Worship History - Christmas Celebration
I have been raised Southern Baptist all of my life (my dad said I'd been in the church since 9 months before I was born!). I support our denomination and what we do, but this study in worship history has opened my eyes to some of the things that we don't do as well. I grew up as a pastor's kid, so I had many experiences. One thing that my dad always incorporated into our church year was Advent, though most of the SBC churches I have been a part of since then do not. As a result, Christmas often slips up on us, except for a few Christmas songs we sing, a Christmas musical the week before, and poinsettias in the church at the first of December!
As a result, I feel we miss much of the anticipation and excitement that is a part of the Christmas season. This project is a combination of something I have done in the past, as well as several of the things I learned in this course. With Christmas this year falling on a Sunday, this could be especially meaningful this year. I have put together a program for a Christmas Eve service, followed by a Christmas Day celebration. The Sunday portion is not very descriptive as even in the 3 churches I have served in have had very different orders of worship!