Christmas at Church

Youth skit as children ask father (center) about Christmas.

What is Christmas? Some people will tell you it’s a time for gathering, or enjoying rich food and drink, or getting things from parents. This was the main question that was posed to us at our local church service. After trying to get us to think about this and having a skit by the youth, we of course concluded that we don’t think about Christmas in the right way if we don’t primarily think of it as a time to celebrate the Savior coming into the world. The church service was longer than usual (3+ hours), but the worship leaders kept saying that this is a special day so we will take the time needed (and also there is food here for afterward, so we aren’t going anywhere anyway!). Many individuals took the opportunity to get up in front of the congregation and sing a favorite song about Jesus’ birth that they wouldn’t sing at other times of the year. The children’s group, youth group, and women’s group all had their special matching outfits for Christmas on. There were more visitors than usual, which was due to some family relations, but also a number of women or children who seemed to be non-Christians invited by friends. Then after church most of the families brought food they cooked at home to sit around and share together. The week before we were at another church that was specifically making plans to not gather for food after church as normal, but instead eat at home and share food with their neighbors as an outreach. They also had a group planning on visiting the prison. Overall, we don’t get the impression that many families give too many gifts at Christmas, but the gatherings, feasting, and special clothes are more common expressions of their celebration.

-- El Padre