FULL LIST: Why These 5 Nigerian Churches Don’t Celebrate Christmas
Ibom Focus brings to you Why These 5 Nigerian Churches Don’t Celebrate Christmas
Christmas is celebrated on December 25 and is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon.
However, some churches in Nigeria still fault the celebration of Chrismas on December 25, claiming it’s “unscriptural and unchristian”.
Here five religious denominations that opposed the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25 every year:
1. Jehovah’s Witness
This religious organisation is one of the biggest group of Christmas-shunners. The interesting thing is that they were not always this way. Once upon a time, Jehovah’s Witnesses used to observe Christmas. This was until 1928, after further study by one official.
According to spokesman J.R. Brown from the church’s Brooklyn, New York, headquarters, this official’s findings led to the church dropping the holiday.
The official found that this is based on“false religious beliefs or activities.” Deseret News reports that this is explained in a 1993 book, “Jehovah’s Witnesses — Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom.”
Still, it took a while for everyone to get on board with the new tradition of no longer celebrating Christmas.
2. Seventh Day Adventist Church
Like Jehovah’s Witnesses, this church is also against the celebration of Christmas.
A publication from the group that goes to church on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath day, not Sunday reads: “We do not celebrate Christmas as the Birth of Christ per say since Christ was not born in Dec.
“He did not want us to celebrate His birth or He would have told us when He was born. It has become a money-making celebration with Christ mixed in. It is a pagan ritual.”
3. Deeper Life
A few years ago, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, the head of Deeper Life Bible Church announced to his members and the world that his church does not celebrate the popular holiday.
Explaining why at the 2013 December retreat, he said: “We don’t celebrate Christmas nor sing Christmas carol; because Christmas is of idolatrous background.”
4. God’s Kingdom Society (GKS)
This is another church that is anti-Christmas. According to the church’s official website, they believe that there is no single evidence in the Bible that Jesus Christ was born on the 25th of December.
Rather, they believe that He was born in October and that Christmas originated from “a noisy pagan festival in honour of the god of the sun”.
5. Mountain Of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM)
This church don’t celebrate Christmas too. According to the founder, Pastor D.K. Olukoya, “We don’t celebrate Christmas because the root is demonic.”
Regardless of what these churches believe, billions of Christians around the world continue to mark Christ’s birthday on December 25 each year.
