KEY POINTS:
It was standing room only at many Christmas services this year as churches reported higher-than-expected attendances.
The 11.30pm service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell on Christmas Eve was jam-packed, said Anglican Church spokesman Lloyd Ashton.
Catholic Church spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer said St Michael's Church in Remuera, where she worshipped, welcomed more people than ever before to its Midnight Mass.
An earlier service at 7pm for families and small children at St Michael's was "packed to the gunnels".
"We've seen for some reason that there are far more people this year than we have ever seen," she said.
This backed up census information that showed an increase in those worshipping at Catholic churches.
Many people attend church only at Christmas and Easter.
"While Easter is the main festival of the Christian churches, Christmas has a particular appeal, said Mrs Freer, a papal dame.
"I'm also wondering if there hasn't been some sort of backlash against the political correct thing against religious symbols," she said.
Mr Ashton said there were no national attendance figures for Anglican churches but he had never seen so many at the Holy Trinity service.
He also believed Christmas struck a deep chord with a lot of people.
Christmas, like Easter, is a time when those who do not attend church regularly swell congregations.
Mr Ashton said he observed that when the Maori Queen died in August it moved people at a deep level and maybe Christmas and Easter did that as well.
- NZPA
