Christmas Eve is December 24, and is frequently celebrated in an evening service. It often includes “lessons and carols” and sometimes a story that conveys the spirit of Christmas. Some Unitarian Universalist congregations include a candle-lighting ritual in the service, in which the church lights are dimmed and people pass a flame from candle to candle until everyone is holding a lit candle.
Unlike many Christian faiths, Unitarian Universalists rarely hold special services on Christmas Day, December 25.
Faith Without Borders
For everything there is a season—a time to die and a time to be born. With the arrival of winter’s low dark sky, communities around the world look to the miracle of light as a sign of rebirth and a source of hope. We celebrate the promise of new life and recommit ourselves to the protection of everyone’s right to his or her own radiant humanity.
Celebrating the winter holidays, thus, is an excellent opportunity for Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations to express their commitment to our Sixth Principle: We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. See Sixth Principle Resources for winter holidays.
From Tapestry of Faith Curricula
Unitarian Universalist Perspectives
- In “Ghosts of Unitarian Christmas” Doug Muder updates Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Instead of visiting Ebenezer Scrooge, the three ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future visit Ben, a crotchety UU.
- Other UU World Articles on Christmas
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Make sure, both at Christmastime and in other times, that you ask for that which you really want.Homily | By Megan Foley | December 1, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Abundance, Advent, Belief, Children, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Discernment, Generosity, Humanism, Listening, Meaning, Secular, WorshipWeb, Worship -
With a single generous gesture from my older child, her sister's belief in Santa stayed intact that year.Reflection | By Karen G. Johnston | December 4, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Family, Generations, Generosity, Parents, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Tradition -
Leader 1: This is a special night – Christmas Eve, the night before we celebrate the birth of a Jewish leader whose life and words have changed the minds and hearts of many to the side of goodness, generosity and caring. Leader 2: In honor of that birth, tonight we tell the story of a man whose...Script | By Tess Baumberger, Cindy Clarenbach | January 25, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Compassion, Conscience, Dignity, Generosity, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarianism -
It was December. I was in a new school in a new place and there were new teachers and new classmates. And we were living in a new house too. Also there was no snow in Florida. That was a lot of new things at once. I didn’t like it. At least I had my bicycle—it was my old bicycle so it wasn’t...Story | By Orlanda R Brugnola | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Children, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Direct Experience, Generosity, Home, Joy, Parents -
We are five days away from what is has come to be traditionally celebrated as the birth of Jesus of Nazareth....Sermon | By David A Miller | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 6th Principle (World Community), Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Generosity, Grace, New Child, Revelation, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism
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Advent, adventus, means waiting. And the holiday season is nothing if not waiting—to get done the chores; to find the right gift; to find time for quiet moments; to accept that our loved ones will not be as we wish them to be....Chalice Lighting | By David Breeden | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Advent, Christianity, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Forgiveness, Generosity, Hope, Justice, Love, Patience, Peace, Strength, Winter, Wisdom -
Not gold, nor myrrh, nor even frankincense would I have for you this season, but simple gifts, the ones that are hardest to find, the ones that are perfect, even for those who have everything (if such there be). I would (if I could) have for you the gift of courage, the strength to face the...Meditation | By Maureen Killoran | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Acceptance, Challenge, Christmas Eve / Christmas, Community, Connections, Courage, Generosity, Hope, Presence, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Simplicity, Strength, Winter Solstice / Yule
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When I was a child, the day after Thanksgiving was steeped in ritual. Every year my family would travel to Chicago for the holiday festivities. Our tour was always the same: We'd tromp up and down Michigan Ave., admiring store windows with animated mechanical dolls that served as actors for the...Meditation | By Kaaren Solveig Anderson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Christmas Eve / Christmas, Generosity, Humility, Service