I think one of my favorite gatherings of the year at our church is our Christmas Eve candlelight service (in spite of the challenges I chronicled yesterday with coming up with fresh message ideas). We have the perfect venue for a traditional service like that, with the real candles everyone gets to light at the end and finish the service with the lights off, singing Silent Night.
Each year I remember similar services growing up. The church we attended in Florida wasn't quite as picturesque and historic as my current church, but we did have a candlelight service. That one was at 11 p.m. and ended at midnight with everyone singing Silent Night, but then they finished by singing "Happy Birthday Dear Jesus". Ugh! What a way to break the mood. Apparently, I was the only one who really hated it - or at least the only one who complained. The nice thing about being the service planner is that I can make sure that never happens at our church!
It was kind of fun when I was a kid being up that late, but we were used to later nights in Florida. It seems like everything winds down earlier here. Maybe it's the weather. Here, I can't imagine getting ready to head out into the cold for an 11 p.m. service! I expect I'll be fast asleep tonight by that point.
What's your favorite Christmas tradition?
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