Christmas at Church?

[agricola]

I just happened to drop in on the website of my old congregation, and they are having PHOTOS WITH SANTA!!!

Holy cow.

when I was a kid, Christmas was observed at church mostly by a sermon about why we didn't celebrate Christmas at church.

When I was a bit older, somebody started putting poinsettias in pots on the podium (um - the elevated section down front? Do I mean podium? I have absolutely forgotten) and that caused quite a stir, because it was 'too festive'! CERTAINLY there was never a tree, or tinsel, or anything relating to Baby Jesus.

People like my family would have trees and presents and Santa at HOME, but heaven forbid, NOT at church! And I was in my teens before I realized that nativity scenes and angels could be decorations in the home! Not at OUR house, they weren't! (Mother did relent later on, and had a VERY small 'angels around a candle' thing, but certainly no nativity scenes.

We basically celebrated a thoroughly secular Christmas and a nearly secular Easter (well, it was always a Sunday).

And I was never allowed to go caroling.

The very IDEA of Santa at Church!! My goodness! How things have changed!

It was - in retrospect - VERY WEIRD, that Santa was 'okay' at Christmas - and the Easter Bunny was okay at Easter - but heaven forbid we should think about JESUS at Christmas, OR at Easter, really! And NONE of that was acknowledged at church services.

The Easter sermon was always about how we remember Jesus EVERY Sunday, not just once a year, so we didn't celebrate Easter.

We had deeply weird upbringing in this denomination, I hope we all are realizing that.

[zeek]

Little kiddie Christmas parties with Santa have been pretty common place in coC church houses around here for probably 25 years at least. At my old coC they had the party one Saturday and the following Sunday morning, the tree was still up in the "fellowship room" where the S.S. class I taught met. One 50ish woman who was a life long member there commented, "that would have never happened when I was a little girl. In those days the Elders wouldn't even tolerate exchanging gifts in the building, contending that ANY observance of Christmas in the church was sin. After class I cornered the H.E.I.C. and asked him about it straight up. I said "in the old days the Elders wouldn't allow anything to do with Christmas in this building but now we have parties and Christmas trees and exchange gifts. Were they teaching error back then or are we practicing error now? That coward refused to answer my question. For what it's worth, at the time that woman was a little girl, that H.E.I.C.'s father was the reigning Elder in Charge.

[B.H.]

speaking of Christmas what are all of you going to get me for Christmas this year?

[Shane R]

I have seen CoCs in the Ohio Valley that have come around to Christmas. The NIs still mostly soil their pants over the thought. My grandmother calls me on Christmas and says, "Happy ho-ho day." I think it is extremely immature. But if she and Grandpa didn't have hate they wouldn't have a religion. God hates gays, God hates Christmas, God probably hates Thanksgiving, God hates Easter, God hates divorced people, God hates women with short hair and pants, and God hates me and you.

[B.H.]

Remember the man with no name told Tuco that God wasn't on his side because God hates idiots

[Ivy]

Remember the man with no name told Tuco that God wasn't on his side because God hates idiots

Was this from Breaking Bad? I remember Tuco, but this quote, no.

Never mind, BH. I googled it. It was from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

[longdistancerunner]

What I remembered was not bad, the preachers would say something to the effect that Christmas was not a religious holiday and it was not the birth of Jesus. I knew a very few people who did not let their children celebrate Christmas, but most just regarded it as a national holiday and celebrated with presents, Christmas trees, Santa etc.

[Ivy]

speaking of Christmas what are all of you going to get me for Christmas this year?

BH, you don’t celebrate Christmas. You need to buy a Christmas gift for ME!!!

[B.H.]

speaking of Christmas what are all of you going to get me for Christmas this year?

BH, you don’t celebrate Christmas. You need to buy a Christmas gift for ME!!!

Since Jesus was a prophet I celebrate Christmas. It's fun and I love giving gifts. It's a good way to give food needed gifts to poor friends and neighbors without it coming across as charity.

[agricola]

What I remembered was not bad, the preachers would say something to the effect that Christmas was not a religious holiday and it was not the birth of Jesus. I knew a very few people who did not let their children celebrate Christmas, but most just regarded it as a national holiday and celebrated with presents, Christmas trees, Santa etc.

Yes, very much like that - but there was a quiet minority that would have preferred to avoid it at home, too.