Defining Moment

For many Ventura County residents, Christmas is a time of giving and receiving, of spending quality hours with family members and loved ones--and increasingly, of countless hours trolling for sales at local malls.

But as the county’s religious leaders are eager to point out, Christmas is not supposed to be about colorful light displays or Santa Claus or the ever-declining availability of Tickle Me Elmo dolls.

Christmas is about the birth of Christ, and from Ventura to Thousand Oaks, the true meaning of the holiday is once again a strong topic for pastors of different Christian denominations in their religious services this season.

“You’ve got Santa and Jesus competing, and if you look at any local mall, you can see who is winning,” said the Rev. Paul Weir, pastor of the Baptist Simi Valley Community Church. “It is easy for people to forget what Christmas is about.”

Weir said he wanted to focus on the meaning of Jesus’ entry into this world at his Christmas Eve service, hoping parishioners would leave the one-hour family service with not only a refreshed memory of the Christmas carols they sang, but also of Christ.

“The significance of it is that this world is a dark place, and Jesus was the light that was brought here to help us,” Weir said.

At the Chinese Christian Church of Thousand Oaks, Pastor Curtis Lowe hoped the Christmas carols at a Christmas Eve candlelight service would illustrate the significance of the holiday.

Through the diverse memories the hymns evoke for different people, Lowe said, he hoped to remind parishioners that Christmas is about much more than expensive presents, reindeer and too much holiday ham.

“It’s not just Tickle Me Elmo--it’s always been there,” Lowe said of Christmas consumerism. “But the shopping season is starting earlier and earlier now, and there seems to be less emphasis on the meaning of Christmas.

“[But] if you’ve grown up in a religious home, you’re more likely to think of the baby Jesus than Santa Claus.”

In the west county, religious leaders also hope to inspire parishioners into a giving spirit and away from the lure of materialism.

The message of Christmas, they said, transcends the trendiest toy or the hippest pair of pants. This season should be about introspection and a desire to give.

Father Patrick O’Brien, pastor of the San Buenaventura Mission, will deliver that message to parishioners at a noon Mass today.

“Our God is not interested in a show of strength. His message is very clear,” O’Brien said. “He comes to offer his love and nothing else. Jesus came for all people, especially the last and the least. Let us not then be overcrowded with self-indulgence, restless excitement, business worries or simple inattention. Let us make time for God.”

Indeed, the Rev. Broderick Huggins, pastor of St. Paul Baptist Church in Oxnard, said he hopes that congregants grasp the true meaning of the yuletide season at the service today.

“We have allowed materialism to eclipse the real meaning of Christmas,” Huggins said. “This is something that I believe has ruined the whole concept of Christmas.”

Rather than satisfying material desires and indulgences, folks should take the time to evaluate the human and spiritual relationships that are important in life, Huggins said.

“In this world there is so much self-centeredness, selfishness and egotism,” Huggins said. “Habits are hard to break. Unless we have an encounter with God, it’s just talk.”

At Unity Church of Ventura County, parishioners planned an introspective candle-lighting ceremony Christmas Eve. The Rev. Beth Ann Suggs said the ceremony was meant to bring out people’s inner brightness.

“You let the nature of your true heart come out,” Suggs said. “Then the message is one of hope and peace and joy.”

At Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oxnard, the Rev. Johnie Carlisle’s message Christmas Eve was that the most important aspect of Christmas is remembering to help those in need.

“We try to extend the message of love through action and reach beyond the walls to the community, to where people are hurting,” said Carlisle. “It is a season of hope, and people need that now.”

It is also a time to reaffirm religious faith, or to realize it. At Calvary Community Church in Westlake, more than 3,000 people were expected to take part in four Christmas Eve services.

At the end of the ceremony, after a discussion about the birth of Jesus and Christmas traditions throughout the world, new believers--those who had discovered or rekindled their religious faith within the past year--were asked to step forward and light a candle.

“It’s always a challenge,” Dan Miller, the organizer of the church’s Christmas-time events, said of promoting the holiday’s religious importance. “The guys on Madison Avenue do a great job of promoting their interests, and yes, it is sometimes tough to communicate the very personal message of God and his goodness.”