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| Nordics like to honor Santa Lucia, a figure of light in the darkness. Her name means “Holy Light-Girl”. |
Festive solstice potluck: First off, if you want some holiday cheer but don’t want to honor the Christmas tradition, per se, you’re covered. Local “Freethought” groups, such as Humanists of Washington and Seattle Atheists, gather at the church for a “Winter Potluck”. Lots of atheists attend but think it’s weird to meet in a church.
Family holiday service: This is my favorite, where the kids do a semi-traditional Christmas pageant, with little kids dressed as sheep, wise men, and the rest. It’s not all by the book. The number of wise men expands to keep kids from getting left out. Sometimes we Unitarians are smeared as “atheists with kids,” and this event plays to that stereotype. Where else could my atheist daughter have ever played Mary?
Family candlelight service: This one’s a little more serious, taking place in the evening, with kids doing readings. Our Seattle congregation has a large number of Nordics, so we do the Santa Lucia bit, where a teen girl with candles on her head walks through the sanctuary with attendants, all in white. There’s nothing particularly universal or unitarian about this ceremony, other than that as Unitarian Universalists we can do whatever we want, and this is one of the things that we want to do.
Candlelight Christmas Eve service: This service is the most traditional of our services, for those of us who really want to get our Christmas fix. Christmas Eve services are beautiful whether you believe in anything or not, and especially if it plays into your nostalgia.
Messiah Sing- and Play-Along: For the real music lovers, there’s an event the day after Christmas where you can sing along to Handel’s Messiah, solos and everything. If you’re handy with an instrument, bring it along and play. It’s so popular that you have to buy tickets, and they always sell out.
Blue Christmas: This special Christmas service says something about how intentional we are about our church experience. This service is especially for people who are sad around the holidays, which is a lot of people. For people in grief, all the holiday cheer, Christmas carols, and kids’ events can make things worse. This quiet service is for them. What other church acknowledges how many people feel the holidays as a time of loss?
In the nineteenth-century, Unitarians and allies, such as Charles Dickens, were central in the successful campaign to transform Christmas from an adults’ drinking party to a tender-hearted, family-oriented holiday. Our congregation continues in that tradition, honoring Christmas, but taking it on our own terms. Our approach is customer-centric. There isn’t any church hierarchy telling us to do anything other than what the various people in our congregation want to do. Merry Christmas!
Family candlelight service: This one’s a little more serious, taking place in the evening, with kids doing readings. Our Seattle congregation has a large number of Nordics, so we do the Santa Lucia bit, where a teen girl with candles on her head walks through the sanctuary with attendants, all in white. There’s nothing particularly universal or unitarian about this ceremony, other than that as Unitarian Universalists we can do whatever we want, and this is one of the things that we want to do.
Candlelight Christmas Eve service: This service is the most traditional of our services, for those of us who really want to get our Christmas fix. Christmas Eve services are beautiful whether you believe in anything or not, and especially if it plays into your nostalgia.
Messiah Sing- and Play-Along: For the real music lovers, there’s an event the day after Christmas where you can sing along to Handel’s Messiah, solos and everything. If you’re handy with an instrument, bring it along and play. It’s so popular that you have to buy tickets, and they always sell out.
Blue Christmas: This special Christmas service says something about how intentional we are about our church experience. This service is especially for people who are sad around the holidays, which is a lot of people. For people in grief, all the holiday cheer, Christmas carols, and kids’ events can make things worse. This quiet service is for them. What other church acknowledges how many people feel the holidays as a time of loss?
In the nineteenth-century, Unitarians and allies, such as Charles Dickens, were central in the successful campaign to transform Christmas from an adults’ drinking party to a tender-hearted, family-oriented holiday. Our congregation continues in that tradition, honoring Christmas, but taking it on our own terms. Our approach is customer-centric. There isn’t any church hierarchy telling us to do anything other than what the various people in our congregation want to do. Merry Christmas!
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