Some 2,000 years ago, on a holy night in Bethlehem as stars were brightly shining, a young woman gave birth to a baby and laid him in a manger. The baby Jesus was a thrill of hope for a weary world, the gospel story goes, and Christians ever since remember his birth in the candlelight of Christmas Eve.
Then, much more recently, though no one can seem to recall exactly when or where, came the birth of a new celebration. Adherents call it Christmas Adam. And they celebrate on Dec. 23.
Why? They have a universal reply:
“Because Adam came before Eve.”
It’s hard to define Christmas Adam, aside from the date. Unlike Christmas Eve, Christmas Adam is not part of an official Christian calendar. The Vatican certainly does not recognize it, and many churchgoers have not heard of it. There is not one way to celebrate.
But some evangelically minded and social-media-savvy Protestant churches and families have embraced the celebration, making up Christmas Adam traditions as they go, one joke at a time.
For some, Christmas Adam is purely a chance to share a clever pun. For others, it is practical way to compete in a crowded holiday season, by offering church services a day before the holiday actually starts.
To be clear, the “eve” in Christmas Eve refers to the evening before the holy day. It does not refer to the biblical Eve, whom God formed from Adam’s rib in the Book of Genesis. Still, this play on words has paved the way for Adam, the first man, to creep into the modern Christmas story.
Christmas Adam is just a “silly generic term,” said Rev. Sean G. Morris, 35, of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
“Dec. 24 gets an official title — it gets called Christmas Eve,” he explained. “So what the heck, let’s give December the 23rd a semiofficial imprint as well.”
Mr. Morris, 35, has started his own Christmas Adam ritual. On Dec. 23, he shares a photo of a McDonald’s sandwich, the McRib (rib — get it?), dripping in sauce. Then he downs one. And his children roll their eyes.
“It’s become a ridiculous personal tradition of mine,” he said in an interview. “I only eat it one day a year.”
Some friends, including fellow pastors in the Presbyterian Church in America, have joined in on the annual pun, he said, much “to the chagrin of our wives.” (The wives do not have their own tradition for Christmas Eve, he said, as they are usually busy wrangling children and finishing last-minute tasks.)
Earlier this month, Rev. Ryan Goble of Scottsdale Bible Church in Arizona, cheerfully told thousands in the pews about their Christmas service options — 25 across all campuses, to be exact. But, he said, “not on Christmas — Christmas Adam and Christmas Eve.”
The church urges members to skip Christmas Eve, one of the most popular services of the year, for Christmas Adam. That way, the church could prioritize outside visitors who come on Dec. 24, alleviating seating issues and maximizing opportunities to evangelize to potential new congregants.
The phrase “Christmas Adam” is actually older than one might think. It most likely evolved through spoken wordplay about Eve, passed down colloquially in conversation, only becoming more visible with the rise of social media, according to lexicographers for the Oxford English Dictionary. As far back as 1870, they found, children playfully asked in Sunday school if Christmas Adam was the day after Christmas, since the day before was Christmas Eve.
Centuries-old biblical connections also exist between Adam and Eve and the birth of Jesus. Many theologians have referred to Jesus and Mary as the new Adam and Eve, redeeming the world for original sin. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, a Christmas Eve service in Anglican traditions, still begins with a reading from the Book of Genesis. And in the early 1800s, some Americans would place a garden of Eden ornament below their trees as a reminder of the need for salvation.
But today’s Christmas Adam is a classically evangelical creation, with an entrepreneurial and entertainment aesthetic that defines many churches. (Catholic Day Mass is still central for Catholics.)
“American evangelicalism is full of inventions,” said Gerry Bowler, a retired scholar on the history of Christmas. “It is a time for people to juggle with the sacred and see what the zeitgeist can come up with.”
Rev. David Dorn of Faith Methodist Church in Richmond, Texas, said his church added a Christmas Adam service during the coronavirus pandemic to allow for social distancing. The change stuck. Christmas Adam worship featured contemporary music; Christmas Eve worship was traditional.
“I had people who loved coming on the 23rd because they could do Christmas Eve with their family while still having this religious experience,” Mr. Dorn said.
Over time, the joke turned into a sort of call and response for his 1,600-member congregation. He starts, “Adam comes before ____ ,” and the people fill in the blank.
At Innovation Church in Lafayette, Ind., Rev. Billy Holden noticed that divorced families struggled to divide time over Christmas, much less fit in church. So, he decided to offer only one holiday service — on Christmas Adam.
The church urges people to wear their ugliest Christmas sweaters and serves hot cocoa and cookies. One year, they performed the K-pop song “Gangnam Style” as “Christmas Adam Style.”
This year, it organized a scavenger hunt around town, placing nutcrackers at local businesses, which offered discounts for things like haircuts, car tuneups and ice cream.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously with it being Adam, him being first,” Mr. Holden, 42, explained, noting that women, including his wife, preach in his church.
As Christmas Adam spreads, some pastors worry that aspects of Christmas Eve may be slightly overlooked.
“It is much more of a Mary-centered holiday — she is the star,” said Julie Faith Parker, a biblical scholar and the author of the book “Eve Isn’t Evil.”
Last year, First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, in Princeton Junction, N.J., hosted a “Feast of Christmas Adam” dinner. Rev. Rory Chambers, 40, had seen the joke on Instagram and thought it would be fun to adopt. They catered ribs and apple pie.
But after reflecting over the last year, he decided on a different direction. Christmas Adam, he said, unintentionally emphasized beliefs he did not want to repeat, like a literalist interpretation of the creation story. His church is part of the Presbyterian Church USA, a more progressive denomination.
“Our tradition is not actually one that wants to emphasize that Adam precedes Eve,” he said. “We don’t need to maintain that patriarchal sort of thing.”
His church will still host a dinner this year, simply called a Christmas feast.
One thing will be missing: the ribs.
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