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Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Ask the Matriarch - Christmas on Sunday

Our question this week is straightforward:
In my tradition, we dont usually have a worship service on Christmas Day, but this year Christmas will fall on a Sunday.  If you are in the same situation, how do you handle this?  


Muthah+ responds:
Christmas Day when it isn't a Sunday is generally a small intimate service of just a few families.  When it is a Sunday it is usually a bit larger.  Because the Christmas Eve services tend to be the focus of the Christmas season, the Sunday service can either be the readings of Christmas Day or Christmas II.  I would give it the same solemnity to the Sunday as the Christmas Eve service, but with a little bit of light-heartedness in both music and tenor.

For the choir and music director, I remind them that Christmas Day IS a Sunday and a day they are obligated to. I do remind the parish that it IS a Sunday, the service is generally small.  Rather than having the usual 2 services, I would have only one unless you are in a really large church.

I would invite the kids to bring one of their gifts and do a 'show and tell' of gratefulness at the Children's time. And if you are hokey enough, you can probably get the parents or other members of the parish to join in if you advertise it beforehand. Keep it light and relaxing and have fun with it.  It only happens every 7 years and you can mark your ministry by it.  The next time it happens you should be on sabbatical. ;P



And Jennifer writes:
Last time Christmas fell on a Sunday, we had one service and it was the Christmas pageant! We were concerned that our attendance would be lower, but it was not. We advertised it as a casual service and people of all ages came to see the long-standing tradition of the pageant, complete with prophets, an Inspiring Voice, dancing stars, shepherds, wise folks, the whole nine yards.  It was very, very  well received. We’re planning to do the same thing this year.


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Thank you, Matriarchs! What about the rest of you? How do you handle Christmas when it falls on a Sunday, especially if you serve in a tradition which doesn't ordinarily gather for worship on Christmas Day? Please share your experience and/or what you're planning for this year in the comments! And as always, send us your questions to askthematriarch[at]gmail[dot]com.


earthchick



15 comments:

  1. Actually because of leap year, Christmas on Sunday can be more often than every 7 years. Lessons and Carols is also a good alternative service. Just scripture and carols.

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  2. The last time Christmas fell on Sunday, we had a couple of baptisms. Maybe I'll see if I can talk my new parents into that this year . . . It makes a nice "baby Jesus" and His family morning.

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  3. My previous church was big on Christmas Eve, all the families always came to our church, extended family and the like. Now, Christmas Eve itself isn't even a big deal and we never have a worship service on Christmas Day. But we WILL have one this year since it is ON a Sunday. We traditionally have two services throughout the year, and the only thing I can be sure of at this point is that we will only have one service. For some reason we have super small crowds on Christmas Eve, so I'm confident people will still be out of town as they are that night before. I'm really interested to see the responses as this is a bit of a question I have myself!

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  4. My previous church was big on Christmas Eve, all the families always came to our church, extended family and the like. Now, Christmas Eve itself isn't even a big deal and we never have a worship service on Christmas Day. But we WILL have one this year since it is ON a Sunday. We traditionally have two services throughout the year, and the only thing I can be sure of at this point is that we will only have one service. For some reason we have super small crowds on Christmas Eve, so I'm confident people will still be out of town as they are that night before. I'm really interested to see the responses as this is a bit of a question I have myself!

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  5. Just found this posted elsewhere and it seemed a good connection: http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2011/08/christmas-story-books-for-worship.html

    Books that might work for a Christmas morning service...

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  6. Great thoughts and my experience is similar. I make sure I really push that Christmas Day is 'come casual', we go to one service instead of 2 and the proclamation of the Word is a story or lessons and carols. VERY low key for both the congregation's sake and those leading worship.

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  7. Good question earthchick! Thank you for asking it early and thanks to the commenters who are sharing their good ideas. Now, I have the next questions. What about January 1 and 8? There are simply not enough Sundays to do justice to all the high holy days in early Janaury. New Year's Day, Epiphany, and the Baptism of the Lord - which will be kept, skipped,or merged this year?

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  8. Because my church is so small, I'm going to have a talk with our administrative board and see what they want to do, but my plan at the moment is to not hold the Christmas Eve service and simply have our Christmas communion on Christmas Day. We may move it to 10am instead of the usual 11 so that folks can get to their family lunches a bit earlier, as well.

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  9. Christmas Day -- ALWAYS a Eucharist, whether it's a Sunday or not. In our tradition at least locally, the Christmas Eve service or services are the heavily attended ones. But Christmas Day remains a Principal Feast, so I don't see skipping over it as an option. Attendance is usually very small, but what of it?

    Christmas morning is a time when travellers show up, strangers, people stuck away from home over Christmas...I think it's important that they not find the church locked and dark on that day.

    I often read a poem in lieu of sermon, and have a "play session" with any children who may be present -- I have a lovely, sturdy, wooden nativity set which I unpack with the children and then hand over to them for their during-church playtime.

    When our children were growing up this was part of the family tradition: wake up, open stockings, open ONE GIFT, have sustaining breakfast, go to church, taking gift if not noisy. Then home, substantial lunch, and then THE TREE... They liked it, I think.

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  10. We always do one service on Christmas Day, a eucharist, whether it's a Sunday or not. Harder for us is actually those years when Advent 4 is Christmas Eve...what to do in the morning knowing most people will be coming to one of two evening services? We might get a few more when Christmas is a Sunday, but not a lot of difference.

    As for New Year's Day, we are up the street from the Big New Year's Day Parade; it is never held on a Sunday, but if it's the day after or the day before, we see a significant dip in attendance, in part just because getting around is harder. Still, we have our usual services and trust we're demonstrating faithfulness and perhaps meeting some unique needs.

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  11. Fine point from a choir member who was heavily pressured to sing for both Christmas Eve services last year, which would have made a family celebration virtually impossible: Please remember that choir members, unlike most choir directors and pastors, are generously giving their time and skills to the church without financial compensation. Hence they are not employees who can be authoritatively instructed to serve at any given liturgy by the rector (except for the paid soloists/section leaders some churches hire). They should instead be asked politely, not shamed or pressured if they decline, and thanked if they do make such a sacrifice.

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  12. Our Christmas Day services, Sunday or not, don't have the choir present (although many are often in the congregation); that works fine because practically everyone knows the Christmas hymns and sings them with more vigor than any other time of year :-)

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  13. our tradition: one service on Christmas Day, whether Sunday or not, with Holy Communion. No choir, we read the Christmas proclamation, though.

    And it's true: we have a small service, but there are ALWAYS guests. Sometimes in my small rural parish, the guests were from neighboring churches which did not have a Christmas Day service.

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  14. We'll be worshiping in our pajamas!

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  15. The practice I'll follow is to create a simple, short, family service. Get commitments ahead of time for "readers" and give them pieces of the Christmas story to read. Hearing the Christmas story from a 7 year old's mouth is something to be treasured. We are kicking around the idea of a breakfast brunch afterwards.

    Scripture, carols, Holy Communion. The homily is not important.

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