When Christmas falls on a Weekday.........

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adelore

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When Christmas falls on a Weekday, why is it that Protestant Churchs don’t have a “Christmas Service”? on Dec. 25th. Most of them have their Christmas Service the Sunday before, Dec. 25, if it happens to fall on a weekday.

The Catholic Church has a Mass on Christmas (no matter what day of the week, Dec. 25th falls on.) and we even have a “Mid-night Mass.”

I"m just wondering as it makes no sense to me why Protestant Churchs do this. After all “Jesus” is the reason for Churchs today. So I would think, the day of our Lords birth, would be a “Special Day” for Protestant Churchs as well to hold a “Christmas Service.”

This posting is not to cause a heated debate, but rather, does it really even make sense to you, why it’s not done?

Thank You for your answers ahead of time.
 
adelore said:
When Christmas falls on a Weekday, why is it that Protestant Churchs don’t have a “Christmas Service”? on Dec. 25th. Most of them have their Christmas Service the Sunday before, Dec. 25, if it happens to fall on a weekday.

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do you know for a fact that they don’t? IME most of them do have a Christmas service, at least Christmas eve, so why ask a global question about “all Protestant Churches” if you mean some local congregations?
 
you have to define “Protestant churches”. They aren’t all the same.
 
Your right I should say which Churchs I know of…thank you for pointing that out.

Reformed Church, Baptist, Non-Deon. Church, Church of Christ, Pentacostial.

These are churchs I attended for years, (no not all at once.) But a min. of 4 years at a time.

Hope this helps. If there are any other Protestant, or non-Catholic Churchs who don’t hold a Christmas Service, on Dec. 25, if it’s on a Weekday, could you please tell me why?
 
In my past life experience in many of those and similar groups, the feeling is that Christmas should be spent with family.

What to me was more disturbing is when Christmas falls on Sunday, many of them will cancell Sunday services :eek:
 
I grew up in the Lutheran Church, and we always had services on Christmas Eve.
 
rick43235 said:
I grew up in the Lutheran Church, and we always had services on Christmas Eve.
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The Lutheran Church tends more toward the traditional practices - back in the evangelical world, Lutheran - Episcopal - Presbyterian - Methodist - they were all known as “high churches”.
 
adelore said:
quote:
When Christmas falls on a Weekday, why is it that Protestant Churchs don’t have a “Christmas Service”? on Dec. 25th. Most of them have their Christmas Service the Sunday before, Dec. 25, if it happens to fall on a weekday.
I"m just wondering as it makes no sense to me why Protestant Churchs do this. After all “Jesus” is the reason for Churchs today. So I would think, the day of our Lords birth, would be a “Special Day” for Protestant Churchs as well to hold a “Christmas Service.”

Quote:
Hello aselore, I have lived in a State located in the so called Bible belt for about ten years. On the way to my Church I pass approximately eight different Protestant Churches.
Every year on Christmas morning I ask myself the same question. 'Why are all the parking lots emty at these Protestant Churches? It never occurred to me that they would celebrate the Baby Jesus birthday:) on some other day. Carlan–:
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I never knew that. I’m astonished. I guess that’s because my Protestant friends are from the “high churches”. I think they have a candle night service on Christmas Eve and a morning service too.

One Protestant relative wouldn’t think of missing the televised Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican.

I’m reminded of a man and woman who married and had three kids. About 10 years into the marriage, the wife became a Jehovah’s Witness. Husband was Protestant and celebrated Christmas. The marriage was heading for divorce. Main reason was her religion. She defended herself saying she doesn’t stop the family from celebrating any of the holidays or their birthdays. She just stayed upstairs in her room the whole day.
I can’t even imagine that stress on her husband and kids.
 
I am also reminded of several relatives and friends (variously Methodist, Salvation Army, Baptist, Episcopalian and Congregational) who would not dream of missing Midnight Mass at a local Catholic parish or cathedral, saying it just seems more like Christmas to them–whether it is the choir, the gloria, the incense, the proclamation of the gospel or whatever, it is just part of their personal Christmas tradition.
 
