CRC Congregations Offer Range of Christmas Services

For several weeks, and in some cases months, Christian Reformed congregations across North America have been preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Some will be doing this in traditional ways with candlelight services and the singing of hymns, while others have set up special displays and will offer contemporary praise music with a Christmas theme.

Some churches will be packed with worshipers, while others will find that many of their members have gone to visit friends and family for the holidays.

In most services, the gospel of Luke will be read, and sermons will include angels, shepherds, and the joy of prophecy fulfilled.

Some churches will hold services on Friday, Dec. 25, while others will have done so on Sunday, Dec. 20, or on Christmas Eve, or will gather for Christmas this coming Sunday, Dec. 27.

But across the board, this is a significant time for preparing the sanctuary for worship and for Christmas worship in particular.

Here is a look at how some churches have planned for worship and how they will mark the season honoring the Child born more than 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem to bring “good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10, NRSV).

Covenant CRC, St. Catharines, Ontario

Elly Boersma, worship pastor at Covenant CRC, says she began planning in September for Advent and Christmas services.

This year they decided to hold an Advent series tying into the theme “Anticipation for Transformation,” which was based on Live Justly, a scriptural and practical study guide put together by the Micah Challenge and World Renew.

“Each week we offered various Scripture readings and looked at how creation, lives, and culture long for the transformation only Christ can bring,” said Boersma.

On Dec. 13, they held a “Covenant Family Christmas Sing-along” in which people sat around a piano in the fellowship hall and sang their holiday favorites.

The church also held a candlelight service titled “A Light in Darkness” on Dec. 20.

“We played with the themes of light and darkness, so that we started in complete darkness and, throughout the service, the light continued to grow as we anticipated the Messiah through Scripture texts and song,” she said.

Looking ahead to Christmas, she said, they plan to remove purple banners that have been hanging in their sanctuary during Advent and switch those to white and gold.

Also on that day, the sermon will focus on John 1 “and the incarnation of Christ — why Christ came and is coming again,” said Boersma.

Grace and Peace Community, Chicago

Grace and Peace Community, which meets in a community center on the northwest side of Chicago, celebrated Christmas on Sunday, Dec. 20.

A combined choir, led by worship pastor Sam Barreto performed a variety of songs in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and the youth, who were dressed in colorful costumes, danced and played instruments.

As part of their Advent and Christmas celebration, they created a special display of the manger scene, said Sandra Van Opstal, Executive Pastor.

“Our creative ministry team, led by Vanessa Ogaldez, wanted a more raw and undoctored representation of what it was like when Jesus was born — not surrounded by trees, gold stars, etc.,” she said.

“We have cloths for projecting colors, wooden pallets, lanterns with candles for light, and charcoal drawings of people who were responding to Jesus,” she said. “We have worked to create worship spaces that empower all generations to contribute.”

First CRC, Red Deer, Alberta

The architecture of First CRC in Red Deer lends itself to offering a rich and inspirational celebration of the Christmas season, said Josh Friend, associate pastor.

“We have a very sharp peak in our sanctuary. When standing on the floor, the cathedral ceilings of finished wood are about 60 feet above your head,” he said.

Garlands and lights are strung throughout the sanctuary from front to back; the Fellowship Hall is filled with Christmas trees and Christmas scenes.

“On our platform in the sanctuary, where the pulpit, baptismal font, and communion table usually are, the decoration is really a dual scene,” he said.

One half of the platform is decorated by a nine-foot-tall Christmas tree, which is strung with lights and surrounded by poinsettias, a wing-back chair, and a small fireplace.

This is where people read Advent poems during the lighting of the Advent candles, which are placed in the middle of the platform, splitting the two scenes.

The other scene is of a small stable, featuring a hand-made manger and antique farm elements.

Friend says their services have many moving parts; they have a chancel choir and a praise band that may change every week. First CRC also has a robust drama ministry.

“Our Christmas Eve service is well attended and usually has many guests. This is one service which we craft to be a representation of who we are as a church,” said Friend.

“Our choir sings, our praise band plays familiar songs in a fun way, and our drama group takes us through the whole story of Advent.”

Christ Church, Davis, Calif.

Christ Church in Davis, Calif., which meets on Sunday afternoons in a Jewish synagogue, will hold its Christmas service on Dec. 27, said worship arts director Philip Majorins.

They also are having a Christmas Eve "Lessons and Carols" service.

“We started planning these services a few weeks ago and will be using a wide array of Christmas music . . . with a specific focus on the actual arrival of the Incarnation and the light that will grow even more — for the whole world! — as we move toward Epiphany,” said Majorins.

Light, glory, and freedom from fear will be emphasized in the services.

“Having spent time in the Old Testament Prophets over Advent, our pastor will emphasize the fulfillment of God's plan and our ongoing place in the context of God's story,” he said.

All Nations CRC, Halifax, Nova Scotia

The Christmas service at All Nations CRC will offer many similarities to previous years, since there is comfort and joy in familiarity at this time of year, said Pastor Dave Vroege.

Singing the same songs and offering a liturgy that is similar to the previous year works for different reasons, he said.

“The fact that it's Christmas is change enough from other Sundays, and also the Christmas liturgy Scriptures, songs, and themes are rich enough to repeat from year to year,” said Vroege.

Despite the similarities, Christmas has a different flavor at his church because some regular members and worship leaders are away to visit friends and family.

At the same time, he said, this is when those who are in town appreciate being there for each other as part of a Christian community.

“Many of us don't have family in this city or area, so we are family for each other,” said Vroege.

“Also, there are those in our church community who are not well off economically or in their health, and would not celebrate Christmas without us all supporting each other.”