Episcopalians Invented Christmas?
By The Rev. Donald Lowery
Do you ever wonder how the modern Christmas celebration became so commercialized? When did gift giving and the frantic shopping that precedes it come to overshadow the worshipful celebration of the Lord Jesus’ birth? In fact, the shopping has so over shadowed the real reason for Christmas, people sometimes tell me they are skipping Christmas services to rest up from shopping!
You may be surprised, but we have only ourselves, or rather, three of our spiritual and cultural ancestors to blame for the evolution of Christmas into the extravaganza it is today. Cultural (and Christmas) icons Charles Dickens, Washington Irving and Clement Moore: All were Anglican or Episcopalian. Charles Dickens was a member of the Church of England. Washington Irving was a member and vestryman of Christ Church, Tarrytown, New York. Clement Moore was not only the son of the Rt. Reverend Benjamin Moore, bishop of New York, but he was professor of Oriental and Greek literature, as well as divinity and biblical learning, at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City. In fact, Clement Moore donated the land in Manhattan on which the seminary still stands.
Christmas amongst English-speaking folks had fallen on hard times during the conflicts related to the Reformation in England. After they won the English Civil War and judicially murdered William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and King Charles I, Puritans were in power and subsequently outlawed Christmas celebrations. Christmas was restored when Charles II came to the throne, but celebrations were much lower key. Even before the troubles, Christmas as a time for parties and gift giving tended to be confined to the nobility and royal family. Ordinary folks went to church on Christmas Day (Christmas Eve was considered too Roman Catholic for a worship service), gave a few simple gifts if they could afford them and had as nice a meal as their means permitted. On some estates, the lord of the manor gave a feast for the tenants, but this was far from universal. Many folks took the day as an excuse to drink to excess, to the annoyance of both Anglican parson and Puritan-leaning preacher.
In America, the New England Puritans continued to forbid the celebration of Christmas as a time prone to idolatry and excess. In the South, members of the Church of England (which became the Episcopal Church after the Revolution) celebrated the holy day with joy. Gifts were spare, but the feasts were plentiful, and as you may well guess, we were not afraid to lift a cup o’cheer with that meal.
Dickens, Irving and Moore studied history and were enthralled with what they viewed as the best of Christmas before the Puritans got hold of it. They were also influenced by their knowledge of how the Germans and Dutch had reformed the church while retaining a more joyful approach to Christmas, as it was German and Dutch colonists who brought to America traditions like Sinter Klaus (Santa Claus) and Christmas trees. The trio believed Christmas was a time for children, a time when they should experience the festival as a celebration of the mystery of Christ’s birth, and a time to receive gifts as a remembrance of the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ himself. A joyful day for children should also be a day of generosity to the poor, a lesson Dickens in particular drove home.
The numerous Christmas books by Dickens and Irving (for both wrote more than one) and Moore’s poem, “’Twas the Night before Christmas,” were immediate best-sellers. The notion of Christmas as a joyful celebration gained rapid traction throughout the English-speaking world. New England pastors of Puritan leanings began to hold Christmas services “because our people are defecting to the Episcopalians at Christmas.” Episcopalians rediscovered midnight services on Christmas Eve and packed their churches. Merchants discovered a growing interest in the purchase of Christmas presents by their clientele. Mix all that together, and our Victorian forbears set us on the path to what Christmas is today.
Can the spiritual dimension of the festival be saved? Of course it can. Keep a holy Advent. In the midst of shopping, attending parties and all the other busy activity, take time to pray. Set aside part of your Christmas money to assist folks in need, for this fills the heart of our Lord with great joy. Plan to attend one of the Christmas services in your local church. When you are in a store or mall filled with tinsel, remember, even in the most secular of settings, these temporal decorations honor our eternal Lord even if unconsciously, for they would not be put up but for the celebration of his birth. Most of all, remember Charles Dickens’ advice at the end of A Christmas Carol and keep Christmas in your heart every day of the year. A joyful heart is a grateful heart, a grateful heart is generous heart, and generosity in the support of church and charity is most pleasing to the Lord whose birth we celebrate each year.
