Christian churches in Umatilla County are working on their Christmas programming and trying to keep the congregation attending once the season ends.
The Rev. Charlotte Wells, rector at Church of the Redeemer, an Episcopalian congregation in Pendleton, is scheduling a service on Christmas Day at 10 a.m.
“We do that because there’s a lot of people who don’t want to come out at night, so this is their opportunity to come during the day,” she said.
Wells said her church has plenty of events for Christmas Eve, Dec. 24.
“We will finish up the Advent season at 9 a.m., which is our normal Sunday service,” Wells said. “Then we will have the children’s pageant at 4 p.m., a Christmas carol singalong at 9:30 p.m., and then a midnight Mass beginning at 11 p.m. until just after midnight.”
For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, Wells said she will speak about what life was like during the time of Jesus.
“There was no peace in Israel at that time as a nation occupied by the Roman soldiers,” she said.
Wells spoke about efforts to keep the congregation coming back once the Christmas season ends.
Pendleton Church of God will have a Christmas service Dec. 24 at 9:30 a.m., according to Ashley Platz, church coordinator.
“The children will be performing songs on a separate Sunday for us that they’ve been preparing for the last few weeks,” she said.
She said the church’s lead pastor, Luke Britt, refers to church holiday attendees as CEOs, standing for “Christmas, Easter and other special occasions.”
She said several congregations in Pendleton and Pilot Rock are sponsoring a living Nativity program Saturday, Dec. 16, 6-9 p.m. at Roy Raley Park, Pendleton.
“We will have eight or nine different scenes from Jesus’ birth, crucifixion and resurrection to share the story of the Gospel,” Platz said. “We will also have warm drinks and homemade cookies to hand out.”
Betty Little, office manager at Pendleton Free Methodist Church, said her congregation will host a Christmas Eve service at 5 p.m. to include congregational singing, telling the Christmas story and candle lighting.
Pendleton Seventh-day Adventist Church held its Christmas youth program Dec. 1, but on Dec. 23, there is a Christmas service at 11 a.m.
Hermiston Christian Center holds a service Christmas Eve at 9 a.m., followed by a pair of candlelight services at 4 and 6 p.m.
Rev. Daniel Maxwell of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Hermiston said his church’s congregation is 75% Latino and will hold Mass on Christmas Eve at 9 a.m. in English and 11 a.m. in Spanish, as well as a 4 p.m. family Mass in English with a short play by children, a 9 p.m. family Mass in Spanish and a midnight Mass in English. On Christmas Day there will be a 9 a.m. Mass in English and an 11 a.m. Mass in Spanish.
First United Methodist Church in Hermiston will have a Christmas Eve service in English at 10:30 a.m.; a Spanish service at 3:30 p.m.; and a 6 p.m. service in English of lessons and carols, “and we’re going to end it with lighting candles,” said the Rev. Patty Nance.
Church attendees may remember Nance from the Methodist Church in Pendleton.
“Even if people choose not to attend a church service, if they would in some way, light a candle for peace in the world on Christmas Eve, whether it’s in their home, whether they’re camped,” Nance said, “just to try to carry that whole love of our neighbors that Jesus taught us to carry into the world. I mean, what would it be like if there were 500 candles burning in Hermiston on Christmas Eve, just in search of peace?”
