Pastor's Message - December 2025

~ Hope, Peace, Joy and Love~

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,

which is Christ the Lord.”

~Luke 2:11

Dear Members and Friends,

What are some Christmas traditions you recall, going back as far as you can remember? At the time of this writing, it’s still four days till Thanksgiving, so I must admit that I’m not yet smitten by the Christmas spirit. I like to savor the last lingering days of autumn, which is my all-time favorite season.

And yet, Christmas inspires comfort and gratitude for any time of year. My earliest Christmas memories go back to the 1970s, when the Snyders had an artificial Christmas tree made entirely of silver tinsel. We always waited till Christmas Eve to put it up. (Pennsylvania German tradition or simple procrastination? You tell me. In our defense, the day after Thanksgiving was not yet called “Black Friday,” nor was it the start of

the Christmas season—as it is for most people today.) You couldn’t use Christmas lights on a tinsel tree because they’d melt it and cause a housefire. Nor did we put tinsel on the tree because…that’s all the thing was. There were red bulbs, green ones, and gold ones. They wouldn’t break if you dropped them because they were made of plastic and thread. A smug-looking angel sat up top. In December, my maternal grandmother

would take us to visit Santa Claus at the Five & Dime. I saw his cottonball beard and knew he was an imposter, but a kid knows when to play along. In the churches I grew up in, there was no Advent Wreath and no services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. You sang your carols on the Sunday prior. Do you recall how hard it was for Santa-believers to fall asleep on 12/24? When the big day came, my sister would waken the

whole house well before dawn, to see what our night visitor had left us. (Santa’s generosity was less extravagant back then, never more than 3 gifts: 1 big and 2 small.) After opening presents, we went to an early dinner at the home of our grandparents in New Bethlehem, who got GI Joe action figures for my brothers and me, followed by a shorter visit to our grandparents in Oil City, who got us clip-on neckties. The rest of

Christmas Day always went like this, without exception: On the night drive home, all five of us kids would be crammed into the backseat. (Seatbelts were not even a consideration.) My siblings would be sleeping, but I stayed awake because I knew that by the time we reached Barkeyville, my parents would start singing. “Oh, tell me why the ivy twines…” They sounded so happy when they sang on Christmas night. It was something I wish I’d heard more often.

Now, my Advent and Christmas celebrations are more complicated but just as predictable. In late November, I adorn our worship space with rich blue paraments for Advent, and the Wreath, and those glorious banners: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love. My kids and I decorate the house on the first Sunday in Advent; the tree is always fragrant and fresh. Christmas Eve is the best service of the year. On Christmas Day, we spend too

much time in the car, driving between grandparents. My favorite Christmas of all time was during the pandemic, when the four of us just stayed home and celebrated together.

What are your favorite memories and traditions of the season? Christmas means that God is not far, but near. God is not majestic and remote, but vulnerable and present, here in our flesh, here in our lives. Happy Advent & Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Christ’s Peace,

~Brian