Christmas Day is one of those days when the Church is at its best as we sing familiar carols and hymns, greet old friends, share in the most wonderful meal, laugh, celebrate and praise. It’s a real party atmosphere – it won’t just be at the Minster in York.
Estimates suggest that 15 million of us will be in Church on Christmas Day, but that’s just in England. Across the world billions of people will come together across the globe for the world’s biggest annual party day, all sharing in the joy of the birth of the Christ child.
When you hear about church-going in the media it’s often associated with words like “decline” and it’s true that compared to 50 years ago there are fewer people to be found in Churches across the United Kingdom on Christmas Day. But the Church is still the biggest weekly gathering there is in our country. Church-going across all churches in our country outstrips combined attendance at football matches week in, week out ”“ and we don’t even get a supplement on Monday with all the best bits from the weekend!