Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1904-12-22

TT HERE IS no sunday scnOOI DuI
should have and does have its
Christmas celebration. 1t is not
a question, then, of Shall we cele-
brate?" but How shall we celebrate? 2"
Christmas comes but once a year, but
when it comes, it does not always
bring good cheer to the Sunday school
superintendent and his helpers, who
along in the fall after the trials of pic
mic time have passed, become haunted
by this question which comes up and
must be settled. 1t is an important
question. The matter should not be
carelessly considered. Those having
the arrangements in charge should not
forget that something more essential
than sweetmeats and gifts, and a jolly
good time, with Santa Claus and Christ
mas tree, to make the celebration an
abiding JOY and blessed memory. The
Christmas celebration should not be
the end in itself, but should be the
means to the end of honoring the
Christ, in memory of whose birth the
celebration is held. 1t is so easy in the
burden and rush Of planning for the
event-the greatest event in the whole
year for the Sunday school-to forget
the spirit and purpose which should lie
behind the preparations, and give in
spiration and direction to all the plans.
1t is the birthday party of the Christ
child, if you please, and He should not
be forgotten all thought and all plans
should center about Him. l know of
service few weeks previous tc Christ
was formally invited Jesus to be pres
ent at His birthday party, and asked
Him to help them in making the plans.
And Jesus was there in the person of
20 or 80 of His little ones from a neigh
boring orphanage, and the boys and
girls of at least one Sunday school real
lied the beauty and force of the words
Of Jesus: "Inasmuch as ye did it unto
one of the least of these ye did it unto
Me-" The spirit and purpose of the
celebration must not be forgotten.
But what shall the celebration be-?
There are four divisions into which
this subject naturally falls: Decora-
tions, which includes the Christmas
tree, IL one IL iStu, lliC 'ilCl
the gifts and the offerings. The deco
rations comprise a very important and
beautiful part of the celebration. They
create the atmosphere, and give the
first impressions, which go far towards
the success of what follows. Scripture
texts should be literally used, selecting
such as are appropriate to the occa-
sion. The lettering can be done in
evergreen, or gilt or colored letters
may be used. The star should be con-
spicuous. The extent of the decora-
tf&us depends. of course, largely upon
thr amount of money to be spent, but
wi a resourceful and tasty person in
charge it is surprising how far a few
dollars can be made to go. The colored
paper decorating, which can be OBJ
tanned at all Sunday school and denom-
national supply houses very cheaply,
makes a good substitute for the more
expensive evergreen and holly. If the
entertainment is held after Christmas,
it is easy to secure tree and trimmings
from those who have used them in
their homes, and in this way consid-
cradle expense may be saved The
work OF the decorations committee may
be lightened by enlisting the interest
of the individual classes and getting
a few of the Older ones to furnish some
feature of the decorations or some text
in evergreen or paper lettering. Utilize
all the latent talent and ability in your
school.
The nilities Of the entertain