Christmas Eve Scheduling

When I was in seminary, a very wise mentor told me, “Never mess with Christmas Eve, Teri. Your folks will be ok with changes in just about any other area of worship, but there’s something about Christmas Eve that’s baked into their souls.” He later qualified his advice to say that the part not to change was to be sure to include “Silent Night” and candlelight. That’s because most of Christmas Eve is about a feeling, not what’s actually said.

We’ve been collecting data on our Christmas Eve services and schedules for the past two years, and looking at data for years prior to that. We want to maximize our resources and make certain we are providing the best Christmas Eve worship experience for the most people we can, while making the best use of our resources. We polled our Church Council, our choir, and selected other members of the congregation.

Data shows the noon communion service remains popular, and is the service that is growing in popularity and attendance. In contrast, our lowest attended service – by far – is the 11pm service, and very few of our own congregants attend this service. Many do not like being out that late. For the past two years, we’ve designated the 7:30pm service as the family-friendly service, and our children and youth have taken the lead in that service.

This year – after much input, discernment, and prayer – we’ve decided to discontinue the 11pm service. We'll keep the noon communion service in the Chapel, although if it continues to grow, we may need to re-evaluate its venue in the future. And our 7:30pm service will become our “Lessons & Carols” format with a brief meditation included, as previously used at the 11pm service. We intend to include the youth and children in this service as we can.

This new approach also will allow us to revive a prior High Street tradition: the extended pre-service offering of music. We’ll engage our very talented musicians from within our congregation to provide music from approximately 6:45-7:15pm prior to the 7:30pm service beginning. We’re excited about the possibilities here. There will also still be a time of fellowship and refreshments following the 7:30pm service in Parish Hall.

We did not make this decision lightly, but we’re excited about the possibilities that open up with the new approach. We hope you’ll come to one of the two services, and invite family and friends to come with you. Each of the two services will include “Silent Night” and candlelight. After all, we know better than to change that!