Where to Worship for Christmas--Round One
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 2:45PM OK, you are in Washington, DC, and want to go to a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service. Sure, there are plenty of churches listed in the telephone book. You can look there, but DC Like a Local, never a group of people to be shy about sounding off, has some suggestions for you.
1. The Washington National Cathedral (Episcopal): It’s the large mainly English gothic inspired cathedral located at the intersection of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Ave., NW. You can catch any even numbered 30 series bus going from the monument area along Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, in the direction of Georgetown, but Christmas Eve and Christmas Day buses will be very infrequent. Have your hotel hail a cab. There is a parking garage, but, unless you want to arrive hours before, you will not find any parking nearby.
For Christmas Eve 6:00pm and 10:00pm
Festival Holy Eucharist on Christmas Eve. Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III and the Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane preach and preside.
Passes are required for this service, and the advance allocation has been distributed. A limited number of passes will be available one hour before each service at Church House on the Cathedral’s west lawn.
For Christmas Day 9:00am
Televised nationally, Bishop John Bryson Chane preaches the Christmas sermon and Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III presides at the Eucharist. The Rev. Canon Carol L. Wade shares the Christmas story with children in a children’s sermon. The Cathedral website does not say whether tickets are required for this or not. You’d better call ahead and find out. Telephone number is (202) 537-6200.
Other Christmas services at the Cathedral include a Service of Carols by Candlelight on December 19th at 6:00pm and December 20th at 4:00pm.
2. St. Matthew’s Cathedral (Roman Catholic): 1725 Rhode Island Avenue, NW (off of Connecticut Ave., NW.); phone: (202) 347-3215
This is the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Washington, DC, famous as the one in which John F. Kennedy’s funeral mass was held on November 25, 1963. The spot where his casket was placed is marked on the floor. It was on the steps of this Cathedral that John F. Kennedy Jr. saluted his father’s casket—a photo shown all over the world. It is a rather unprepossessing church from the outside but more ornate inside.
The Cathedral is sandwiched between buildings in DC’s business district and you really cannot see it until you just about are there. If you are staying in the Farragut Square area, you can just walk over to this one. Otherwise take the Metro red line to Farragut North, hang a right out of the Northeast Connecticut Ave & L Street exit. This is the exit closest to the very front of the train if you are headed in the direction of Shady Grove (or at the back of the train if you are headed in the direction of Glenmont), and just walk up Connecticut Ave., NW, and hang another right on Rhode Island, Ave., NW. Once you make the right on Rhode Island, you will see the large red brick cathedral on the left.
St. Matthew’s is doing its Festival of Lessons and Carols on Sunday, December 13, at 7:30pm with Christmas caroling to follow.
On December 24th midnight mass begins with a prelude at 11:00pm followed by the mass at midnight. The Archbishop of Washington, the Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl will preside.
On Christmas Day the Cathedral will open at 8:00am. There are masses at 8:30am, 10:00am and 11:30am in English and one at 1:00pm in Spanish. There are a variety of priests listed as the celebrants, but the Archbishop will not be one of them because he will be at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (details below).
3. Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic): This church, and not St. Mathew’s Cathedral, is the largest Roman Catholic church in Washington, DC. In fact, it is the largest Roman Catholic Church in North America and one of the 10 largest churches in the world. The Shrine is located at 400 Michigan Ave., NE. You can reach the Shrine by taking Metro to the Brookland/Catholic University Station on the Red Line; the Basilica is about a 10 minute walk from the station down Michigan Avenue, NE. The church is often visited by tourists as a destination in itself and is renowned for its mosaics and Greek style architecture. Telephone number is 202-526-8300.
On December 24th there is a children’s mass with pageant at 5:00pm with the Choir of the Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. At 10:00pm there are Choral Meditations on the Nativity and at 10:30pm the evening service—which will be broadcast by the Eternal World Television Network.
On December 25th there are masses in English at 7:30am, 9:00am, 10:30am, 12:00noon and 4:30pm. There is a mass in Spanish at 2:30pm. The Archbishop of Washington, Most Reverend Donald Wuerl is the celebrant & homilist at the noon mass.
If you go to the Shrine by taxi, be sure to arrange for a taxi to pick you up after the mass because it is difficult to hail a cab in the area normally—and it will be even more difficult on Christmas Eve and Day.
If you don’t want any of these large places and want something on a bit more human scale, try
4. St. John’s Lafayette Park (“The Church of the Presidents”) (Episcopal): At the corner of 16th and H Streets, NW, just opposite the North Side of the White House (Metro: McPherson Square). The North Side is the one with the flat side of the White House directly on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Phone is 202-347-8766.
St. John’s was designed by Benjamin Latrobe. Latrobe was also one of the many architects of the US Capitol and was responsible for The Capitol’s rebuilding after it was burned in the War of 1812. The Parish House behind the church was, at one time, the British Legation. The church has traditionally been the scene of a service before each inauguration attended by the new president; pew 54 is reserved for the President. President Obama sometimes worships at St. John’s with his family.
