Christmas

=== Church attendance ===

Christmas Day (inclusive of its [[Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations|vigil]], Christmas Eve), is a [[Liturgical calendar (Lutheran)#Festivals|Festival]] in the [[Lutheran Church]]es, a [[solemnity]] in the [[Roman Catholic Church]], and a [[Principal Feast]] of the [[Anglican Communion]]. Other Christian denominations do not rank their feast days but nevertheless place importance on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day, as with other Christian feasts like Easter, Ascension Day, and Pentecost.<ref>{{cite web |title=2018 Worship and Music Planning Calendar |url=https://gbod-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/legacy/kintera-files/worship/2018-Music-Worship-Planning-Calendar.docx |publisher=[[The United Methodist Church]]|year=2018|access-date=December 9, 2018}}</ref> As such, for Christians, attending a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day [[church service]] plays an important part in the recognition of the [[Christmastide|Christmas season]]. Christmas, along with Easter, is the period of highest annual church attendance. A 2010 survey by [[LifeWay Christian Resources]] found that six in ten Americans attend church services during this time.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Stetzer |first1=Ed |title=What Is Church Attendance Like During Christmastime? New Data From LifeWay Research |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/december/what-is-church-attendance-like-during-christmastime-new-dat.html |magazine=[[Christianity Today]] |date=December 14, 2015 |access-date=December 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129024022/http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/december/what-is-church-attendance-like-during-christmastime-new-dat.html |archive-date=January 29, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the Church of England reported an estimated attendance of 2.5{{nbsp}}million people at Christmas services in 2015.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/british-families-only-attend-church-at-christmas-new-figures-sug/ | title=British families only attend church at Christmas, new figures suggest | first=John | last=Bingham | date=October 27, 2016 | work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | access-date=December 24, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227191442/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/british-families-only-attend-church-at-christmas-new-figures-sug/ | archive-date=December 27, 2017 | url-status=live }}</ref>