An Introduction To The Worship Of The Christmas Season

The Christmas season extends from December 25 to January 5 and includes at least one Sunday and sometimes two. Christmas day is the most widely celebrated day of the Christian year. Customarily more people attend the midnight Christmas Eve service than any other celebration of the church.

The shape of worship during the Christmas season will follow the general order of worship (Entrance, Word, Table, Dismissal). However each of these parts will be filled with the words, symbols, sounds, and sights of Christmas joy. It is in these parts of worship, carefully planned and played out by the congregation, that worship will form within the people the true spirit of Christmas joy. In Christmas worship the Entrance sets the tone of worship. Because Christmas is a joyous and festive occasion, use music, processions, dance, choirs, and instruments to lead the people in a joyous entrance. Many churches drop the confession from the Entrance because Christmas is not a time for penitence. In the service of the Word, use a dialogic reading or a drama as well as a special reference to Christmas themes in the creed and prayers. Follow the lectionary reading to maintain a biblical integrity with the event being celebrated. In the service of the Table use a special Christmas prayer of thanksgiving, and for the dismissal prepare a benediction and words of dismissal that bless people in the Christmas spirit of giving. From the very beginnings of the Christmas celebration in the early fourth century, the theme of the Christmas season has always been the arrival of the light, the light that has come to dispel darkness. Historically, three services are celebrated on Christmas day: the midnight service, a service on Christmas morning, and another on Christmas night. The texts of these services stress the birth of Christ, but in such a way that the birth is not isolated from the death of Christ and his coming again. These themes are present in the Christmas preface prayer which states, "Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our redeemer, so may we with sure confidence behold him when he shall come to be our judge." What is at the heart of Christmas is the gospel—the overthrow of evil and the establishment of God's reign in our lives and over a restored Creation. What we are called to remember as we construct Christmas services is that Christmas is clearly a celebration of redemption. The prayers, antiphons, Scripture readings, and hymns for Christmas point us to the source of our redemption, namely the paschal mystery in which the Incarnation finds its ultimate meaning. This is clearly announced in the Epistle reading for Christmas Eve: "Jesus Christ … gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify himself a peoples of his own who are zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2:13–14, rsv). Christmas worship is not confined to a single day but extends for twelve days. The origin for these twelve days of festivity lies in the early church. The early Christians of the East celebrated the birth of Christ on January 6 (they converted a pagan celebration of the birth of a god on this date into the birth of Jesus since the birth date of Jesus is not known). In the West, Christians began to celebrate Christmas on December 25 (they converted the pagan festival of the Invincible Sun into the birth of Jesus). Eventually these two dates became the boundaries of the Christmas season with the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25 representing the beginning of the festival and the celebration of the manifestation of Christ to the world through the visit of the magi on January 6 (Epiphany) representing the end of the Christmas festival.