Christmas is a time to reflect upon God’s love and what He has done for us through the gift of His Son, Jesus. Break away from the hustle and bustle of your to-do list and take some time to reflect upon the true meaning of Christmas. Area churches have services both on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Many have candlelight services, some are family-friendly and others are more traditional. There is also a Christmas Eve midnight Mass at San Marco Catholic and a 2 p.m. Christmas Day service in German at Marco Lutheran.

The church lady invited all area churches to share a little something about their Christmas Eve and Christmas service plans. Below is a compilation of the responses received, in alphabetical order by denomination.

Baptist

The Christmas message series at First Baptist this year is entitled “Simply Believe” and focuses on what it means to have “Faith Like a Child.”

“Children have something that adults often don’t have, and that is the faith to believe the impossible,” said Associate Pastor Ben Sprankle. “Christmas is about believing the impossible: a virgin birth, angels, wise men, the Son of God being born as a baby in a stable. This Christmas, we will celebrate the wonder of Christ’s birth and will choose to simply believe, with faith like a child.”

First Baptist will host a 7 p.m. Christmas Eve service. There will be special music and a Christmas message, followed by congregational singing by candlelight.

Catholic

San Marco Catholic Church: “The central theme of every Christmas is the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the mystery of the Incarnation,” said Hilda Brosky, chairperson of San Marco Catholic Church’s Liturgy Committee “How awesome that God would take on the substance we are made of, truly become one with us so that we might be saved. It is both humbling and exciting.”

The Christmas schedule for San Marco Catholic Church features three Masses on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The services on Christmas Eve are as follows: 3:45 p.m., with the children’s choir; 5:30 p.m., with a vocal trio, violin, organ and piano; and midnight, with the adult choir. There will be a 30-minute concert of carols, a piano organ duet and sung Proclamation of the Birth of Christ before the midnight Mass. The celebrant will then process in with the infant Jesus at the beginning of Mass. On Christmas day, there will be services at 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., with choir, organ and trumpet.

New this year at San Marco is an outdoor crèche, built by Mike Minozzi. “We have not had one before. We do such a wonderful job decorating inside the church, but the liturgy committee felt we needed to bring some of that joy to the outside world,” said Brosky.

St. Finbarr Catholic Community: There will be a 4:30 p.m. Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve. The Mass will include the blessing of the Christmas manger. There will also be an 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Mass of Proclamation of the Birth of Christ. “The Message will center on: the Word made flesh in splendor with the Father and dwells among us as heaven joins the earth in exchange of gifts,” said Fr. Fritz Ligonde, St. Finbarr’s administrator.

Church of God

The combined New Life Community Church and Marco Community Church, now known as the New Life Community Church of God, celebrated their first worship service together on Christmas Eve 2008. This year they will host a 7:30 p.m. family-friendly Christmas Eve service that will feature scripture, carols, special music, a short message and communion. “Christmas to me is always going to be red and green,” said Pastor Thomas McCulley, of New Life. “The red is the color of Christ’s blood and green the color of the resurrection. Red means stop and pay attention and green is get up and go in God’s will.”

Congregational

The United Church of Marco Island will have an. 8 p.m. traditional candlelight Christmas Eve service with choral selections and carols. There will be brass quartet prelude at 7:45 p.m. The message shared by Pastor Richard Adair is entitled: “Name that Baby.” “The theme of the evening is the age-old theme of Emanuel, God with us, the word becoming flesh and the human side of God in his effort to get closer to his creation,” said Adair. “We invite all to share with us this day and celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” The evening’s offering will be divided between Harry Chapin Food Bank and the Marco Island Clergy Benevolence Ministry, which, under the direction of the Oasis Center, provides assistance for those in need on Marco.

Episcopal

St. Marks Episcopal Church will host services on both Christmas Eve and Christmas. There will be a 4 p.m. Holy Eucharist Family Service with a Christmas Pageant and a 10 p.m. Festival Holy Eucharist Candlelight Service, with choral prelude and carol singing. On Christmas Day there will be a 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist Service.

