I ask because I was fortunate enough to be a part of a wonderful mass that filled me with joy and a sense of faith that is with me still. The service was uplifting, the sense of community was genuine and moving, and the music was nothing less than awesome.
So, if you attended a church service this holiday season, was it good, bad, or so-so?
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Crowded! We went to 4PM Mass on Christmas. Standing room only, and it was okay. We are visiting here and at home we always sing one verse of Adeste Fideles and I missed doing that. I guess I just like our priest at home and like being home for Christmas.
Went to the same “midnight” (10 pm) Christmas Eve service I’ve always gone to at the same church I grew up in. I only show up on Christmas Eve anymore.
It was fine. Same as usual. The songs sort of sucked as did us singers (a lot of times we were a beat or two off). Then we all lit candles and sang “Silent Night” which is a highlight of the service.
But, it was comfortable and familiar and I liked it ok.
HILARIOUS! It was last Sunday, and involved various church members doing skits and mini-plays. The best part was when one of my cousins’ kid (not sure which, I’ve only just now gotten around to knowing which spouse belongs to which of my many cousins), playing a member of the king’s court, was tackled and dragged off stage to be beheaded, his turban came unwound and dragged out behind him like a veil. Along with all the usual prompting for lines from the sidelines and so on, it was a charmer. Everyone took part, good clean fun. 
Yeah, I know, you had to be there. The singing was okay, but it’s a small church and we don’t have a slammin’ music program so it was mostly just fun.
Tomorrow is the actual Christmas message, so I won’t know til I get there.
Just so-so. I’m in unfamiliar territory, at my brother’s place, for Christmas. Yesterday morning I went to the 7.00am Christmas Day mass at the local parish church. It was very informal, which is not what I’m used to. And the music wasn’t great either.
Things were better at this morning’s (Sunday’s) mass. It was the assistant priest, rather than the PP, who celebrated and he offered the mass much more “according to the missal”. Simpler music too, which worked much better.
I no longer belong to my parents’ faith, but I go every Christmas Eve because it means a lot to them. The organist was AWFUL - “Joy to the World” was a dirge and “O Come O Come Emmanuel” was a jig. The pastor (who I like quite a lot) had some very nice remarks about how some of the people here are members who can’t imagine where else they’d be on Christmas Eve, and some are members who only come for the holidays, and some are here as guests, and some are here to honor the tradition of friends or family members that isn’t their own - she said it better than that, but I was really touched to be included and appreciated as part of the sermon.
I went to Midnight Mass. It was okay. I’m not terribly inspired by this parish, but since I live in the middle of nowhere, and it’s 50 miles to my ld parish, I go there. The pastor is quite young - ordained about 5 years ago, I guess. He’s very devout and there are a lot of things I like about him. But the parish is big - probably at least 1200 active families. I prefer a small parish where everyone knows each other.
StG
Okay. We went to the 11 a.m. Mass on Saturday and it was pretty deserted, and we were wrangling two small children. The music was lovely, but our toddler and baby were a little distracting, so I didn’t get much out of the homily.
I went to church for the first time ever on Christmas Eve. We were in a small church in a small village in Norway. There was some singing and readings, all in Norwegian. I was thoroughly lost, but everyone seemed to be having a gold time. Then we went into the churchyard where most of the headstones had small candles flickering next to them. They were absolutely beautiful, reflecting off the snow in the dark light.
Fantastic! Went to two (9pm Eve and 10am Day) slightly different denominations (that we’re in full communion with) and they both had a very good and very mixed crowd. It was fun being visitors and seeing a really big cross-section of the city rather than the usual crowd and usual faces.
My ordinary church (Assembly of God) is between pastors so we didn’t have a Christmas Eve service (never have a C’mas Day one unless it’s a Sunday) so Mom, my visiting brother & I went to the downtown Methodist church where we have friends. Music & choir was good, the setting was warm & homey, the pastor an older dignified affable speaker. If I lived downtown & was looking for a new church, I’d consider this one.
Yesterday I was ready to go to our AoG but my brother was lagging behind & we started getting what looked like the start of a blizzard so we just stayed home… and the snow stopped & everything cleared up. pout
It was good. My daughter sang in the choir, played two piano pieces, and the mass itself was just slightly more than 1 hour long.
