Reclaiming Christmas from the malls

Church-based initiative that was born in Houston spreads to 5,000 churches nationwide
By MIKE TOLSON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Dec. 20, 2009

Making a list, checking it twice, checking a third time, then a fourth, marking names off, thinking about how much she'd spent and still had to spend — all of it got to be too much for Linda Davis.
Finally, she'd had enough. This was not Christmas. This was a seasonal burden laden with anxiety and void of real meaning.

“It was maddening, overwhelming,” Davis said. “It was taking the joy out of what was supposed to be a joyful season.”

So this year she quit. Introduced to a movement called Advent Conspiracy at her church, Davis, her husband and three children joined the ranks of those who have dedicated themselves to rethinking Christmas and reclaiming its original intent, which has little to do with credit cards and shopping malls. And she is far from alone. The church-based initiative has spread like a viral video since a Houston pastor and a few fellow ministers came up with the idea four years ago, with more than 5,000 churches across the nation participating this season.

The Advent Conspiracy was born of a common complaint: There was too much time and money spent shopping, too little time spent enjoying family and friends and almost no time devoted to the Scriptural messages of service delivered by the one whose birth is celebrated on Dec. 25. the rest