Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511220109
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W8 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At no time during the year, four Roanoke Valley pastors agreed, is the gap between the spiritual and the commercial wider.
The centuries-old standards of the quiet church, waiting for the Christ child to come into believers' lives, seem to clash more discordantly each year with carols in the malls before Thanksgiving, enormous expenditures and a general forgetfulness of how it all began.
"The worst thing," said the Rev. Sam McPhail of Belmont United Methodist Church, "is the way Christmas affects the poor. The contrast between the haves and have nots shows up more at this time."
Of course, the Christmas spirit also comes out and imparts a warm feeling to the giver. But the very realization that the grace of God does not depend on good deeds represents a cleansing reflection, McPhail said.
The word Advent means "coming," and it refers not only to the birth of the baby Jesus but also to the mysterious "second coming" in a future age. In the three classically liturgical denominations - Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal - Advent is a fairly somber time, though not as much so as Lent, when "Christ came to us in great humility."
You may see purple or blue ribbons on the doors of these churches from Dec. 3 until Dec. 24 rather than the more familiar red. Those are the colors of reflection or majesty. In these old denominations, which take their customs from the earliest Christian period in Europe and North Africa, the festive time of Christmas doesn't begin until nearly everyone else is tired of the holiday spirit.
Christmas lasts until Jan. 6, the day, so their traditions say, that the three wise men came to see the Christ. Such tradition causes a problem for people like the Rev. Bob Smith, senior pastor of Roanoke's First Presbyterian Church.
It's become too hard to buck the trend to start celebrating as soon as the turkey from Thanksgiving is eaten, he said. At "First Pres," the Boar's Head Feaste, a big, festive celebration with food and holiday music, will be held before Advent even starts this year. In an earlier time, it might have been held after Dec. 25.
Smith said he tries hard to stay away from Christmas carols until late in Advent. The most recent Presbyterian hymnal contains more music reflecting the coming than the one used in his childhood, he said. The denomination definitely pays more attention to the season than it used to.
Is the fact that Presbyterians, like several other American Protestant groups, are paying more heed to Advent than they used to a reaction to secular commercialism? If serious church people can't stop the jingling cash registers, are they spending more pre-Christmas evenings in their churches trying to absorb some of the Holy Spirit?
The Rev. Wayne McCauley, associated with First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Salem for 13 years, said that may be true for some believers. He's inclined to think that the church today is "baptizing" the secular customs many like, something it has done since the beginning of the Christian era.
Among congregations in his denomination, the hanging of greens early in Advent often has educational value. Christian symbols such as circles, evergreens and lighted candles point to important truths and sayings of Jesus, he noted.
First Christian will have a neighborhood "journey to Bethlehem" on Dec. 17, getting as many as possible into a re-enactment.
The Rev. Andrea Cornett-Scott, of Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal, said she fully supports observance of Advent as a reflective time, with the African-American Kwanzaa in the week between Christmas and New Year's a way to celebrate joyfully.
She encourages using a Jesse Tree to connect the New Testament with the Old. Jesse trees are bare branched trees that congregation members decorate with Old Testament symbols during Advent. The trees are used to relate Jesus to Jesse, the father of David.
Cornett-Scottand also is trying to discourage carols early in December.
At Ebenezer, evening Advent worship with the expectancy theme is giving several neighborhood congregations a chance to get together to promote both racial and denominational understanding, she said.
by CNB