Time flies. I still remember vividly the moment of queuing for nearly an hour in the cold air of Beijing for a carol service last Christmas Eve. Now, it is Christmas Eve again. Completely different from last year's bustling atmosphere, I spent a "quiet" Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year across two century-old churches in a beautiful city in the southern region.
The city is a "new first-tier" city, and its GDP ranks the highest for prefecture-level cities in China. Protestantism has a long history here, spanning over 170 years. The two century-old churches I visited are both located in the old town center, only two kilometers apart.
At 6:30 PM on the 24th, I arrived at the first century-old church. It is located right next to a thriving pedestrian street. Just two or three hundred meters away, the street was lively. I heard guitar music drifted out of themed restaurants. There was a person dressed as a clown beating an African drum to attract customers into an accessory shop. Various snacks like skewered chicken, grilled squid, and pastries vied for the attention of passersby. Out of dozens of shops on the entire street, only two or three featured any Christmas decorations.
Compared to the eye-catching commercial displays on the street, the church's facade was quiet, with only a few scattered pedestrians passing by. The two security guards on duty at the entrance appeared quite relaxed.
The evening program was set to begin at 7:00 PM, and I arrived half an hour earlier. Upon entering the main hall, I was surprised to find it wasn't full. I took a seat in the front row, and there were still empty seats next to me. Even when the event started, the second-floor main hall and the third-floor side hall, which together can accommodate five or six hundred people, were still not at capacity. Seeing this, I couldn't help thinking that this Christmas Eve is truly quiet.
Apart from the small turnout, there was another kind of "quietness" during the event: a ban on photos. A sign was placed in front of the pulpit stating that photos were not allowed. The congregation followed this conscientiously, remaining quiet throughout.
This sense of discipline seemed to be a shared consensus among local churches this year. On the afternoon of the 25th, at another newly built church, which is only ten years old, the same rule applied. Four or five staff members held "No Photos" signs and watched the congregation throughout the carol service. If they saw someone taking a photo or video, they immediately stepped forward to stop them.
In previous years, even if photos were prohibited during regular Sunday services, they were usually allowed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so that congregants could capture those wonderful moments.
Yet, it was precisely this absence of screens that allowed the congregation to immerse themselves more deeply in the live proceedings. The ninety-minute Christmas Eve service consisted of three parts: performances by the middle-aged and senior choir, a sermon by the pastor, and a performance by the youth choir.
It was a blend of traditional and modern hymns like "A Child is Born to Us," "Gloria," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "The Night You Were Born," and "Christmas Eve, I Miss You So Much" that recreated the night of Jesus' birth and offered worship to the incarnate newborn King. The pastor's sermon explained the meaning of Christmas: Jesus is the light of the world, and those who receive Him become children of light. Our hope and security lie in Jesus.
During their performance, the youth choir had three short "sacred dramas" as part of it. The first play tells the story of a young man struggling away from home who is fired due to poor performance and subsequently evicted by his landlord for unpaid rent. In his helplessness, someone introduces him to the Gospel. The second features a woman in a relationship who suddenly receives a call from her boyfriend's mother, telling her that he has ended the relationship and is engaged to someone else. As she weeps, someone introduces her to Jesus. The third play told of the tragic circumstances of a divorced woman who wants to give a gift to her child—who was under the custody of her ex-husband—and was coldly rejected. In her heartbreak, someone tells her that God can comfort and heal her wounded soul.
The emotional performances on stage moved many in the congregation to tears. After each play ended, the youth choir sang a themed hymn. At the end, the three once-lost characters stood on stage together to share the "Good News": they had found healing in Jesus Christ, gained strength, and rediscovered hope in life.
The entire service ended at 8:30 PM. Near the end, church coworkers quietly and quickly distributed a packaged "Peace Apple" (a Christmas tradition in China, translator's note) to everyone in their seats. After the pastor's benediction, everyone left the church in a quiet and orderly manner.
At 9:00 AM on the 25th, I went to the other century-old church in the old district. This service was even quieter. The first four or five rows of pews in the main hall had been pushed back (likely to make space for performances the night before), making them unusable. About a hundred people were scattered throughout the hall, the vast majority of whom were elderly. When the congregation sang together, the volume was low. The Evergreen Choir, composed of aged believers, sang "Joy to the World," but the sound was somber and failed to convey an atmosphere of "joy." During the sermon, the congregation was silent, with some listening intently and some nodding off. The atmosphere of the entire gathering felt somewhat suppressed.
The pastor was a woman in her forties. Her voice was soft, yet her message was powerful. She spoke on the core theme of Christmas: "Glory and Peace." She pointed out that God's presence is man's glory. With whom does God dwell? Is it with the capable, the well-behaved, or those with theological accomplishment? She told everyone: no. If you are willing to be a bearer of God's glory, even if you are like the despised shepherds of old, you can still be used by God. After discussing glory, she spoke of the "peace" that is so scarce today. She stated clearly that the foundation of peace does not lie in a stable environment, material abundance, or smooth success, but in a restored relationship with the God who loves us, finding an eternal reliance. She concluded by encouraging everyone to follow the example of the shepherds: to pass on God's grace through the witness of their true faith and give all glory to Him.
The Christmas Day service lasted one hour. Near the end, a coworker announced that all Christmas activities had concluded, and no events were scheduled for the afternoon or evening.
After experiencing the quiet of low attendance and the quiet of "no photos," I experienced a third kind of quiet during the Christmas Day service: my anxious and lost heart finally found quietness within the Word of God.
Originally published by the Gospel Times
- Translated by Charlie Li
