." >> reporter: today, it's about responsible sexual behavior. >> jada is interested in calvin and she wants to, you know, do the do. >> reporter: but the broader idea is not to follow the crowd, to see the difference between right and wrong. >> how do you know the difference if all you see around you is a bunch of people coming up doing the same stuff? how do you know the difference when you see your moms having a hard day at work and she come home and she crack and crush a whole six-pack by herself? how do you see a different wa when you see your cousin and all he's talking about is how he's a bigger man because he smashed off another one? but this is what jesus said, jesus said "i am the way." he said, "and the truth, and the life." >> there was one student, and the first time i saw him was the first time ever. i said, "oh god." don't let this guy come to the house. fast forwards three years. the same guy graduates last year with a 3.6 grade point average. and he was one of our baptism candidates. he was one of our students. he even played jesus at the easter play. >> reporter: the kids aren't required to attend these life sessions, but if they do, they get points, and points lead to field trips, which are important, because the world for most of these kids the world does not extend far beyond the few square miles of anacostia.qs >> when i first came here, i thought it would be just another rec center, everybody just come here and play games, stuff like that. but when they started doing life sessions and stuff like that and the retreats we wou go on, i been thinking like, "well, dang, maybe i should change my life." >> reporter: the house doesn't provide an academic program, but it's a place for kids to do their homework. and lawonda harris says the house's faith message gives them a purpose, a reason to stay in school. >> when i believe that there's something greater and there's a reason why i'm here, and there's a purpose for my life, you know, that's where faith comes in. when i start to believe that god is real, and there's a plan, now i want to know, what is that plan? >> all my life,he only person was, that w there that genuinely cared was my mother and my brothers. you know, i didn't, i never felt like anybody else cared until i came to the house. >> they helped me out and stuff. for right now, i could of been dropped out of school, pregnant or something like that. but coming to the house really made me like a better person. >> i want the people that were in the same or similar situations as mine to, to look at me and hear the things that i say and realize that i was right there in their shoes. and there's hope in the unseen. >> reporter: the house recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. and it had something to celebrate. >> my name is tanika sth. i'm a freshman at st. paul's college. >> my name is paul spires. i'm a freshman at prince george's community college. >> reporter: of the fifteen high school seniors who participated at the house last year, nine have gone on to college. the year before, there were ten. >> i don't normally get this kind of emotional, but i had a flood of hundreds and hundreds of young faces that have come through the house if it had not been for 17th and q, a number of those young people never would have made it. my time with denver was pretty limited. i tell people all the time, the n.f.l. stands for "not for long." but it was a great experience. but nothing can compare to a young man or a young woman who has a new lease on life. i told someone, "that's my super bowl." >> reporter: and every thursday afternoon at the house, a message of hope for the kids of anacostia, this dangerous corner of washington known as southeast. >> i promise you, i promise you, if you committed to taking your walk to another level, your lifestyle, the life you live, will get better. we can live a better life. god has blessed me man, but guess what? god said "warren, that's not enough. i want you to go to southeast and i want you to help somebody else the way i helped you. then they're going to live life to the full, their parents will, their children will, their grandchildren will too, and southeast is going to look a lot better, not because southeast has changed, but because you have changed. all right, so let's bow our heads. >> reporter: the house closes its doors each night at 7:30. after that, the kids will be back on the streets, at risk. but over the years, hundreds of kids have gone through this place better prepared to beat the odds. for "religion & ethics newsweekly," i'm lucky seversen in washington. >> abernethy: now, on our calendar: on friday, christmas will be celebrated by most christians around the world. most eastern orthodox christians celebrate a week later. in bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of jesus, it is an especially celebratory season this year, as the tourism industry has rebounded after several sluggish years. the mayor says every single hotel room is booked! once again, in bethlehem, no room at the inn. in mexico city last weekend, catholics celebrated the annual festival of the virgin of guadalupe. and, at the white house, jewish leaders joined officials at the lighting of a giant hanukah menorah. the lighting was one of the many official ceremonies to mark the holiday that concluded friday. this week many local protestant and catholic churches are holding special services called "lessons and carols." the format is actually taken from a service called "the festival of nine lessons and carols" that is held every christmas eve at the king's college chapel at the university of cambridge in england. b.b.c. radio broadcasts that service around the world. and, it's hugely popular. kim lawton takes a look. >> reporter: it's one of the best loved church services during the christmas season. with scripture and song, the festival of lessons and carols retells the christmas story. and for many, it's a moving spiritual experience. >> lessons and carols is not a concert. it's not where you're going to applaud after everything. you're going to allow yourself to meditate at a much deeper place. >> reporter: the service intersperses prayers, carols and bible readings-- traditionally nine passages-- called "lessons." >> then the lord god said to the woman, "what is this that you have done?" the woman said, "the serpent tricked me and i ate." >> reporter: