Where should I take my parents for church on Christmas Eve?

December 6, 2012 2:44 PM

Where can I find a beautiful protestant Portland, Oregon, Christmas Eve service?

My parents are coming to Portland for Christmas. All their children live here now. One of my mother's favorite things has been to have all of us go with her to the 11 p.m. candlelight service at her Methodist church on Christmas Eve. I'd love to be able to take her to a service here in town, but I'm an atheist and haven't explored the churches here much.

I'm especially interested in: a) pretty church, and b) candlelight service. Beautiful music would be a bonus. I was thinking about some of the big, beautiful churches downtown, but they don't seem to have their Christmas services information posted online at this point.

Which church would you recommend? How early should we arrive?

posted by linettasky to Travel & Transportation around Portland, OR (5 answers total)

Best answer: Does it have to be Methodist? because the UU church in downtown PDX does a lovely candlelight 11pm service in their big old beautiful downtown church. They always bring in some kind of nice music. One year they had a bell chior! The calendar is a bit confusing though- they list it at 10 and 11, so you might call.
posted by haplesschild at 3:21 PM on December 6, 2012

Response by poster: No, it doesn't have to be Methodists. The UUs are probably fine. Just -- I know there are beautiful Catholic and Episcopalian churches downtown, and those won't fly. (Sadly. I love the music...)
posted by linettasky at 3:26 PM on December 6, 2012

Best answer: Also, the First Methodist Church lists their candlelight service at 10pm (see the 24th and click on 7 other events for the full listing), but I can't speak to if it meets your other criteria.
posted by haplesschild at 3:26 PM on December 6, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks; I feel silly for even asking the question, when the info was apparently there (I could not navigate that FUMC website for the life of me). I'm excited about the UU church!
posted by linettasky at 6:49 PM on December 6, 2012

Those were both annoying websites to navigate- I only had an upper hand from trying to find the same thing a few years back. Hope your mom enjoys it :)
posted by haplesschild at 9:47 AM on December 7, 2012