From the Pastor’s Desk:

The earliest record of the observing of the birth of Christ on December 25, is 180 A. D. in Egypt. For the first 200 years after the birth of Jesus Christ, there was little interest about when he was born. There was no one around taking notes as to the exact date that Jesus was born. The references to the birth of Jesus being celebrated on December 25th appeared in Antioch in the middle of the 2nd century. The early church placed the most emphasis on the day people died, not on their birth. The saints were remembered on the anniversaries of their deaths, when the soul entered heaven. But by the early third century the view of birthdays began to change.

The Christians were still being persecuted by the Roman Empire and it was not until the Council of Tours in 567, that the Season of Advent as a time of special preparation and grace for the birth of Jesus was established. It was also at this time that the 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany was set as a sacred, festive season.

Most historians agree that the Western Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day to honor the birth of Jesus Christ as it was competing for followers with the popular pagan Roman god, Mithras. Once the December date was set, the church forbade any feasting or merrymaking by pagans on that day in order to disassociate Christmas from the pagan holidays.

As Christmas began to be celebrated, it was exclusively a sacred holiday. However, secular traditions refused to die and over the years Christians began exchanging gifts and celebrating during the Christmas Season. By the Middle Ages the Church gave into people and their local traditions and December 25 became the most popular holiday of the year, with religious meaning and secular traditions.

In the New England colonies the Puritans considered Christmas customs as sacrilegious since they had no basis in scripture. During the late 1600’s and for the next 350 years each wave of immigrants have brought their own unique Christmas customs to the United States. It wasn’t however until the great wave of German immigrants came in the nineteenth century that many of our major Christmas customs began to flourish on a large scale.

Let all the beauty, all the traditions from around the world, lead us to the manger and the new born Christ Child. Have a blessed and safe Christmas Season. Thank you for all your cards and gifts this Christmas Season.