I attended both our 5:30 and 10:00 services, since I was serving as a chalice bearer for Communion. Both were wonderful. The earlier service was packed to the gills, with extra chairs set up on the sides. The 10:00 service was full, but not to the point of needing extra seating.
The bishop of our diocese was the preacher. He’s okay, but his sermons don’t light me on fire. I prefer our rector or canon as public speakers.
The cathedral looked as beautiful as it ever has.(Helps to have a professional florist as an active member!:D)
Easter is the more important service, but church on Christmas Eve brings back childhood memories that make you feel happy.
Midnight service in our little village church with maybe twenty people present - though that’s more than our usual Sunday turnout. Lots of candles, our new Viscount organ making a much more churchy sound than what we used to have, and having been asked to do a talk I entertained the congregation with a from-memory retelling of “The Other Wise Man”. We didn’t have an ordained person on hand to deliver communion so it was just prayers, lessons, carols and a blessing. Next morning, a rather bigger turnout at the bigger church next village over where there was a friendly and not too formal communion, and a rather better organist than me in charge of the music. Would hate to miss it. 
Midnight mass. It was beautiful – my daughter is in the choir, so we came early to enjoy the pre-service christmas carols. I like traditional carols with simple arrangements and other than one bluesy song, I wouldn’t have changed them. My two favorite carols, “Silent Night” and “Veni, Veni Emmanuel” were sung, so that was a nice touch. One of the high school girls with a glorious voice sang the Christmas chant, which was hair-raisingly good.
Our priest is old school so there was lots of incense, which works for me because it evokes childhood memories.
The church was decorated simply but beautifully. Poinsettias, undecorated trees except white lights, greenery. Blessing of the nativity preceded mass.
Overall, it was a nice, spiritual mass. Just over 2 hours. The only downer is that midnight mass is, of course, mainly attended by adults and older teens. I have to admit that I miss seeing all the little kids in their Christmas finery. Though with today’s casualness, I wonder if they do Christmas dresses and little bow ties anymore…?
I wasn’t crazy about the service I attended with my sister and her family. They showed several long-ish clips from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas with the “moral” being that it isn’t all about the gifts. They could have easily read a few passages from the book and skipped the movie clips and made the same point. It seemed a little unnecessary and off-putting. Now if it was advertised as a kid-centric service then I could have understood the entertainment theme, but it wasn’t, so it was kind of a “church service bummer”. I guess I’m a traditionalist- bah humbug!
My church had a classical guitarist come to perform for the 20 minutes before the service started. Except he didn’t start until 5 minutes before the start time and ran 15 minutes into the service time. Playing tunes that were completely unfamiliar. I don’t mind different music, but Christmas Eve should be all about tradition and familiarity. And the tunes were really reeeeeeeeeeeally slow. The start time was already after my bed time so long, unfamiliar, slow tunes were a really bad choice in my mind.
The rest of the service was nice, but being late at night, an hour and a half was way too long.
We did not get to go to the Christmas Eve service, but we did go to the Hanging of the Green earlier in December. The service was led by the children, youth and college students. The children’s choirs sang, the children’s handbell choir performed, and the sanctuary was decorated and prepared for Christmas. It was the first time I had ever attended this type of service, and it was extremely moving. It was the one thing that helped prepare me for the Christmas season as well.
I went to a Lessons and Carols service at an episcopal church near me. Services at the church I attend regularly are fairly simple and we don’t have a choir. The musicians were outstanding. The arrangement of O Holy Night was particulalry beautifuls and there were some lovely brass arrangements that helped raise my Christmas spirits quite a bit.
The one detraction was that the woman seated next to me, and the church was quite full so she was RIGHT next to me had her phone out and was texting for a great deal of the service. Since I’m big on the “love one another” component of Christianity I got myself over it really fast, but not until I’d indulged in a few minutes of righteous indignation. She was my age or older (40s), not a teen dragged by her parents.
The church was decorated beautifully with lots of greenery, and lots of candles. I might make it an annual thing.
Mostly fun, actually. The service included a Natvity play put on by the kids; my son was the Wise Man carrying myrrh. I got to carry the star that the Wise Men were following.