Christmas and the Church Triumphant: The Value of Christmas Memorial Trees

by Leonardo Neitzel

The Christmas memorial tree is a tradition that has not been widely adopted in our churches. As the word suggests, a Christmas memorial tree provides an opportunity to recognize and remember loved ones who have passed on to glory.

Most congregations which use such a tree set it up in the entrance hall, although some opt to place it beside the traditional Christmas tree in the sanctuary or narthex.

Some Christians dislike the idea of a memorial tree, feeling it brings a sober connotation to the festive Christmas season. Others feel only one Christmas tree is really necessary, noting that an additional tree means more work. Others argue that All Saints is the Sunday on the Church Calendar best suited to remembering the departed in a special service.

These may all be valid and good arguments for not having an ornamented memorial tree during Advent and Christmas. Nevertheless, such trees have been a meaningful tradition in congregations for nearly half a century, and the benefits have been immense. Creating the ornaments for a Christmas memorial tree—like crafting Christian ornaments for a congregation’s Christmas tree more generally—provides many blessings and opportunities for congregation and families:

• They bring comfort and encouragement from God’s Word to those with family and friends who have joined the Church Triumphant. 
• They particularly provide comfort to members grieving the death of loved ones and who miss their physical presence during the Christmas season.
• They remind us to rejoice over those who through Christian baptism and salvation have died and risen with Christ and now enjoy the full presence of the Lord in heaven.
• They remind us to “suffer together” with the larger family of faith (see 1 Corinthians 12:25-27).
• They emphasize the doctrine of the resurrection and the assurance of eternal life with Christ.
• They provide opportunities for members of the congregation to gather together with family members to assemble memorial ornaments.
• They provide opportunities for Gospel witness and mission opportunity to the families of a deceased congregational member.

Using a Christmas Memorial Tree in the service

A Christmas memorial tree is set up on the same occasion as the regular Christmas tree. The congregation then informs members and extended family that a ceremony marking the tree will take place on a chosen date (which may or may not coincide with the first Sunday in Advent), so that families know about the event in advance and that they are invited to participate. 

On the chosen day, with family and guests present, the pastor may deliver a special Gospel message, blending the joys of Christmas with the joys of faith in Jesus and the unending joys of eternal life. Special pericopes related to the theme of the tree may be read and distributed to participants in the service. Mingled with the Advent hymns for that Sunday, an additional hymn focusing on our glorious life in eternity with Christ may be sung.

The use of a Christmas memorial tree can help us to be grateful for those who have led us to Jesus and taught us in His path. Their lives as Christ’s servants and witnesses encourage us to follow their example of faith.

Following the sermon, a special prayer may be given to God in gratitude for those who have departed in faith during the present year. Special prayers are also raised for bereaved family and its members. 

Following the prayers, each family or individual is called to the altar to receive their ornament, and then silently approach and hang the it on the Christmas memorial tree. 

After these ornaments have been hung, a victorious Christ-centered hymn may be sung, highlighting the resurrection and the hopeful expectation of the Church Triumphant.

The service then continues with the Prayers of the Church, the Lord’s Prayer, Benediction, and a closing hymn. (Suggestion is made for the congregation to have the memorial tree event during a non-communion service.) A time for fellowship with members and guests may take place after the service.

The event and memorial recognition can take place each year, but should not replace the All Saints or Memorial/Remembrance Sunday.

Appropriate ornaments can include clear traditional Christian ornaments (for example, “Chrismons”), clear ball ornaments with the name of the deceased (and possibly birth, baptism, and death dates inscribed as well); wooden discs with the same information as above; and string art.

In some congregations, family members place a picture of the deceased or a Christian symbol that he/she loved and cherished when still with us, but we must be careful not too overly personalize these trees, as that can distract from the tree’s true focus. Keeping a uniform pattern and style is preferable. Because of this, it is beneficial for congregation to provide the ornaments which are to be used.

The Church Triumphant

Throughout the book of Revelation our Risen and Glorified Lord Jesus gives the Apostle John and us an extraordinary vision of the Triumphant Church and the state of the glorified with Him. John was in exile because of his testimony to Jesus Christ. Lonely and in danger of martyrdom, the Lord appears to him and gives him a glimpse of our eternal home and those who preceded us in the faith.

In one of the visions, John sees the 144,000—a symbol of the complete number of the triumphant redeemed by the blood of Jesus. They are holy, blameless, and blessed forever because of the righteousness that Jesus has imparted to them through His suffering, death, and resurrection. They sing a new song, the song of the victorious. They remain in His presence and join the fellowship of the Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world, worshipping Him day and night. Death is no more. Suffering and pain is at an end. There are no more tears in their eyes. The old has passed; everything has been made new. They enjoy the plenitude of the New Heavens and New Earth. 

The Triumphant Lamb blesses them with these words: “‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!’” (Revelation 14:13).

On each occasion when the Militant Church celebrates the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we join the Triumphant Church in celebration of the Lamb. Thus the pastor leads us in prayer in the Proper Preface: “Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and singing…”

The use of a Christmas memorial tree can help us to be grateful for those who have led us to Jesus and taught us in His path. Their lives as Christ’s servants and witnesses encourage us to follow their example of faith. The memorial tree, then, can encourage and strengthen us to lead a holy life, serving and pleasing our Father in heaven. It helps to keep our eyes focused on the journey of faith, with all challenges, trials, and temptation—with our eyes ever fixed on Christ the Victor, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, now and forever.

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Rev. Dr. Leonardo Neitzel previously served as Lutheran Church–Canada’s Mission Executive.

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