Christmas tradition: Churches welcome once-a-year churchgoers

Christmas is a time for beloved once-a-year traditions like hanging stockings, drinking eggnog, and for an increasing number of Canadians, going to church.

The number of Canadians who claimed to have no religious faith increased by eight per cent to 24 per cent of the population between 2001 and 2011, according to Statistics Canada.

Three church leaders joined Laura Lynch on CBC Radio One's On The Coast to discuss what it's like to see new faces in the pews during Christmas.

Reverend Fran Dearman is with the North Shore Unitarian Church, Reverend Mark Jones is with the Faith Vancouver Presbyterian Church and Rector Peter Elliot is with the Christ Church Cathedral Catholic Church in Vancouver.

What do you think people who attend only once each year are looking for in a Christmas service?

Dearman: I don't keep track. I figure people are where they need to be. And if they need to be on the links or playing soccer on a Sunday morning, that's where they need to be. And if they want to come to our church, we're there.

We're welcome and we offer the same welcome throughout the year. And at Christmas, when things can get a bit crazy, we try to remember we could use a little quiet time. Our choirs prepare beautiful music, our service committees prepare services that we think will be meaningful and calming and restful, and if it's a face I only see once a year, I'm glad to see them. I don't entice people.

In my church especially, we welcome all people, no matter what race you are, or ethnicity, religion. We're Unitarians. The holy have wide arms. And we put a great big rainbow flag where people can see it as they come in and know, if this is where you need to be, you are welcomed here.

How does having so many fresh faces in the pews change the mass for you?

Elliot: I've been at Christ Church now for 21 years, and it's really interesting who comes at Christmas. There's people who — it's a once a year tradition. The most interesting thing for me is the number of people for whom it's been a spiritual awakening. I've lost count of the number of people who say, I went to mass on Christmas Eve, and it was like I came home again, and something started in me that night that led me a whole other way.

So for us, this is an opportunity for us to open our arms wide with welcome and say thank you for coming, thank you for making the church part of your Christmas tradition. We're going to tell you the story that the bible tells and invite you into a deeper relationship with God.

What do you do in your Christmas service to convince people they should show up to church more than just once each year?

Jones: It's very simple for us really. We believe that the eternal son of God took on flesh, which is what Christmas is all about, the incarnation. He didn't just come to Earth, but when he came to Earth he was ill-treated even though he treated everyone perfectly; he was scorned ridiculed and mocked and ultimately crucified for our sins and died for our sins and rose again.

We think it's a very simple message: That if he could give us such a gift; if he could leave heaven to come to earth to be treated the way he was, how can we not only just give our Sundays to worship him, but how could we not give our lives to worship him. All sorts of people come by to hear the word. Many do [come back].

What's your approach to communicating with people that you'd like to see them again and not just that once on Christmas Eve of Christmas Day?

Dearman: I don't actually worry about it too much. I do the best I can with what I've got. My people do the best they can with what they've got. We are one of four Unitarian churches and we love interfaith. I am really glad that someone who would not be comfortable at my church would be comfortable at Mark's church, or Peter's, and they will find something meaningful there.

But I think we share one thought and that is, when the fuss of Christmas is over, and the bells stop jingling, and the Visas already been worked out, the work of Christmas goes on.

How challenging is it to get people in the church doors, when so many people identify as atheist and agnostic?

Elliot: What's interesting to me is, the folks who do come, are actually looking for a deeper engagement. At Christmas time, we need to tell the core story, give the core message and with a wide a welcome as we can do and say, listen, we do this every Sunday. You don't have to wait once a year. The music is happening. The message is happening. The community is happening.

In a digital world, a lot of us are plugged into our own insular worlds. Our cell phones, our email, our Facebook and Twitter. It becomes a very individual experience. What church provides, and I think it's a great value in society, is the experience in community — that we believe together.

Jones: Our church has been growing very quickly. It really, has very little to do with me. It's part of a community where we believe that we have a message that is worth hearing and that's not my message, it's ultimately the message of the gospel of forgiveness of sins and of eternal life, being in the presence of Jesus Christ. Once that reality grips people, it becomes all embracing for their life and that's really something they don't want to give up.

We try not to do anything too special during Christmas. We just try to stay consistent throughout the year and not to put any gimmicks on for people. I think they want to know we're the real thing throughout the whole year. I think our success, at least, has been in trying to be the church every day, every week, every month and letting God then, bless that work himself.

To listen to the full audio, click the link labelled: Church leaders on attendance numbers during Christmas.