Let’s not let secular culture
blunt our Christmas witness

A good number of Southwest Texas Conference congregations appear to be skipping Christmas again this year.
Information I receive from local churches by e-mail or see in more than 100 local newsletters reflects the same pattern: We wear ourselves out during Advent with alternative marketplaces, living nativity scenes, special Christmas programs, Bible studies and musical presentations.
Then when Christmas begins Dec. 25, most Southwest Texas churches go programmatically dark through the entire 12-day season—no special events, no musical productions. In fact, not much of anything seems to be going on. Many church calendars are blank. Some offices are closed. Some pastors are on vacation.
The pattern isn’t new. I’ve seen it most of my life.
The United Methodist Book of Worship describes Christmas as “a season of praise and thanksgiving for the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, which begins with Christmas Eve or Day and continues through the Day of Epiphany.”
The Epiphany of the Lord (Jan. 6) is when Christians celebrate, among other things, the arrival of the magi.
Most of our church celebrations—especially our living nativity scenes and Christmas pageants—present the Christmas/Epiphany story as if it all happened in one night. Then we move on.
Epiphany falls on a Sunday in 2008. Therefore, the liturgical Christmas season really has only one Sunday (Dec. 29) this year. What’s your congregation doing that day?
Of course, the situation in Southwest Texas during Christmastide isn’t unique. United Methodists across the United States annually debate how best to observe Advent and Christmas. You can see some of that discussion at www.gbod.org/worship.
The Rev. Dean McIntyre, director of music resources for the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tenn., notes that Advent is a “church only” season. American secular culture gears up for Christmas before Halloween. The secular season ends Dec. 25. People then turn their attention to the New Year’s celebration the following week.
Furthermore, McIntyre points out, the penitential spirit of Advent is at odds with the festive nature of secular pre-Christmas events. Bible readings during the four weeks before Christmas tell of a sinful world yearning for a savior.
The disconnect during December between the secular holiday and the church’s liturgical time of reflective preparation is hard for American Christians to accommodate, McIntyre acknowledges. By ignoring what’s going on in the secular culture, the church risks appearing out-of-step and irrelevant.
I agree with McIntyre. We can’t ignore culture. We are definitely in the world, but we don’t have to be of the world.
My issue, however, isn’t with what we do during Advent. My concern is what we do during Christmas and Epiphany.
I’d like to see more of us do something during the true Christmas season. I’d like to see us emphasize our difference from the secular society. That could make our public witness more distinctive.
The Christian church developed the liturgical calendar as a tool to teach parishioners about the life of Christ. That year begins with Advent in December and ends with Christ the King Sunday at the end of November.
I’m enough of a curmudgeon to be bothered when we in the church surrender our distinctiveness and let cultural norms overwhelm opportunities to remind believers of Gospel teachings.
The secular holiday schedule really shouldn’t dictate what we do in the church. We should acknowledge and embrace our difference from secular culture. We should reclaim Christ-mastide for what it is: The celebration of Christ’s nativity and the lead-up to Epiphany—the initial revelation of our savior to the world.
Let’s not let secular forces limit our holy days or blunt our public witness.