Thousands Reconnect With Spiritual Roots

Some came for the music, the impassioned crescendo of a gospel choir or the orchestral strains of Vivaldi. Others immersed themselves in the quiet spirituality of the moment and the serenity of ornately adorned sanctuaries. Still others used this holy day to reconnect with a religion from which they had become estranged.

For reasons as diverse as the many congregations themselves, tens of thousands of Christians gathered around the Southland on Wednesday to celebrate Christmas in the place that many felt best embodied its spirit: in church.

Frank Murphy, 42, was at St. Bonaventure Church in Huntington Beach to stay connected with his religion and to be uplifted.

“Mass always makes me feel good,” he said, noting that his devout parents took him to church every week as a child. These days, he manages to go once a month, after coming to terms with the changes divorce brought.

It was difficult to attend Mass alone, he said, adding that as a single dad he “didn’t have the time to go. I’d feel guilty every Sunday when I didn’t go. But I’d make it to church at least Christmas and Easter.”

It all began at the stroke of midnight Tuesday as worshipers crowded into pews to welcome the Christmas holiday. Some were greeted by priests in golden vestments and booming organ music, while others prayed by candlelight in more modest settings.

For some pastors, the standing-room-only crowds at popular midnight services posed the particular challenge of preaching to two distinct groups: the regular church-goers and the occasional visitors.

Christmas Eve is an especially big draw for those who may make only a few church appearances during the year--a group sometimes called “C ‘n E’ers” (for Christmas and Easter) or “AMH Christians” (for “all major holidays”).

“I have great empathy for them,” said Malcolm Boyd, the retired pastor at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Santa Monica, which had a full house for midnight services. “They might be lonely, and they certainly are reaching out spiritually. . . . I don’t speak down to them or try to sentimentalize them. Yet at the same time, I know we won’t see them until next year.”

Several pastors said they wanted to use the occasion to gently encourage the wayward to attend services more frequently.

“It’s really a soft sell,” said the Rev. Steven E. Berry of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, where 700 people turned out Tuesday night.

“I think there is a lot of seeking going on,” he said. “This is a time of year when those who are not particularly devout the rest of the year really want to reconnect with their spiritual roots as Christians.”

One of those among Berry’s congregation, Westside resident Rob Sweedler, said he had not been to church in years. But he couldn’t refuse, Sweedler said, when his 4-year-old daughter’s grandmother called from out-of-town to ask if Sara could be taken to her first Christmas service.

Anne and Eugene Paolino had not been going to church much either, but drove from West Hollywood to First Congregational, taking seats in the loft above the choir and carved wood altar. “I was just missing the traditions,” Anne Paolino said.

Others were in church because worship epitomizes the holiday.

“The gift-giving and all that is nice, but you have to remember what the day is really about too,” Angelique McKnight said after a spirited morning service at the Messiah Baptist Church in the Crenshaw district, the same church she has attended since she was a baby.

In Long Beach, Kirk Christensen fidgeted in his seat throughout the midnight Mass at St. Bartholomew Church, glancing at his watch repeatedly. But in the end, the 33-year-old Christensen seemed glad he had turned out.

“The last time I went was last Christmas. And before that was the Christmas before,” the Washington state resident said. But, he added: “A night like this brings out the best in people. . . . I was really tired in the beginning, really sleepy, but as things progressed, I became really moved and feel as if I was really celebrating Christmas.”

Others worshiped through alms. At the Orange County Rescue Mission in Santa Ana, about 700 were fed a Christmas meal prepared by volunteers drawn from churches countywide.

Some 100 churches have a monthly commitment to the mission, which offers a variety of services to the needy and homeless, ranging from health care to vocational training and counseling, said executive director Jim Palmer.

“Many people see serving God as sort of hands on,” Palmer said. “They look at this as the perfect way to celebrate Jesus’s birth through the hands-on labor of helping serve meals and helping people face-to-face.”

Come Christmas morning, some churches saw sparser crowds, as the “C ‘n’ E’ers” gave way to the Sunday regulars cradling their own Bibles and closing their eyes as they prayed and sang.

At St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Granada Hills, the morning service was a quiet and intimate affair, drawing only 50 worshipers. Christmas morning tends to be more of a time to celebrate with family in the home, leaving church for more devout congregants, said pastor Kapp L. Johnson.

The same was true at the Oriental Mission Church on Western Avenue, which held a single service Wednesday--compared to five on Sundays--to hear a message of love and reconciliation.

But for all the faithful who turned out Wednesday, there were some who acknowledged a bit of star-gazing, as two congregations welcomed prominent visiting clergy.

At a Spanish-language morning Mass at St. Joseph’s in downtown Los Angeles’ garment district, Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney led his fourth Christmas service of the day, as parishioners filed into the wooden pews to the swelling sound of “Noche de Paz,” or “Silent Night.”

“I’m a Catholic, and he’s the top man,” said Rioz, 63, a boxing coach. “I came from a very religious family--my mother prayed for everyone. I haven’t started doing that yet. But it’s important because of what’s going on in the world today. Everyone’s going haywire, going cuckoo.”

Said 58-year-old Victor Parisi: “For this church, it is like the president coming to our house. . . . It’s such an honor when he could have chosen any church.”

Over at St. Matthew’s Baptist Church in the Crenshaw district, Bishop T. Larry Kirkland had his own following, as some congregants from his old church attended services to see Kirkland’s return to Los Angeles. He has begun a nine-month missionary assignment in central Africa for the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Returning to Los Angeles for Christmas after seeing the poverty and desperation of countries like Zimbabwe “was one of the most humbling experiences in the world,” Kirkland said after the service.

“We’re throwing away our chances here. We’ve got all the crime and drugs, and young people are failing to get educated, when the African kids are just crying out for a chance,” he said later.

Kirkland admonished parishioners to avoid the commercialism of the season. “I know you’ve got your gifts under the tree. But are you really ready for Christmas? . . . Really ready from a spiritual perspective?”

Times staff writers Sharon Bernstein, Jose Cardenas, Lily Dizon, Ken Reich and Larry Stammer and special correspondent Matea Gold contributed to this story.