Hey Anthony, I won’t answer for Tim, but the culture in the Southern US (not where Tim is from) is to generally avoid church services on Christmas day to allow for family gatherings; often churches will have Christmas Eve services - a favorite of mine is when my church takes candles out of the church at the conclusion and lights them all on the front lawn and sings a hymn/carol together. When Christmas falls on a Sunday, my church generally either holds no services or only holds one abbreviated service (instead of the normal morning and evening plus small groups).

And Anthony, when I read your question I chuckled and thought “He must be from Australia.” ;) I am too, and I vividly remember sitting through what felt like a seven-hour service each Christmas morning! (And zero chance of convincing my parents to skip it, given that my Dad was the pastor. :) ) Now as a mom, I’m personally really thankful that most Americans do church on Christmas Eve. What with all the wrapping/cooking/setting up most moms are doing late into the night after the already impossibly-wound-up kids finally fall asleep, as much as I love the Lord and delight in the significance of the day, I don’t think I’d have the energy to get the family clothed and back to church on top of everything else. :)

Genuine question, from the other side of the globe: doesn’t ‘go to church’ fit in there somewhere?

My church (in the US) has Christmas Eve services only, beginning on the eve of Christmas Eve. Today, Sunday, we’re back on our normal schedule. I predict that few people will show up.

To my knowledge, our president didn’t fit in “go to church” at Christmas again this year.