the readings start at the beginning, with the book of genesis, and the story of adam and eve sinning in the garden of eden and damaging their relationship with god. the lessons move on through the old testament prophets who foretell the coming of a savior who will restore the relationship with god. >> "the virgin shall be with child and bear a son and shall name him emanuel." >> reporter: and then to the gospels, which describe the coming of jesus. >> and of his kingdom, there shall be no end. >> from a theological standpoint, and actually from a visual standpoint, it is getting that wide-angle lens and moving back and seeing the whole story, seeing the panorama of god's plan for salvation for humankind and why that was even necessary. >> reporter: canon sirota wrote a book called "preaching to the choir." she says the songs after each reading help amplify the message. >> in a sense, the hymns and carols, most of them are based on biblical sources, so they are interpreting for us. the music really tells you how to feel about the text. >> reporter: the festival of nine lessons and carols has its roots in ancient christian vigils. but the service in its current format was first held 1918 at king's college in cambridge, england. it was adapted by reverend eric milner-white, dean of king's college and a former army chaplain. >> reporter: milner-white was preparing a christmas eve service just after the end of world war one. the war had taken a heavy toll on his flock. about half of king's undergraduates had gone off to war, and a third of them never came back. milner-white wanted to do something special. >> you have to visualize december in 1918 in cambridge. you've got a congregation which is probably largely made up of widows, girlfriends-- in those days they would've been called fiancées-- children there to somehow deal with this horror that they'd just been through. i think he wanted to deliver some level of comfort, that all this pain and suffering and death had some meaning. >> reporter: bill edwards is author of a book called "the festival of nine lessons and carols." he says the service that milner- white put together caught on. >> throughout the early 1920s, more and more people would attend the service. and by 1928, it was well-known enough that the b.b.c., which was then in its infancy-- i mean we're talking radio 1928-- picked it up to broadcast throughout the british isles, and then two years later, throughout the world. >> reporter: minnesota public radio began broadcasting the king's service across the u.s. in 1979. the service in king's college's magnificent 16th century chapel is not televised. people line up outside for days before christmas eve, hoping to get one of the best seats. edwards describes himself as a lapsed congregationalist, but says attending the service in person was like being on a religious pilgrimage. >> my favorite is i think probably everybody's favorite and i can't even talk about it without getting choked up, because it's so emotional and that's hearing those first few bars of "once in royal david's city." >> it's just magic. magic. >> "the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him." >> reporter: local churches began copying the king's service, and then adapting it. people in the pews loved the format, and pastors appreciated it because they didn't have to come up with a sermon. protestants and catholics alike do lessons and carols services. the catholic version usually includes some rendition of "ave maria." >> reporter: while many services stick with the familiar carol favorites, others incorporate more contporary songs, or songs from a variety of cultures. >> i think it's wonderful that a concept that's almost 100 years old has the power, and has been helped by technology, i.e. worldwide radio, to say something to ministers, priests, whatever you will, "hey, i can do something with this that's meaningful in my crch. >> as we await the great festival of christmas, let us prepare ourselves so that we may be shown its true meaning. >> reporter: some churches don't actually sing carols until right before christmas, so their congrations have developed advent lessons and carols services for early december using advent hymns instead of carols. >> reporter: at new york's cathedral church of st. john the divine, they turned their entire advent lessons and carols service into a processional, with the choir moving to every corner of the church. advent lessons and carols tend to be more reflective, while the christmas versions take on a more joyous mood. sirota says the music reflects that. >> the amazing thing about christmas is that it allows us to celebrate a really profound joy, the joy of being re-found by god, of opening our hearts to that love in a new way and of receiving this light that will transform us and reconcile us, not only with god, but with each other. >> reporter: every christmas eve, bill edwards and his wife have friends over to listen to the king's college service live on the radio or the internet. he downloads the bulletin or "order of service" so they can all follow along. >> many of our friends are jewish. they enjoy it just as much. a bunch of my friends don't believe in anything and they enjoy it just as much, and everyone prays along with the prayers which kind of surprised me, but they do. it's about finding, i think, some kind of spiritual component in life that people are missing. >> reporter: sirota believes that's the power of the festival of lessons and carols--and of the message that it celebrates. >> the gift of lessons and carols is that it takes time. you let the music, the carols, the texts, the prayers wash over you. and the light will break through. some text, some image, some musical phrase will change you, and that will be the gift that you get. >> reporter: i'm kim lawton reporting. >> abernethy: that's our program for now. i'm bob abernethy. merry christmas. we have much more on our web site, including more of kim lawton's interviews about the festival of lessons and carols. you can comment on all our stories and share them. audio and video podcasts are also available. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, more lessons and carols music from the northwest choirs in seattle. ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by the lilly endowment captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org