Children and Childhood

Even though children play a central role in Christmas traditions worldwide and have been members of Christian communities since the early Church, little scholarly attention has been paid to the vast and varied interconnections between children and Christmas. This chapter examines this theme by: 1) focusing on children’s active participation and, at times, central role in Christmas traditions, such as Advent rituals in the home and Nativity plays in the congregation; 2) exploring traditions in which both children and adults seek to address the urgent needs of children locally and around the world; and 3) highlighting ways in which Christians past and present have sought to attend to the spiritual formation of children and the meaning of Christmas amidst various obstacles and distractions. By exploring these three lines of inquiry and offering examples from world Christianity, including Ethiopian Orthodox traditions, the chapter demonstrates the central yet often neglected role of children in Christmas traditions and highlights the need for further research into the intimate connections between children and many other religious traditions.