It’s the eve of Christmas Eve.
You probably are preparing the last bits and pieces of your Christmas menu, bustling around the grocery store, wrapping those last-minute gifts and anticipating what Americans have made into at least a two-day holiday characterized more often by catering to the commercial industry than celebrating the birth of the Messiah.
Despite the stress you may be feeling, a popular Christmas song reminds us that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” — whether you prefer inclusive holiday greetings to “Merry Christmas” or insist that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”
While there is a wide range of Baptist traditions in the United States, some of the more common observances include family feasts, exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, live nativity scenes, Christmas dramas, singing Christmas trees and candlelight services.
And as you are settling in for the festive season, Baptists around the world are doing the same.
Characterized by weeklong festivals, jolly tunes and grand feasts, Christmas celebrations around the world are not always all that different from the celebrations in the United States.
To provide Baptists in the United States with a small glimpse of their cultures, Baptist leaders in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Zimbabwe, Poland, South Korea, Italy, Russia and El Salvador took time to share about some of their festivities by answering three questions:
- What is the significance of Christmas in your society?
- In what distinctive ways do Baptists celebrate Christmas?
- What is your favorite thing about Christmas in your country?
(ABP, TAB)
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