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WAVENEY ANN MOOREChurch attendance spikes at Christmas, but local clergy won't scold those who don't make regular appearances.
ST. PETERSBURG - Christmas Christians, the fleeting faithful who attend church on Christmas and Easter no matter what, will fill pews and aisles to standing room only tonight and tomorrow.
Some churches even schedule extra services to handle the holy day overflow. Ministers see it happening year after year and mostly don't mind.
Though she doesn't want to sound too harsh, the Rev. Tracy Hunter of Lakewood United Methodist Church said showing up for Christmas services is something some people do "almost like another holiday party."
But, like other clergy, Hunter doesn't care why they're there.
"I believe it's also God's grace at work. They might not know exactly why they're coming, but I think very seriously that there are folks on Christmas Eve that I may not see until Easter," said Hunter, whose church at 5995 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S will hold a Christmas Eve service at 7 tonight.
Some churches take a different tack and schedule no services at all on Christmas Eve or Christmas.
But most do have worship on those days. And members of the clergy acknowledge that many who show up for Christmas Eve candlelight services and midnight Mass might not have set foot in a church since Easter, the Christian faith's last major festival.
Not to worry, they say. They won't scold. Christmas, after all, is a joyous festival and a perfect occasion for evangelization. It's a time to remind those long absent from community worship of God's love and also to welcome them back into the fold.
Since Christmas is a special time for family gatherings, even those who rarely attend church usually want to express this feeling of togetherness by worshiping with their loved ones, said the Rev. J. Phillip Miller-Evans.
Christmas "continues to be a high holy day," he said, and a time when "people who may have difficulty with the institution of the church express their belief in God, even if that is not something they find in their every day life."
Miller-Evans, who is pastor of the American Baptist Church of the Beatitudes, 2812 Eighth St. N, added, "I think that Christmas and Easter are days when denominational differences are not very high. It's the foundational parts of faith and so you can go to any place and experience the good news."
Timed to coincide with the Christmas season, on Sunday American Baptist held the dedication ceremony of Karina Davis, daughter of members Frank and Corry Davis.
"The Christmas story really ends with Simeon, who is there when the Christ child is brought to the temple to be dedicated," Miller-Evans said.
"We continue to bring the children to the church to dedicate them to the Lord."
American Baptist also will hold a Christmas Eve candlelight service tonight at 7, after which members will gather outside to sing Christmas carols.
"Our neighbors come out onto their front porch and listen," Miller-Evans said.
But not all churches feel the need to hold services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. At Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, 955 20th St. S, Christmas worship took place Sunday morning, followed by a special afternoon service featuring performances by the congregation's young people.
The Rev. Louis Murphy wanted to leave Christmas Eve free for families.
"It's a wonderful time for families to be together, cooking, preparing things, and normally, I think our attendance would have been low anyway. I think most people would be doing last-minute shopping, like myself," Murphy said.
Higher church attendance at this time of year is an indication of people's conviction that there is a God, Murphy said.
"They believe in the God of Christianity, the creator of all things, the God that sent his son, Jesus, into the world," he said.
Casual churchgoers might not feel convinced that they should attend services every Sunday, but, he said, "believe they need to come and show respect" at Christmas and Easter.
Murphy said his role is to be a "watchman" for his faith.
"In this society, we don't focus on the savior, but on Santa," he said.
"Rudolph is great. I hope he gets his nose. Frosty the Snowman is cool, but what about the nativity scene? My message is about Jesus, that he is about love and we have to share that love and that doesn't mean that we have to buy something on credit and spend all year paying for it."
While Mount Zion and some other churches have not scheduled services for tonight or Christmas Day, many denominations regard Christmas as a special feast day that requires both church attendance and Holy Communion.
At St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 2101 22nd Ave. S, a 5 p.m. service with a children's pageant will be followed later by midnight Mass. A 10 a.m. Mass is scheduled for Christmas Day.
The Rev. Timothy Sherwood, St. Joseph's new pastor, said Christmas is a time when people who "still have some roots in their religious faith" choose to attend Mass.
"I really look at this as an opportunity to welcome them back," he said.
"You don't want them to come once or twice a year and scold them. You want to give them a positive experience. Of course, Christmas and Easter are very joyous times."
Mary Jo Murphy, spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, said many churches hold extra Masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to accommodate overflow crowds. Services are held simultaneously in parish halls and other areas of the church property to ease bulging sanctuaries, she said.
"I think that it is important that they hear that God loves us," said Hunter of Lakewood United Methodist. "And that God is with us in the manger and especially in our lives and that on Christmas Eve and Easter, if that's the only time that I and the congregation have to connect with folks, my prayer is that . . . they leave feeling different and they feel that God was present."