WS Chronicle

CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT

Christmas is on Sunday this year. That has posed a bit of a special challenge for pastors. Do you have church service on Sunday, when Christmas is considered a family holiday?

Churches in Winston-Salem are handling Christmas Day various ways this year.

Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, 4129 Northampton Drive, is having one service at 10 a.m. on Christmas Day for one hour. The Rev. Dr. Nathan Scovens, senior pastor of Galilee, says the idea is to allow members to spend time with their families while also keeping a Sunday service. Many other churches are having earlier services on Christmas, also.

Praise Assembly Church Ministries, 3254 Kernersville Road, will hold a Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m., but will not have a service on Christmas Day.

Some churches, such as St. James Missionary Baptist Church, 3606 Ogburn Ave., will hold a regular service on Christmas Day.

Churches usually have special programs earlier before Christmas, but Emmanuel Baptist Church, 1075 Shalimar Dr., is having a sacred Christmas and Candlelight Service at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 23.

The calendar this year also has put New Year’s Day on Sunday. Many churches have Watch Night services the night before New Year’s to usher in the new year in church.

Some churches, like Galilee, are having an earlier Watch Night service, at 6 p.m. on Dec. 31, to allow members to get some rest before the one church service on New Year’s Day at 10 a.m.