The Christmas Trees

Today, the Christmas tree is the center of many festivities. Glittering with lights and ornaments, it is a part of the beauty and meaning of Christmas. There are several legends and stories about the Christmas tree.

The first use of the Christmas tree was in the medieval German Paradise Plays, held outdoors and portraying the creation of humankind. The tree of Life was a fir tree decorated with apples. Later, other ornaments were hung upon them, such as paper flowers and gilded nuts. In England, branches or whole trees were forced to bloom indoors for Christmas. From these beginnings the use of a tree at Christmas was established. Martin Luther was perhaps the first to use a lighted tree.

The story is told that on one Christmas Eve Martin Luther wandered outdoors and became enraptured with the beauty of the starry sky. Its brilliance and loveliness led him to reflect on the glory of the first Christmas Eve as seen in Bethlehem's radiant skies. Wishing to share with his wife and children the enchantment he had felt, he cut from the forest an evergreen, glistening with snow, and took it home. He placed upon it candles to represent the glorious heavens he had seen. The use of a candle-lighted tree spread to all Europe, then America came to regard it as the central ornament of Christmas.

Each year during Advent we display two trees...one of red and silver, decorated with poinsettias, roses, and crosses made of nails to represent Christ’s sacrifice and saving love.

The white and gold tree represent His royalty and His reign, and it is decorated with Chrismons hand-made by Hominy members in the mid-1980s.

Be sure to click on the heart shaped Chi-Rho Chrismon in the sanctuary image to see more information and close-up pictures of the Chrismon ornaments!