I’m an atheist but I don’t see how it’s strange. But I figure it only happens, what, every seven years or so? It’s not that odd that they’d make a special change considering Christmas is more of a family thing. Not that the birth of their god (or god’s son) isn’t important, but the traditions have always seemed to me to be more family and home-centered. Easter is the big church event, at least in my childhood United Methodist church.
The two Christmas Eve services had no choir, just volunteer musicians and soloists. The reegular Sunday service will have the full choir.
I was at the 5:00 service and very surprised that there were few families with small children. It was mostly the “families with kids who just came home from college” crowd.
Heading off in an hour or so to attend midnight mass. Carols for 1/2 hour followed by a full mass at midnight. So, it’s lengthened rather than shortened. As it should be. 
Yes, but, as always, it will be a very quick service, where we take communion, read the nativity story, and leave. Any big stuff is done before the day so that it doesn’t interrupt people’s plans.
And it’s not really fair to imply that we celebrate less. This is what would happen even if Christmas were some other day of the week. So there’s only less church one out of seven times.
Ours just has one service tomorrow as opposed to the usual four. I think everyone came tonite instead. It was full to the point of overflowing, this despite the rain and cold and there are three others still.
Catholic here, and the church at my daughter’s had two 4 PM services and a 6 PM service tonight, then a Midnight Mass, a 6AM, 8:30 AM and 11 AM service tomorrow. We went to one of the 4:00 Mases and the people standing without seats were three deep by 3:45. Christmas services are not shortened, nor are the homilies shorter, at least not anywhere I’ve been.
Yeah, a good number of churches have gone that route. With all due respect to these congregation though, I think that churches need to set a good example. Most people will have plenty of time to spend with their families, after all. Surely they can spend at least an hour or so of that time with their families in church – especially with all this talk about putting Christ back in Christmas.
I just got home from singing in two (identical) Christmas Eve services. Our church has Christmas Eve services every year, but not typically a Christmas services. Tomorrow, we have Sunday services on an abbreviated schedule. Rather than two services with Sunday School/Adult Bible Groups in between, we have one service scheduled for 10:30.
I’m quite happy with that. It would feel very weird to me to not have church on Sunday. But I understand that many people are traveling and others have to do the Christmas Day drive-eat-openapresent gauntlet with their myriad relatives. I think the single service is a great way to accommodate both preferences.
Because I was wondering about this I sat down to figure when the next time 12/24-25 is on the weekend as it is this year. Next time will be in 2016, after that comes 2022, then 2033, followed by 2038.
So it’s not every seven years because leap year messes with it. But over time it averages out to once in seven years.
This one caused me a double and triple take… until I realized why it was so difficult for me to understand. Normally, in Spain members of a family who will be going to church and spending the day together go to church together.
In Spain, families are highly unlikely to belong to different Churches; they’re likely to contain a mix of diverse degrees of practice + atheists, but well, if a family has JWs they’re not going to celebrate Christmas with “dem heathens” so the issue solves itself (even if it does so in a very sad way); Roma are highly likely to belong to the Iglesia Evangélica de Filadelfia (Evangelical Church of Philadelphia), but if so it’s likely to be the whole clan, so again no issue. I know one family which is mixed IEC and RCC; since these dates include several days which are traditional family get-togethers and which the RCC considers Holy Days but the IEC does not (but no vice versas), what they do is troop over to the IEC on common Holy Days and to an RCC parish on RCC-only ones.
Ours was the normal length Midnight mass. We were finished just before 1.30am this morning. The schedule for the rest of the Christmas Day masses was the same as the usual Sunday schedule, with the addition of the Dawn mass at 5.30am.
And to me, that’s the kicker. If you talk the talk about having Christmas as a Christ-centered celebration, you walk the walk and do the Christ-centered thing on Christmas Eve or Day.
Of course, this particular atheist grew up Roman Catholic, and for Catholics and Orthodox Christians, Christmas is a holy day - you go to church no matter if it falls on a Sunday or a weekday. Christmas on a Sunday just meant one church service covered two obligations. And Christmas Eve services, particularly Midnight Mass, are popular not just because they are beautiful, which they are, but because that means you can get up on Christmas morning and play with your toys-- erm, I mean, hang out with your family.
'scuse me, I’m low on sleep… I didn’t mean everybody in a family get-together spends the whole day together including going to church, but those members of a family get-together that go to church, go together.
My church has a Christmas Day service every year. Starts earlier than normal morning services. The service is mainly a chance to gather and let the kids show off their new toys, plus thanksgiving for presents, a few carols and so on. Usually everyone is out of the door about an hour after the start time.
When Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, we just hold the Christmas Day service.
(I suppose people deal with the earlier start on the grounds that they get woken up by their biological alarm clocks a couple of hours earlier than normal anyway, so they might as well go to church.)
We are a sabbath-observing fellowship–so our normal services are held on Saturdays. We had our regular two services Saturday (8:00 and 11:00, with classes for adults and children between the services). We also had two Christmas Eve services (4:30 and 7:00). This morning many of us will attend Sunday services at other churches. Then we have our “Don’t Stay Home Alone” gathering this afternoon for those who don’t have families to spend Christmas with. I’m so glad for all the opportunities to worship and spend time together!
That “Don’t Stay Home Alone” gathering sounds like a wonderful idea! I’ll bet there would be some older folks who can’t get around by themselves who could get rides from the more able-bodied. Cookies, coffee, a little tree that everyone could bring one little ornament for.
I’m going to have to file this idea away for use someday!
The church I go to (even though I’m agnostic) had an Xmas eve kids service at 5PM and adult service at 9PM last night. No church service today at that church, however everyone is invited over to a nearby church of the same denomination (United Church of Canada) this morning, and that nearby church will be closed New Year’s Day with all of them invited over to the church I attend. We do similar shared services in the summer.
With three services on Christmas Eve (3, 5 and 9 pm) at my United Methodist church, we cut back the usual three Sunday morning services to one at 10am, no Sunday School. We had a “not-quite-repectable” turnout this morning (direct quote from lay leader) of about 40 people. Only two children present for the Children’s Sermon. Everybody got a poinsettia to take home!
Midnight Mass started last night with carol-singing at 11:30, and Mass ended at 1:20. There were two Masses yesterday and a Mass this morning.
As others have mentioned, Christmas for Catholics is a Holy Day of Obligation, which means we’ll be at Mass no matter what day it falls on.
StG
Our Midnight Mass lasted for almost an hour and 45 minutes. That’s an hour longer than usual! And that was the actual Mass, including not the pre-Mass choir concert – we had the slowest lector ever, the sermon lasted for over a half-hour, we sang two hymns during the offering instead of the usual one, communion lasted forever due to the packed congregation, and then (AND THEN!) the priest had a long post-service speech before the final blessing. I thought this was freaking ridiculous, to be honest.