It is another month of celebration of the birth of founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ.
Every year, billions of people, Christians around the world celebrate Christmas marking the end of year and by extension the beginning of another year.
However, in spite of Christmas being one of the most popular holidays worldwide, it is gathered that not all Christians and churches celebrate it.
It is also discovered that there is other religious organizations that do not celebrate Christmas, purely because of their belief system.
Here is a list of 6 churches that do not celebrate Christmas:
1. Jehovah’s Witness
It is on record that Jehovah’s Witnesses were among the largest organisations who desist from celebrating Christmas.
Just like other Christian groups, it was gathered Jehovah’s witnesses were celebrating the festival until 1928.
According to the 1993 book Jehovah’s Witnesses “Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, revealed that Christmas had its origins in “false religious beliefs or activities.” With this discovery the Witnesses eventually stop celebrating Christmas.
WITHIN NIGERIA findings showed that at first, they were celebrating Christmas but later they changed their minds. The change wasn’t consistent because many members needed some time to fully adopt the new change especially because other holidays, including Christmas, hadn’t been carefully explained.
Their argument was based on the fact that the Bible would have specifically addressed it if its observance were significant. With this, totally stopped the celebration.
2. Seventh Day Adventist Church
Another church that has nothing to do with Christmas celebration is Seventh Day Adventist Church.Findings by WITHIN NIGERIA showed that this church practices worship on Saturdays which is the Jewish Sabbath, rather than Sundays.
For this reason, just like Jehovah’s Witnesses, does not celebrate Christmas. According to their belief explained in one of their brochures published recently, they said that Jesus wasn’t born in December and that Christians are not instructed to commemorate His birth in the Bible.
However, they see it as a festival that has its root in paganism, and so not worthy of celebration.
Though, some members of the religious group quietly celebrate Christmas and Easter with friends or family, the church views these festivities as a matter of personal preference. They openly urge followers to take more of their spiritual needs rather than physical needs.
3. Deeper Life Bible Church
Few years ago, the leader of Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, openly announced that his church does not celebrate Christmas with both his congregation and the general world.
According to Pastor Kumuyi, Christmas celebration has an idolatory connotation.
In his words during December 2013 retreat “We don’t celebrate Christmas. In actuality, it had an idolatrous origin.”
Explaining further, he said that since Christmas songs and other holiday customs are not biblical, and so, should not be celebrated by the church members.
Deeper Life Bible Church also believed that “Christmas had its roots in a pagan celebration of the sun god. Deeper Life holds an event called Freedom Day in October to honor Jesus’ birth anniversary rather than Christmas.”
4. The God’s Kingdom Society (GKS)
It has become an open secret that The God’s Kingdom Society (GKS) commemorates the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ in October.
They openly oppose the celebration of birth of Jesus Christ in December, arguing vigorously that it is in October.
They celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in October with an event called Freedom Day, whereas other Christians celebrate Christmas in December.
GKS avoids the December celebration because of its pagan roots and feels that this date is better consistent with historical and biblical interpretation.
According to the church, Christmas is a custom that has its roots in Roman pagan customs like the celebration of Saturnalia, which paid homage to the sun deity.
Though founded in 1934 by St. Gideon Meriodere Urhobo who broke away from Jehovah’s witnesses, the aim of the church was to restore what Urhobo considered to be authentic Christian practices.
Urhobo, who lived from 1903 to 1952, aimed to lead his followers toward a more Biblically accurate faith, and the GKS’s teachings reflect this goal.
5.Religious Society of Friends
Another church that does not celebrate Christmas is religious group called the Religious Society of Friends.
They are also known as Quakers.
According to this church, it’s members believe that “every day is a holy day,” so there is no need to single out just one day to celebrate.
More so, they believe that they should not celebrate Christmas because some Quakers are trying to go back to the ways of early Christianity.
Some years ago, Chris Pifer a spokesman for the Friends General Conference, said that, “There’s an effort within aspects of Quaker practice to try and explore and find primitive Christianity, the church before it became a political entity.
“In very early Christianity, there weren’t holidays like Christmas anywhere close to the form it is today.”
However, according to some findings, 52% of the group around the world can be Africa. Kenya reportedly has the largest number of Quakers in this continent.
6. Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM)
For members of Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM) Christmas does not exist.
The church which was founded by Dr. Daniel Olukoya, Christmas is not celebrated because it is believed to have pagan origins and lack a biblical basis.
However, in 2019, Dr. Olukoya made it public that the church rejects Christmas since it is not grounded in Christian theology but rather in pagan customs and the Roman celebration of Saturnalia.
According to findings by WITHIN NIGERIA, the “Power Must Change Hands” ceremony, which MFM organizes every year in place of Christmas, welcomes the New Year with a focus on deliverance, prayer, and spiritual combat.
With this ceremony, the church places more value to holiness, biblical purity, and spiritual preparedness than cultural celebrations like Christmas.
This position corroborates with the church’s broader focus on spiritual warfare and separating oneself from behaviors that are thought to go against biblical principles.
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