‘A wonderful gift’

Photo: iStock

CHRISTMAS comes but once a year – but come it does. Hymns, baubles, trees, tinsel, choirs – there’s an easy familiarity associated with the season that is both enjoyed and looked forward to by young and old alike.

But for those for whom Christmas is ‘part of the job’, does that familiarity begin to breed perhaps a sense of ennui, of ‘here we go again’?

We go to church, through Advent, lighting the candles and marking the season, and we have expectations of what Christmas will bring, but for a minister, and for those involved in working with the church in some capacity, how do they go about keeping Christmas fresh, in both their minds and ours?

For them, Christmas is not just the festive season, but a key component of the life of Christ, and a festival that is expected, looked forward to and invested in emotionally.

The Rev Ian Taylor is minister at Springfield Church in Bishopbriggs.

“Keeping the presentation of the Christmas story fresh each year is a perennial challenge for those who prepare and lead regular Christian worship,” he said.

“The birth of the Christ child is for many of us a familiar story – it fits us like a pair of comfy old slippers. But for others, it may be a new story, as yet untold and unheard. So how do we share this in a meaningful, relevant, new way?

“Within our congregation we try to do that during the Advent and Christmas seasons in different ways. In October and November, the Kirk Session agrees what services we shall hold. Dates for special services are set to receive the annual return of our Jars of Grace for UNICEF, our Gift Service for congregational gift donations used by local social work agencies and the Women’s Refuge, the Nativity Service on the Sunday before Christmas. Dates are also set to decorate the Church and halls, Christmas parties for the Sunday School and youth organisations. Decisions are made about where our retiring collections from Watchnight and Christmas Day Services will be sent (usually Lodging House Mission). The Springfield Cambridge Festival Chorus, Junior Chorus and Orchestra begin their rehearsals in early October in preparation for their annual concert during the week before Christmas in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in aid of CHAS (£390,000 has been raised in 20 years).

“For a while now, we have added an early Christmas Eve service at 6.30pm which draws young families and more mature members of our community who prefer to be home before it is too late.

“This service includes music led by a music group consisting of percussion, wind and string instruments and is more interactive. We try to find something new each year. We have used drama, quizzes, games and video clips to offer a different perspective on the Christmas birth story in past years.

“But we need to keep the traditional Christmas alive as well.

“Our more traditional 11.30pm Watchnight Service, is preceded by congregational carol singing from 11pm. Many who attend this have done so for many years, often returning year after year with family members returning ‘home’ for Christmas.

“On Christmas Day we join with our sister churches, Cadder and Kenmure, worshipping in Kenmure’s sanctuary. This service is led by the three ministers and the hymns are chosen on the day by the congregation who pick from a list. This always adds an unexpected fun twist to the service which concludes with a short communion for those who wish to remain.

“Quite a remarkable number of people are involved in making sure that we celebrate the reason for the season. We try to be as well prepared as we can and to mix the traditional, well known elements and the unexpected, slightly more unusual elements. But we also know that sometimes things can be a bit rushed, hasty and unexpected not unlike that first birth in a Bethlehem stable. We want to ensure there is room for God in all that we do and in who we are.”

The Rev Catherine Beattie, minister of Giffnock South Parish Church agrees that keeping Christmas fresh is an ongoing project.

“We usually start planning for Christmas in June or July, and the snowball builds from there,” she laughs.

“The whole congregation gets involved at different levels,” she says. “The Sunday school, the choir and individual members – everyone at Giffnock South gets into the spirit of Christmas – and the manse family is no exception!

“One of our recent innovations has been a ‘Knitted Nativity Trail’. One of our members kindly gifted a hand knitted nativity scene so we dotted the different characters from the Christmas story around Giffnock, in the windows of local shops, cafes and restaurants. They were very pleased to get involved. We then sent a challenge to the children in the parish to find everyone; we had lots of entries from the wider community and had a prize for the winner.”

There’s lots of room for tradition as well though.

“Every year we celebrate with a traditional Christmas Nativity play by our Sunday school the week before Christmas. Last year, due to the Covid restrictions, it was filmed separately by parents at home and put together to create our Christmas story to be shown in church.

“Every year on Christmas Eve we celebrate with the children making Christingles in the church accompanied by favourite carols. This is a hugely popular service and we usually welcome extended families from far and wide. Everyone is invited back the next morning to bring their favourite gift to show the congregation!”

It’s not all fun and games though, and Catherine knows that Christmas is not always an easy time of the year.

“Every year we feel it is important to remember that the Christmas season can be difficult for some; particularly those who have lost loved ones throughout the

In the real world Christmas always dawns, bringing with it the timeless message of hope, peace and love for all – and the transformation of the world following the birth of a baby boy in the humblest of surroundings and representing the light of the world as the Son of God.

year. At the beginning of Advent we hold a peaceful candlelit service for those who’d like a time and place to remember their loved ones over Christmas,” she says.

The church uses social media to encourage support as well.

