A church without Christmas? For some faiths, it’s off-limits. They just say no to Noel | Opinion
I grew up in a church with no Christmas.
There was no nativity scene. No Christmas Eve service. No baby Jesus.
In the strictly literal reading of the Bible taught in many conservative Christian churches, celebrating Christmas is pagan and blasphemy. After all, the Gospels say nothing about throwing a birthday party.
Decades before political talk hosts were banging their desks about how liberals wage a “war on Christmas,” hundreds of churches were waging a theological offensive of their own.
Sure, we had a tree at home. And lots of toys. And Santa and Rudolph.
Just no crosses, or creches, or religious carols.
Christmas was strictly a secular holiday. It was a day to join the world in gift-giving and celebration, but it was sacrilege to connect The Elf on the Shelf or deepfake flying angels to the earthly incarnation of God, holy sacrifice or redemption.
In the coming week, millions of worshipers in several conservative Christian denominations will observe the night of Dec. 25 in church. But only because it’s the weekly Wednesday night service.
Don’t get me wrong. My parents, Bud and Liona Kennedy, kept our little home near the rail yard in west Fort Worth filled with 860 square feet of Christmas cheer.
Just not anything that might make God think we were celebrating Jesus Christ next to Frosty the Snowman or flying elves.
“There have been conservative congregations that didn’t even believe you should have a Christmas tree or give gifts — it’s pretty much what each congregation chooses,” said Hugh Galyean of Jonesboro, Arkansas. He’s a career law officer and FBI agent from River Oaks who has led Churches of Christ and an early Fort Worth Christian school.
It’s not that Christmas is too woke.
Some churches and denominations simply disagree with having a specific Dec. 25 date.
One Episcopal priest in Lubbock has told how his great-grandfather was removed as a Baptist pastor in 1887 because on Christmas Day, he preached about Christ’s birth.
Award-winning religion reporter Bobby Ross Jr. of the Christian Chronicle, an Oklahoma-based news site for Churches of Christ, has polled churches and found that more are likely now to use Dec. 25 as an occasion to teach the story of Christ’s birth.
Families expect it.
But a majority of the denomination still downplays Christmas, according to an academician quoted by the Salt Lake City-based Deseret News.
Mostly smaller Churches of Christ skip Christmas, Galyean said: “Some of the larger churches just got tired” of the conflict.
There are still churches that won’t sing “Silent Night” in December.
“So it’s OK to sing Christmas carols in February, but not December?” he asked. “Why not every day?”
Abilene Christian University was created when the Churches of Christ split with the Disciples of Christ churches and their purposefully nonsectarian Texas Christian University.
But ACU now shows off a Christmas tree on its web homepage with the message “Joy to the World.”
In Bedford, the 75-year-old Brown Trail Church of Christ posts a long FAQ on its website.
“The month of December also brings with it an inner conflict for many,” pulpit minister Eddie Parrish wrote. “ ... As long as it is understood that Christmas Day is not a divinely established holy day, a preacher can take advantage of the teachable moment.”
We went to a conservative church in west Fort Worth until I was in eighth grade.
But we didn’t quit over holidays.
We quit because the Dallas Cowboys were better than ever.
My faithful Church of Christ father and I wanted to stay home and watch the NFL pre-game and coach Tom Landry’s weekly show.
Later, I went to other churches and ministries with high school friends and classmates. I found wreaths, candles and symbols of a devout season.
I still love the friends we shared from the old church. I know we all share a day filled with faith.
But I think there is more than one way to know the real gift of Christmas.
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 9:26 AM.
