I would be willing to bet that the most attended Christmas services are candlelight services. There is something special about services that involve both darkness and light. In terms of theological imagery, this works well with lots of passages in the Gospel of John. “The people who dwell in darkness have seen a great light.” Especially in winter, ‘when the winter wind moans’ (well at least in most places), vesper services including candlelight services are in order, and if properly advertised should be well attended. In the British tradition evensong is often the most well attended service, week after week. No reason this couldn’t be true in the U.S. as well, especially if one offers such a service on Saturday night rather than Sunday night.
One of the main reasons to do evening services is the ‘sense of the numinous’. Various survey shows that in a post-modern age, people, especially young people are looking for more mystery, and indeed more liturgy in the worship service. Think on these things.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In