**Excerpts from an article in the Christian Chronicle written by its editor, Bobby Ross, Jr.**
For many members of Churches of Christ, Christmas once meant decorated trees, colorfully wrapped gifts and Santa Clauses all around — but definitely no mention of baby Jesus. Mistletoe was welcome, but mangers certainly were not, in a fellowship that marked Dec. 25 as a secular holiday but purposely never sang “Joy to the World” after about midNovember. In recent years, though, many congregations have become much more willing to reflect on the story of Jesus’ birth at a time when the world is focused on him, The Christian Chronicle found in a query of more than 100 ministers and members nationwide. “We in the Churches of Christ have long held that we have it ‘right’ according to the Bible,” said Lantz Howard, youth minister for the Bright Angel Church of Christ in Las Vegas. “Well … the Gospels do talk about the birth of Jesus. I am sure that God the father of Christ was jumping for joy on that day,” Howard added. “So we, too, can jump for joy.”
Jim Hackney, minister for the Heritage Church of Christ in Keller, Texas, said Churches of Christ “missed out on a lot” by not observing Christmas in any kind of religious way “However, over the years, we have been able to change that,” Hackney said. “Visitors come to our church on Christmas expecting to hear about the birth of Jesus. We don’t disappoint them. It’s too important to reach out in a positive way at that time.”
But some remain steadfastly opposed to connecting Christ with Christmas. Glynna Hartman, a member of the Wilshire Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, has been known to walk out of service to avoid singing “Silent Night” at Christmas after ignoring it the rest of the year. A Christian for more than 60 years, Hartman blames churches’ increasing comfort with Christmas on “secularism creeping into a congregation.” While her family exchanges holiday gifts, she refrains from calling it “Christmas. I am very careful about using God’s name and Christ’s name because I don’t want to put it in vain,” she said. E. Dean Kelly, minister for the Highland Home Church of Christ in Alabama, said he has no problem preaching about Jesus’ birth 52 weeks a year. However, if it’s in the holiday season, he’ll stress that Christmas is not a biblical holiday, he said. Instead, Kelly said he explains that Christians are told to celebrate the savior’s death, burial and resurrection with the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. “I am grieved that so many are being drawn into thinking like and imitating the denominational world around us,” Kelly said. “It is a fact that we are not told to celebrate the birth of Jesus, though it is a very important fact of Scripture.” But he said, “To keep a holiday as a civil and personal holiday is not unscriptural nor sinful — unless we cause ourselves to offend our conscience.
-Scott Wright
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