THEOLOGICAL CLUE

A quarter of a century ago, there was a movement in Great Britain by the Joint Liturgical Group to move Christmas (and other festivals, too) to a Sunday to encourage greater attendance and participation in the festive worship. This did not happen formally (in fact, the anticipated 1980 merger of the Anglican Church with several Protestant communions did not occur, either), but the Fourth Sunday in Advent, through liturgy and lections and popular piety, has clearly taken the shape of "Christmas Sunday" in many parts of the church. At the least, another proposal (to name the Sundays of Advent as Sundays before Christmas) did not reach full fruition, because there is really only one Sunday "before Christmas." This should preserve the purposes of Advent and, at the same time,…