The Lessons and Carols is scheduled for December 20th at 11:00am. There is no midnight service on Christmas Eve, but there is a Holy Eucharist on December 25th at 11:00am.
By the way, don’t expect to see President Obama. He’s rumored to be going to Hawaii for a vacation with his family during the holidays.
Because DC Like a Local got a lot of requests for alternatives for other denominations, you can find a follow up to this piece.
Merry Christmas to all of you and Happy Chanukah to me (I'm Jewish)!
Reader Comments (9)
Aw, now, I disagree with the characterization of the National Cathedral as an English-style Gothic church. Philip Frohman, the architect who designed the vast majority of the building, went out of his way to detail the building with a variety of historical styles, as well as sneaking innovations in where he could. The south side is includes massing based on Spanish examples, which have thicker, harsher masses that look great in the sun. The north is English Perpendicular, the tower is kind of its own thing, and the west is somewhat based on Chartres and Rouen. The viewing gallery is pure corn-fed American populism.
The man was sort of convinced he was going to do the thing that everyone in the 1920s and 30s: create an authentically American style of architecture, which he accomplished with straight-up mixing.
Well, you sound like you know a lot more about architecture than I do.
Tim and I are both tour guides in DC. When we go to training at the Cathedral (which we have to do if we want to be licensed to bring in groups and guide them if a docent is not available) that is how the Cathedral is described to us; of course they just teach us enough to do a tour for tourists. I do know there are differences (such as all the specialized gargoyles including Darth Vader) and references to our nation's history throughout. Also the stained glass windows do not follow the same pattern noticed in many European Cathedrals because the references are not always to saints, but to American history as well as religion. I always call the Cathedrl (in addition to English Gothic) a national stage--which is one of its many uses.
Please note that this post was about church services for Christmas and not about the architecture of the cathedral. I know from your comment that I should stay off the topic of architecture. By the way should you give a tour or lecture at the Cathedral and let us know many tour guides would want to come. We can always improve our knowledge of this beautiful building.
Thanks very much for your input on DC Like a Local.
Editor fail!
I was in the class when someone mentioned "English"-style with Lauren, but that was a few years ago. Since then, I believe they use some language of "inspired by many different styles, the Cathedral is not based on any single one" (I paraphrase).
Good catch tsarchitect.
A couple of clarifications on directions.
There are three exits/entrances to the Farragut North station. "Hanging a right" to go up Connecticut Avenue only works if you're exiting from the Northeast Connecticut Ave & L Street exit. This is the exit closest to the very front of the train if you are headed in the direction of Shady Grove (or at the back of the train if you are headed in the direction of Glenmont).
Also, the Basilica is about a 10-minute walk from the Brookland-CUA (Catholic University of America) station on the Red Line. Just head down Michigan Avenue. A car or taxi is not necessary.
Thanks so much for improving the directions, Lara. We are not infalliable here on DC Like a Local (although we try to be). I have revised the directions in the piece to make them more accurate based on your comments.
I have also made a minor change in the description of the Washington National Cathedral as suggested by the first poster who commented.
Hey, at least people are reading this blog even if mess up!
Have a Merry Christmas and thanks for reading and commenting on DC Like a Local.
Any suggestions for visiting Protestants who would prefer a Christmas service that isn't "high church" Episcopalian?
Sure thing, Ken. I'll put together some suggestions for a post for next Monday. Any particular denomination?
Hey, Tim, appreciate your offer. Because we're choir veterans, great music matters more to us than the particular denomination. Of course, a thought-provoking sermon is always welcome, but in our experience, Christmas Eve/Day services aren't usually showcases for that even when the minister is ordinarily a fine preacher.
We're Methodist, but flexible, and doubtlessly not the only ones who will read your suggestions with interest. So feel to offer any you wish. Even a Unitarian-Universalist church, although I realize UU's may resist being characterized as Protestants.
Ken, since I wrote the original piece, I have written a new piece to be posted on next week in response to your concerns. I have listed a number of other churches from various Protestant denominations including Foundry United Methodist--which a friend has given a good review for music, by the way. That was where Bill and Hillary Clinton used to worship. Details about Christmas Services for that church are not yet up online, but you might want to check the website for the church. Insofar as music is concerned, I have to say the Washington National Cathedral is as good as it gets. I have no idea of the quality of music or preaching at any of the churches other than the Cathedral because that is where I take people whose focus is music. The choirs there are world renown, produce CD's, etc. I am sure, however, that those at The Shrine and St. Matthew's are also good, but I just have not been there to personally experience them.
Please check back next for the new piece and just check all the websites of the places that interest you. There will certainly be a lot of voices raised in song Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Thank you for commenting on this piece. We get a lot of ideas from our readers on DC Like a Local and it is nice to know that (a) someone is reading and (b) took the time to post.