“Your life, my life, our lives together finds purpose as we value each other, for God is with us,” said Fr. Kyle Bennett, Rector of St. Mark’s. “Your worth, my worth, our worth together, finds meaning in our love for each other, for God is with us. The Prince of Peace loves us. The Wonderful Counselor guides us. Emmanuel has come to us to abide in us, not because of what we do or don’t do, not because of what we have or don’t have. The Son of God is born to us because God desires to love all of us. The season of Christmas is our expression of gratitude and love for God’s most amazing gift to all of us.”

Independent Christian

Capri Christian Church will have a 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. multimedia Christmas Eve service. Carolers will lead traditional carols. The services will conclude with candle lighting.

“Christmas isn’t about us or the presents under a tree,” said Capri Christian’s associate pastor of music and worship. “It’s about the presence of God. He came from heaven to a manger, from a manger to a cross, from a cross to the grave and from a grave back to heaven. This was His gift, paid in full, to us. Christmas is all about a celebration of the salvation that has come into the world, Jesus Christ.”

Lutheran

Marco Lutheran Church will host two Christmas Eve services and two Christmas Day services. The 5 p.m. Christmas Eve service entitled, “A Starry Night,” is for children and families. The service features multimedia, costumed carolers and shepherds and puppets, to be held in the church’s great room. A candlelight pathway will lead worshipers to an outdoor time of fellowship. The message for the 8 p.m. Christmas Eve service with Holy Communion and candlelight is “Visions in the Night Proclaim the Savior.”

The message for the 10 a.m. Christmas Day service with communion is: “Dreams of Christmas.” The 2 p.m. service will be in German, led by Pastor Harold Popp.

Pastor Kevin A. Koenig, of Marco Lutheran, said, “As we focus on the dreams of Christmas, we recognize that our dreams and hopes are only fulfilled in God’s great gift of a Savior. Our deepening relationship with our Lord moves us to focus on dreams and hopes on this: that all humanity may live in harmony and peace.”

Methodist

Wesley United Methodist Church Christmas will have two Christmas Eve services. The 5:30 p.m. service is geared for families with children. Children who attended Christmas vacation Bible school will share the songs they have learned. The 7:30 p.m. will feature Christmas carols and candle lighting.

“Our focus this year and every year at Christmas is on missions,” said Kathy Lord, worship chairman at Wesley United Methodist Church. “All money collected at the March to the Manger on Dec. 13 is designated to go to missions – Grace Place, St. Matthew’s House and Give Ye Them to Eat.”

Members of the congregation work with children at Grace Place, a neighborhood, faith-based, community center in the heart of Golden Gate City. The church also collects food for the center. Members also go once a month to St. Matthew’s House to cook and serve a meal. Give Ye Them to Eat combats hunger in rural Mexico by supplying agricultural commodities.

Presbyterian

Marco Presbyterian Church will host a 5 p.m. “Lessons and Hymns Under the Chrismon Tree” Christmas Eve service. There will be traditional carols, candle lighting, special music and a presentation by the handbell choir. Marco Presbyterian’s Pastor, Bill Lyle, will share “Eight Lessons of Christmas.”

“Christmas time for many is a time of year they dread,” said Lyle. “It can be a dizzying blur of shopping, cards, malls, family and travel, where the only spiritual experience you have is praying for a parking spot. At Marco Presbyterian Church, the hope we have at Christmas time can be found in the imitation of the love of Jesus Christ. This has become the rule of Christmas for us. The hope of Christmas can be found in 2 Corinthians 5:21 ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’”

Blessings to you and yours as you reflect upon the true meaning of Christmas. Please send your service time updates to worship@rstuttle.com – Kathleen.

Kathleen Tuttle, a Marco Island resident since 1987, has written articles for various nonprofits for more than 25 years. She is a community volunteer, former science teacher and microbiologist.

Naples Daily News
Naples Sun Times
The Banner

Collier Citizen
Vista Semanal
PrepZone

Coastalbeat
Set Anchor
SWFLMoms