This year our church is having just two Christmas services. On Christmas Eve there will be Midnight Mass at 8 pm "because of Covid". I don't know why a later time would be more dangerous. In fact (sarcasm warning) the virus is not active at night. I was told this by a paramedic. She said that during the day when they arrive at an emergency department their ambulance is cleaned while they take the patient inside. However, after dark the cleaning crews go home. So she said the virus must clock off for the night as well. Then on Christmas Day we're having the one Eucharist. On the Sunday 26th December there no services but with no explanation given. After Christmas Day there is nothing until Sunday 2nd January. The priest is having a week off. I would've thought it more appropriate to have a week off at another time of the year.
I was viewing a heated debate earlier on when it is appropriate to schedule 9 Lessons & Carols. My old parish did it on Christmas Eve prior to Midnight Mass. Another popular option is the 1st Sunday evening in Christmastide. I don't have the musical support to pull it off at the mission. It is my experience that most clergy take a holiday a week or two after Easter. There are red letter feasts 3 days straight after Christmas so that is extremely poor planning.
My parish is doing 9 Lessons and Carols on the 18th (Saturday evening) then Mass on the 19th - 4th Sunday of Advent. Then there are Masses on Christmas Eve (Friday), Christmas Day (Saturday) and on the Sunday (Boxing Day here). Then the country has two public holidays on Monday and Tuesday to replace Christmas and Boxing Day public holidays falling on the weekend. Our next Mass is on Sunday 2nd January. For an aging community in a regional area, I think we are doing really well. And oh yeah, on the 12th (tomorrow) I am being received into the Anglican Communion by the Bishop at my local parish church. Then a bunch of us are going to a pub lunch afterwards. Sweet.
My parish is doing an evening mass at 8:30pm on Christmas Eve, with carols in the hours preceding it, a morning service on Saturday instead of the usual evening service, and a morning service on Boxing Day. The cathedral is doing the service of lessons and carols on the Wednesday, which some of our musically gifted parishioners are supporting, and a midnight mass on Christmas Eve (beginning at 11pm). Our church is only a 15 minute drive, and a shorter trip by train to the cathedral, so it's not uncommon that we don't run concurrent services for those sorts of things. Also a good way to get the entire city church community together and interacting at those sorts of events in one central place. Congratulations!
He probably needs a break. He probably expects numbers to be low after the two preceding services anyway. We won't be going on Sunday because our family goes to the movies on Boxing Day; our children are now in their 30's.
I once read that on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day it is better to schedule only the liturgy, i.e. Mass and Daily Office. Everything esle should be done on other days. I cannot recall where I read it or who wrote it. I thought it was good advice. Unfortunately, it was one of those things you note but fail to make a record of it. Of course, traditionally the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols has always been done by King's College, Cambridge (UK) on Christmas Eve.
I had to read that you're in Australia because that's exactly what we call the 26th in the UK and that's also what's happening here, too. I was under the impression it was only the UK that called 26th December Boxing Day and had it as a public holiday.
I'm not one of those that thinks priests only work Sundays. I know they work all week, long hours and very hard. However, in my job there are times when I cannot take time off because it is busy. I would have thought this would apply to priests. After all Christmas traditionally has an octave extending celebration of the feast over eight days. I think he should be around for that even if the number of people going to church may be low. I would almost certainly have gone some days because I shall be off work. I don't understand why you prioritise going to the cinema over going to church. You could do both. Church services are usually in the morning and cinemas are usually only open in the evening or if earlier in the afternoon. I won't be venturing near a cinema at the moment with the fact this Pandemic seems to be nowhere near coming to an end.
It's a wonder the secular folks don't call Dec. 25th "Unboxing Day," since so many people simply think Christmas is about the gifts they'll be unboxing and playing with...
The reception into the church went beautifully yesterday. Afterwards, about 16 people from the parish went for a pub lunch. The Bishop came as well and it was lovely to chat with him, and with so many really nice people. My brother and his wife came to the service, as well as my sister, even though none of them are religious - they just wanted to support me. My brother really loved the Bishop's sermon on St John the Baptist, and my sister said it was so much better than the Roman Catholic Masses I used to attend because she didn't feel bored at all or think the time was dragging. That's interesting to me because the Masses seem so similar. But perhaps it's because we do sing a lot more hymns, which kind of breaks things up a bit. I don't know. but I'm glad they enjoyed themselves. And yes, we do have Boxing Day here in Australia - traditionally the day for opening presents, but that doesn't happen - we all open presents on Christmas Day and just use Boxing Day as a day of rest! And if Christmas and Boxing Day fall on a weekend, the public holiday for these days is moved to the first weekdays instead. Australia loves her public holidays, even if a lot of the country isn't religious. After all, we have a public holiday for the Melbourne Cup (here in Victoria at least) and another one for the Footy Grand Final. Not many countries have public holidays for sporting events, do they? So now I am a full member of the Anglican Church. And very happy about it too.
Only Victoria. Other states don't get a day off for either the Grand Final or the Melbourne Cup. Victoria is also special in that Golden Plains gets 2 municipal holidays, whereas other municipalities only have 1 or no extra holidays. So depending on where you live you get between 13-15 public holidays in VIC, whilst Queensland only has 11, unless you're unlucky enough to live in a town without a show and then you get 10 public holidays.
Ah, yes, I forgot about the shows. In seems every town has their own agricultural show. When I lived in a small rural town, even they had their annual show and it seems most of them either hold them on the weekends or have the day off. when I was younger, I used to love going to the Royal Melbourne Show. Nowadays I try to avoid crowds, but I still think the shows are great ideas. When I lived in WA or NSW, we didn't have the Melbourne Cup as a day off, but everyone did stop what they were doing for the race, and watched it on TV somewhere.
Welcome to the Anglican Church! I can't recall exactly how Boxing Day got its name but it was never the traditional day for opening presents. In fact a lot of the secular traditions around Christmas are based on Northern European customs. Their custom are to distribute and open gifts on Christmas Eve. I know you have more public holidays than us. Mind you, I think most countries do. My brother lives in Victoria and I believe you even have a public holiday for, I think, the Queen's birthday. We don't even have that!
What kind of musical support is necessary to pull this off? Is it a matter of not having adequate music for your singers/musicians, or of not having enough of them to make it a worthwhile endeavor?
It would be good to have enough of a choir to pull off all 4 parts of the harmonies. Also a pianist or organist. A flute or clarinet is an elegant touch. Maybe hand bells. I've got a banjo, harmonica, and Jew's harp. And 3 singers, one of which is me and my voice is deteriorating.
Three should be enough -it's only one less than a barbershop quartet! You could try asking others to join just to fill in the sound. That's how they roped me into the choir. I am no great shakes as a singer, but I can hold a tune well enough to blend in with others. We have about 10 in our choir and most of us are quite average singers. But we do have a couple who can harmonise and make things sound nicer. We have a pianist who plays for us, and that's enough to make a pleasant sound - if nothing particularly special.