Children's Christmas pageant poll

[TrixieB]

If your church has a children's Christmas pageant, when is it held?

 

 

 

 

[SKL]

Ours is two Sundays before Christmas.

[Melinda in VT]

During the morning service of the last Sunday before the school vacation starts. That is sometimes the same as the Sunday before Christmas, but this year it was not.

[Farrar]

Usually two Sundays before, though we haven't been attending of late...

[MrsMommy]

Ours is the early evening service on Christmas Eve. I hate it. I really wish they would have it on a Wednesday night during an Advent service, or a Sunday evening instead. It's too much pressure for Christmas Eve, and it hardly feels like we get a chance to worship.

[twoxcell]

Our church didn't have a pageant but they did have the kids sing some carols at the beginning of the church service that was on the 15th. ;)

[Garga]

I don't like the pageants. Our church has an early service and a later service on Sunday morning. They do the pageant at both services. I wish they would do the pageant at just the later service. Then there's the option not to go to the pageant if you don't want to.

 

I guess I'm just mean like that. I find the pageants painfully boring. Maybe it's because they NEVER do the traditional story. It's always some bizarre play they bought with lame jokes and an iffy plot. Then again, if they did the nativity story every single year that would get old, too.

 

Guess I'm an old Christmas Pageant Scrooge.

[Ali in OR]

Usually the third Sunday of Advent, sometimes 2nd.

[TrixieB]

I don't like the pageants. Our church has an early service and a later service on Sunday morning. They do the pageant at both services. I wish they would do the pageant at just the later service. Then there's the option not to go to the pageant if you don't want to.

 

I guess I'm just mean like that. I find the pageants painfully boring. Maybe it's because they NEVER do the traditional story. It's always some bizarre play they bought with lame jokes and an iffy plot. Then again, if they did the nativity story every single year that would get old, too.

 

Guess I'm an old Christmas Pageant Scrooge.

 

One year the pageant director decided to do a scaled-down version of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."  I thought it was great, but the majority of the parishioners apparently didn't agree, because it was never done again and the pageant director was replaced the next year.

 

:(

 

[KrissiK]

We had our Children's Christmas program on the Third Sunday of Advent during the morning worship service. I would say "pageant" is a little too strong a word for what we did. We only have 13 kids, and of those 5 are really old enough to do something. Our "pageant" consisted of 4 songs and Scripture reading for the older kids. The little ones in the nursery (ages 3 and under) "sang" Away in a Manger and "quoted" an excerpt from "in Bleak Midwinter" by Christina Rossetti. It all went very well for the amount of kids we have in our church.

[forty-two]

Ours is the third Sunday in Advent, at the Sat evening service.

[poppy]

Two weeks before.

[AK_Mom4]

We used to do it the second week of Advent, during each of the main services. But it was awkward and interfered with the music planned for the season. And it got complicated.

 

Now we do it at the 4:30pm Childrens service on Christmas Eve. Much better timing and that service is built around the kids, so everyone is happy.

 

I'm off to dres small children in Sheep Suits. Oh how cute!

[cjzimmer1]

Ours is done on Sunday (both morning and night services) in the middle of December.  So two Sundays before Christmas.

[musicianmom]

Whichever Sunday falls between Dec. 11-17. Special afternoon program followed by church Christmas party.

[Crimson Wife]

Current parish doesn't have one (I think the reason is it's too big and the logistics would be a nightmare).

 

Our old parish had one during the early Christmas Eve service.

 

The town where I grew up had one sponsored by the ecumenical council of the 3 big churches in town. It was held towards the beginning of December in conjunction with the town Christmas tree lighting. IIRC it was a Sunday evening.

[Cosmos]

Christmas Eve in the afternoon. This year it was at 4:30. It is a no-rehearsal Christmas pageant, and participation is open to anyone who wants to join. There are plenty of animal costumes so that everyone who wants to can be in it. Very low-key and fun. We like it.

[SKL]

I don't like the pageants. Our church has an early service and a later service on Sunday morning. They do the pageant at both services. I wish they would do the pageant at just the later service. Then there's the option not to go to the pageant if you don't want to.

 

I guess I'm just mean like that. I find the pageants painfully boring. Maybe it's because they NEVER do the traditional story. It's always some bizarre play they bought with lame jokes and an iffy plot. Then again, if they did the nativity story every single year that would get old, too.

 

Guess I'm an old Christmas Pageant Scrooge.

 

No, I'm with you.  I don't go for all those jazzed-up modernized plays.  This year all the songs started out sounding like a familiar carol and then morphed into something weird.  Like, "Fa la la la la, Falafel House!"  It is painful.  ;)  I would love to just hear the kids sing actual carols.

 

I have to sit through it to support my kids, though.  Only six more years....

 

[Kathryn]

Ours was on the 7th in the evening. Our church does a Christmas concert/party early in December, the night after a member who is a business owner throws her holiday party in the church hall. She pays for and does all the decorating for her party, and then the church uses it the next night.

[catz]

Christmas eve 4 and 5:30 pm. Other services are held later.