STORY - "One Perfect Day "


When Rev Maree Armstrong's mother died in May 2000, her father, not surprisingly, found the approach of the Christmas season difficult. “He felt that he needed to be jolly, and he wasn't.”

Maree, who is the rector of Belmont North Anglican parish, began to think differently about the Advent-Christmas season, wondering “Why doesn't the church recognise that it can be a very difficult day?”

Those who had lost loved ones during the year were obvious candidates for rethinking the festive season, but Rev Maree soon realised that there were many for whom Christmas was unlikely to fulfil the litany of promises delivered by department stores, sitcoms and the media generally. People whose relationships have ended, those with financial difficulties, people who are lonely or unwell, can all face Christmas with apprehension.
For Rev Maree, listening to young mothers anticipating the relief when Christmas was over was a clarion call to act.

On several occasions since Advent 2000, Maree has responded to this situation by leading a special service during the week before Christmas. She realised that it was meeting a real need when she was overseas on pilgrimage last Advent and the service didn't happen.

“You can't preach out of context, you have to be in the context as Jesus was.” Rev Maree used to prepare her sermons in the shopping centre, because that's where people are. However, she now finds that too many people approach her to talk, which she enjoys, but the task remains unfinished!

Those who have attended a funeral at the church during the year are encouraged to come to the pre-Christmas service. Even if they are not members of the community, Rev Maree finds that it's a natural progression for them to return to the church.

Another dimension of “Christmas present” is the expectation that large numbers of relatives and friends will be visited ‘on the day'. Those with young families can find themselves skittering from place to place, visiting ‘yours' and ‘mine', becoming increasingly frazzled. Yet Christmas Day is supposed to be “this perfect day”.
Rev Maree feels that this is all a far cry from “this miraculous birth into a grotty old stable”, welcomed by Magi whose gifts heralded his death as well as his greatness. “We've sanitised it all, and as Christians we have to challenge commercialism as well.”

The opportunity to step back from it all, to reflect quietly and to prepare spiritually as well as materially is appreciated by the North Belmont congregation. Each year the service differs, using word, symbol and colour to highlight tidings of great joy: “A saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” As Rev Maree says, “Without Christmas, there is no Easter, no resurrection.”

Tracey Edstein

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