When Christmas and the first night of Hanukkah fall on the same day, the growing number of interfaith families who observe both holidays face an unusual challenge. We visited the Miller family in Takoma Park, Maryland, to find out how they’re handling this “December dilemma.” More →

December 23, 2005

by David E. Anderson Christmas, more than any other holiday in the Christian calendar, seems to spark the poetic impulse — an impulse that began, as the Episcopal priest, professor, and poet Chad Walsh (1914-1991) remarked some years ago, with … More →

December 23, 2005

A new report says this year Americans gave record amounts of private charitable donations. Another report says Americans donated nearly $3 billion to post-hurricane relief efforts. Yet nearly four months after Hurricane Katrina, the magnitude of the destruction is still difficult to comprehend. In the midst of it, many people here say the themes of Christmas are echoing in new and poignant ways.
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December 16, 2005

Since 1918, every Christmas Eve in England hundreds of people wait for hours in cold temperatures outside King’s College Chapel at the University of Cambridge for a coveted seat at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. The millions of listeners around the world who tune in via short wave, FM and the Internet, unable to reach Cambridge’s 16th-century vaulted church or unwilling to risk frostbite, can now follow the annual radio broadcast with a new, illustrated book detailing the service. More →

December 24, 2004

Many of the best known Christmas traditions were actually adapted from pagan practices and given new Christian meanings. More →

December 19, 2003

All over the world and in almost every culture, the tradition of displaying scenes from the birth of Jesus has become a cherished part of the holiday season. There is even a group dedicated to keeping this Christmas tradition alive. More →

December 21, 2001

“The sound of boys’ voices is a very unique kind of sound, and there’s nothing like it…It can be soft and gentle…or it can be very brilliant and powerful,” says organist and choirmaster Douglas Major. More →

December 19, 1999