I recall a couple of years ago Christmas fell on Sunday. Several local communities [probably non-denominational] canceled their Sunday services so people could spend the day with their families. They regarded that as the significant feature of the day.
 
Most protestant churches that I’m aware of have a Christmas Eve service, and if Christmas falls on a Sunday, have a Sunday service also. I know my church follows this practice (Presbyterian). Like one of the above posters, I also always watch the mid-night Mass from the Vatican every year. Whether you worship Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, you’re still celebrating the birth of our Lord…Roanoker
 
I would be very careful about lumping all non-Catholic and non-Orthodox into the same group, “Protestants.” Lutherans and Anglicans are nowhere near the same as non-denoms. Lutherans and Anglicans are much closer to Catholic than many Catholics realize, and the non-denoms have become so far removed from any concept of Sacred Tradition that they really don’t belong being called Protestant at all.
 
MusicMan said:
I would be very careful about lumping all non-Catholic and non-Orthodox into the same group, “Protestants.” Lutherans and Anglicans are nowhere near the same as non-denoms. Lutherans and Anglicans are much closer to Catholic than many Catholics realize, and the non-denoms have become so far removed from any concept of Sacred Tradition that they really don’t belong being called Protestant at all.
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Somewhere I read that it takes a Catholic to invent a really good heresy. The further you get into the branches the poorer the theology. 😉
 
MusicMan said:
I would be very careful about lumping all non-Catholic and non-Orthodox into the same group, “Protestants.” Lutherans and Anglicans are nowhere near the same as non-denoms. Lutherans and Anglicans are much closer to Catholic than many Catholics realize, and the non-denoms have become so far removed from any concept of Sacred Tradition that they really don’t belong being called Protestant at all.
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You are very right, it was an error on my part. In posting number 2 and 3 it was brought to my attention, my reply in posting number 4, I tried to correct that. So I listed the Protestant “type” Churchs that I had attended for years. I then changed it to Non-Catholic Churchs. My intention is not to “Group” all Non-Catholic Churchs into this lump…truely my question is towards Any Church, Not Catholic, who does not have “Christmas Service” on Dec. 25, if it falls on a “weekday”.

So the question is Why not, to any non-catholic churchs.

My thought: Since Jesus is our Savior and Lord, and we celibrate his birthday on Dec. 25, doesn’t it make sense that All “Churchs” would have a Church Service on his birthday, no matter what “Day” of the week it is?

And yet as others have pointed out many Churchs will cancel or not have a service on this very special day, if it’s on a weekday.

To me something is very wrong with that picture. After all Every “Christian type Church” the reason for the Church is because of Jesus.

This is one thing that lead me back to the Catholic Church…after a few years the light blub for me when on, thinking this cant be right.
 
I cannot fathom why the evangelical megachurches do not have a Christmas service on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve.

I know that many mainline Protestant churches (Lutheran, Anglican, UCC, Methodist) may not do a Christmas Day service, rather they do a late Christmas Eve service. The evening is more important (likely coming out of the Midnight Mass tradition) than the actual day. Many of them, also, just don’t have the membership to need multiple services.

I play for an ELCA church of 300 members. Those who are coming to worship come on Christmas Eve, and there are at least 200 people packed into their tiny nave. The other hundred? They wouldn’t show if you offered them a Christmas Day service, so the pastoral needs of those who care a met at Christmas Eve.

What to do about those other hundred is another thread, and they have counterparts across all Christian denominations.
 
It saddens me that there are many Non-Catholic Churchs, out there that don’t have a Christmas Serivce on the day that our Lord was born. (of course from what I’ve learned on this thread, there are some Non-Catholic Churchs who do) but for those who don’t…my question still remains.

Doesn’t it make any of the members of that Church wonder why?

What if Easter didn’t fall on Sunday? Then would those churchs also not have an Easter Service?

I’m still baffiled at the fact there are some “Christian Churchs” out there who would not have a Christmas Serivce.
 
As I recall the Puritans forbid any celebration on Christmas. This may linger in some of the denominations that descend from them.
 
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