“In recent years we’ve reached a huge number of people through our social media campaigns at Christmas time, we run a daily Advent calendar with thoughts, quotes and readings for the day. Some years we focus on one theme in particular such as peace, while other years we focus on the time of Christmas as a whole. We have found that this opens up the church to a whole new demographic and encourages those of all faiths and none to take a minute each day to reflect on the season of Advent and the real meaning of Christmas.“

Val Brown is Chair of ALTERnativity. It’s a charity that works with churches and communities to understand and simplify Christmas. Their tag line – Just God, Simply Christmas – might seem to be at odds with keeping Christmas fresh, but Val disagrees.

“How to keep Christmas fresh? On one hand, it only happens once a year so many people tend not to ‘keep it fresh’ but rather go with tradition – do what’s always done as it marks the day out as special,” she says.

“And for many there is a comfort in that – making the same special meal, having the same routine, passing on a day that’s crossed generations. For others though the ‘tradition’ is not a joyous one. Loneliness and isolation stalk a day heralded as one for happy families. Many endure crippling debt so as not to disappoint their children. Alcohol and family tensions can rip the best laid plans apart.

“Over the years ALTERnativity has looked at many of these issues, attempting to get behind the picture-perfect image of an indulgent Christmas, and to ask people to look again to the story we are presented with in the gospels. It’s a story filled with hardship, uncertainty, poverty, fear, hospitality, faith, generosity and ultimately flight and slaughter. It’s a story of real people facing a multitude of issues and doing so without the backing of wealth or status. But it is also a story of joy, hope, peace and the coming of God incarnate,”

she says.

“That juxtaposition is at the heart of ALTERnativity’s work – how do we celebrate well whilst not commercialising the birth of Christ? How do we enjoy ourselves and treat our loved ones, whilst caring for creation and remembering those on the margins? Just God, Simply Christmas.

Perhaps the freshness comes each year with remembering the simplicity of the very first Christmas.”

“If only I had a pound for every time I hear someone in the month of December say: “This’ll be your busy time” as though I was a turkey farmer,” laughs the Rev Brian Casey, minister of Springburn Parish Church in Glasgow.

“The truth is of course that we are busy, between preparing for the Watchnight service and Christmas day along with the large number of funerals, school assemblies and care home visits. On top of this, for the three years prior to Covid, we collected funds to provide for the many families in the parish who otherwise would go without. Oh, and several Christmas parties where, being overweight and relatively jolly means, invariably that I am asked to don that red suit and give out presents. Ho ho ho….

“You would think with all of that, I would have become a mix of the Grinch and the Rev IM Jolly but the truth is, I feel that Christmas is a wonderful time. We always really enjoy our Watchnight service. It is the culmination of all the hard work and more importantly, it is one of the important times in the Church’s calendar when people appear on Christmas Eve and they are people who don’t come to church normally.

“I like to think that somewhere in the midst of the carols, the homily and the mince pies, we encourage these folks to keep up their Christian belief for the rest of the year. We treat them like long lost friends and my Elders are really good at spending time with people whom we don’t recognise. If Christmas Eve is the only time we get to feed their faith then we need to give them a high calorie feast. The question is of course, what is it they get at Christmas, Easter and Remembrance Sunday that draws them in and how can we as a Church give them encouragement to come back on ‘normal’ Sundays?”

Christmas is one of these times of the year where memories often take over, and it’s a sentiment Brian agrees with.

We go to church, through Advent, lighting the candles and marking the season, and we have expectations of what Christmas will bring, but for a minister, and for those involved in working with the church in some capacity, how do they go about keeping Christmas fresh, in both their minds and ours?

This Christmas, let’s welcome people in whether they come during the year or not. Welcome in the stranger and make a new friend because they have come to receive the gift of Jesus in their hearts.

“I often think that it is a wander down memory lane for many. A trip back to being that nine-year-old child shaking with excitement to catch a glimpse of Santa. I know many would disagree but, for me, Christmas Eve is a chance for us to be like Scrooge’s first ghost, the one from Christmas past and I always keep the service very traditional. An anchor point for all people to remember and to feel the love of Christ surround them in our sanctuary in familiar surroundings.

“According to Bank of England research, in the UK we spend around £27bn on gifts. How much more important and meaningful is the gift we give to those welcomed in like old friends at Christmas? The grace and the love of Christ is far more important than a new mobile phone or the fashionable pair of trainers. How many children have begged for a particular toy from April to December and then, after playing with it for an hour on Christmas Day, then put the toy down and start playing with the box?

“This Christmas, let’s welcome people in whether they come during the year or not.

“Welcome in the stranger and make a new friend because they have come to receive the gift of Jesus in their hearts. Christ is a present that we never tire of experiencing and whilst Jesus would not recognise how his birthday is marked now, he would certainly not hold back his love and neither should we.

“He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow unlike the discarded toy. So, on behalf of my Session and congregation we would like to wish you a happy Christmas and we ask that you pass on your love to someone who only comes once a year and allow Jesus to enter their hearts. That is a wonderful gift.”