A12 THE FREE PRESS RELIGION DECEMBER 15, 1994 *!■** Christ Is present: There’s been no fight over having Christian symbols In the city. This nativity scene is set up outside of Prince George City Hall, rob b«on/free press Taking Christ out of Christmas Church leaders bemoan commercialization of season By DAVID HEYMAN Prince George Free Press In our multicultural society, finding out what Christmas means depends on whom you talk to and several of Prince George’s Christian leaders say the true meaning has been lost amongst the piles of wrapping paper and price tags. Pastor Michael Mawhorter of the Central Fellowship Baptist Church says Christmas time is just too materialistic. “I think it’s kind of a sad commentary that so many retailers depend on the Christmas season for their very survival. I know from my observations that this is an extremely stressful time for people.” Pastor Mawhorter says the commercialization of Christmas just makes things more difficult for people. “That puts a lot of pressure on them financially and it just makes it a harder act to follow every year. There’s a lot of loneliness around Christmas time.” But he sees some good in the Christmas industry. “1 think the giving of gifts is excellent. We’re celebrating the fact that God gave humanity his son. The whole theme around Christmas is giving. I don’t think it needs to be quite as extensive as it seems to be but it’s certainly good if they’re giving to others.” Nelson Rajotte, minister at the Knox United Church, points out the roots of Christmas are based in pagan times. “Historically, the Christian church picked up on a pagan festival. It was the winter solstice that they decided to incorporate or take control of in a way. We have no historical knowledge of when exactly Christ was bom. In some ways, we incorporated a pagan holiday and tried to give it some Christian significance. “For Christians, we see that whole festival inundated with commercialism or with secular celebration and it has really little religious significance. It’s become almost a festival of consumption, really.” Rev. Rajotte says there’s nothing really that can be done about reversing the trend away from a religious observation of Christmas. “I don’t uIt panders, it heightens the selfishness of people and I see that hurting in the long run... it probably hurts because people get so wrapped up in shopping. ” Jim Heinbuch want to sound too dismal here but in some ways 1 think...church-going Christians are almost a minority in Canada, so maybe we’ll almost become a little minority which will keep up certain practices and rituals which we feel have Christian importance and the jolly old secular world will just go its own way. “I don’t think we can say that the Christian church is going to have this front and central position it might have had in our grandparents time when everybody went to church and the church was very central in people’s lives.” Reverend Jim Heinbuch of the Zion Lutheran Church says the religious aspect of Christmas has been a Canadian tradition. “For us, the purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. The commercialization, if we try to keep Christ in the middle of it, is not so bad but the commercialization can get so overwhelming at times that it kind of mutes the whole Christian message and that’s disappointing from our perspective.” Rev. Heinbuch also says the Christian part of Christmas is not as strong as it was, and he’s not sure it ever will be. “The Christian voice seems to be getting overwhelmed by other voices because of our pluralistic society. I would hope the Christianity part of Christmas would be maintained but as we become more of a multicultural society I’m not sure it will be.” He also says there is very little good in the commercial aspect of Christmas. “It panders, it heightens the selfishness of people and I see that hurting in the long run. The stores are happy that this is the biggest retail part of the year, but in order to do that they have to, in a sense, heighten the discontent that what we have is not good enough. Economically, I know the stores probably need it but I think in the long run it probably hurts because people get so wrapped up in the shopping.” The Roman Catholic bishop of Prince George, Gerald Wiesner, says “Christmas is a time for giving, but I believe there are abuses. 1 think it’s important that we used this time to provide for those who are in real need. From the Christian perspective, it’s important to realize that everything we have ultimately comes from God. It’s time for us to be grateful and to share with others.” Bishop Wiesner is matter of fact about the commercialization of this Christian holy day. “That does happen but...it’s important that there be ways and means that we remind one another of the real importance, the real significance of Christmas. But there will be people that don’t recognize the true meaning of Christmas. 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