This afternoon's service at Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore will make history.

For the first time since its founding 300 years ago, the congregation will have its own girls' choir performing at a Christmas Eve service.

The voices of a 13-member choir from St. Paul's School for Girls in Brooklandville will resonate throughout the sanctuary during the service at 4 p.m., said organist and choirmaster Daniel J. Fortune.

"We planned on starting a girls' choir for a while," Fortune said. "It came together this year and has been very well received. The parish has been very supportive."

He credits the former rector at Old St. Paul's, the Rev. David Cobb, with helping to establish the choir.

"It was a new idea, and it took time to get the choir started," said Cobb, now rector at Christ Church in New Haven, Conn. "It seemed a reasonable idea to offer the girls the same opportunity as the boys to sing in a choir."

The girls appreciated that opportunity.

"We started with five or six girls in September, then the others joined," said Molly Phelps, a fifth-grader. "We really like to sing."

St. Paul's, an Episcopal congregation, has had men's and boys' choirs since 1873, Fortune said. They are among the oldest choirs in the country.

Children's voices produce a "stunning sound, which is a rare thing of beauty," said Cobb.

"They rise to the occasion when they are expected to learn a demanding level of music. I'm just disappointed that I couldn't hear the choir sing for the first time," said Cobb, who left Baltimore in August.

Fortune is working the girls' choir into the services gradually; the girls have performed three times since they started practicing in September. The first time was at a morning service Oct. 27, which was the St. Paul's School for Girls Alumnae Weekend.

"The girls were scared and excited at their first performance," Fortune said. "It was also a matter of getting used to the choir loft."

One of the reasons that the church has never had a girls' choir is money. Starting a choir is financially demanding, to the parish and to St. Paul's Schools, Cobb said.

The girls and boys receive a small stipend every month for the time spent in rehearsals and for performances. The larger benefits go to the children's parents, who receive a reduction in tuition at St. Paul's Schools after the pupils perform for a year. The longer the pupils are in the choir, the more of a break in tuition their parents get.

Joining the choir is also a major commitment of time for the girls and their families, Fortune said.

The rehearsals have been going well, he said, but after three months, he asks the girls and their families to decide whether they want to continue.

The girls, who are fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders, practice from 7:30 a.m. until 8:15 a.m. every Monday through Thursday in the school's Ward Center for the Arts under the direction of Fortune or his assistant, James Holyer. Dress rehearsals and performances are also held at the church, at Charles and Saratoga streets.

"The girls are learning to sing anthems and psalms. It takes time to build up a repertoire," he said.

Fortune and Holyer take turns directing the girls' and boys' choirs, which perform with the men's choir separately. The 21 boys' choir members are pupils at St. Paul's.

All of the choir members auditioned for Fortune, who not only listened to pitch and tone, but gauged their enthusiasm.

"The goal is to make music, so they'll be able to sing and understand what's going on. They'll also learn to read the music," he said.

The girls will be singing traditional and carol music at today's afternoon service, where a choir usually does not perform. The boys and men will sing at the 10:30 p.m. service.

Fortune said he is trying to offer the boys and girls the same incentives, the same music and a more regular schedule.

But there's still a little competition. Just ask the girls.

"We're definitely better than the boys," said fifth-grader Justine Heritage.