During the holiday season, we all have traditions that make this time special. I am at St. James Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, to talk about a few of my favorite parts of Christmas while taking you on a church tour. We are first stopping in the lobby where the nativity scene is. Then head over to the Chrismon tree, which I will further explain, the advent wreath, and finally, the stained glass.
Nativity Scene
Today, we’re going to talk a little bit about Christmas. My book is more about the Shroud of Turin, which is more representative of the resurrection. But certainly with Christmas coming, I thought it would make sense to talk about a couple of symbols of Christmas. I’ve got a creche here, the nativity scene. And a couple of things are interesting. First of all, we don’t have the Christ child. Well, it’s not Christmas yet so he isn’t here yet. So one of the pastors had a tradition where they would hide the Christ child from the nativity, anywhere around the house, and every day and every weekend, and every Sunday, they would hide it in a different place. Until of course Christmas morning, when Christ is born, and he’s placed in the middle.
The Chrismon Tree
Behind me is what’s called a Christmon tree. And different from a traditional, more festive Christmas tree that you’d find at home where you might have red, green and blue and lights as well as silver and other decorative things, here is a Christmon tree. What we have are just white lights. Now the other thing that’s interesting about a Christmon tree is a Christmon tree is found in a church and in the church. Then on the Christmon tree, you’re going to be a handful of Christmons, the Christmons are symbols of Christ. So here we have then a traditional cross a, an X Cross, we have a star, we have a dove, we have his fingers, and we have a bunch of other things including somewhere on here as well. I hope you find that interesting.
The Advent Wreath
The Advent wreath represents the coming of Jesus, and so that we prepare for his second coming. Now slightly different from the backstory on the shroud, which is about the resurrection, but certainly Christ’s birth is also important. The wreath has several very symbolic components to it. First of all the evergreens. Evergreens means eternity and then God’s eternal love for us. And then there’s the four candles with the Christ candle in the middle. The four candles depending upon your tradition represent hope, peace, joy, and love. And each one of those is lit for each of the Sundays. For the four Sundays in Advent, the colors differ as well. We are using blue here in St. James United Methodist Church in Atlanta. We’re using blue for the first three and then red for the last one.
Stained Glass
One of the things that really makes this church special are the stained glass windows. Behind me is probably one of what I believe is one of the most symbolic images that you’ll see from the resurrection. And that is the three empty crosses. Now, technically, that probably never happened. Most likely, the crosses were taken down, and then the bodies were removed from them. They were not removed, while the crosses were still standing. Nevertheless, you can see the three empty crosses that symbolism behind that incredibly powerful image in the Bible. And then of course, the rising of the sun, which symbolizes the light that Jesus Christ brought to us when He died on the cross.
Find Out More
Thank you for reading. This was Guy Powell with the Backstory on the Shroud of Turin. You can find me on at guypowell.com or on YouTube and on TikTok and other social media channels.
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