By Jay Sorgi • Posted December 19, 2025

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of volunteers are offering their time and muscles throughout Advent to decorate Catholic churches throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Most volunteers are hoisting well-lit Nativity displays, Christmas trees, garland, wreaths, poinsettias and countless other visual reminders that the celebration of the birth of Christ is near.

Eileen Miller is jokingly called the CEO of decorating at Queen of the Universe Parish in Levittown, Bucks County. She has 42 years of experience decorating for Christmas at home, and passes that expertise in leading her team of about 15 to 20 volunteers to get the church ready for Christmas.

“People have said it’s a beautiful, prayerful space. They appreciate all the effort we put in,” she said.

“It’s important to me to do this. I feel blessed that I have this responsibility and I take it seriously, because I want it to be a prayerful space for everybody. I want everybody to focus on the altar.”

Do you have photos of your church decorations for Christmas that you’d like to share? Please email them to editor@catholicphilly.com!

Miller says it takes about three part-time days throughout December for her team to work on that altar, and everything else within and around the church.

Thankfully, her volunteers have bonded over many years of service evangelizing through the Feast of the Nativity through greenery and creches.

“One of our former pastors had a fair where he was getting volunteers for different groups and whatnot. We were decorating on a low-scale basis, and then this group formed at that time,” she said.

Miller is thankful to have a man in his 30s do the hard work of ladder-climbing to reach the church’s roof while she and older volunteers focus on wreath-fluffing and floral arrangements.

It’s easy for Miller to unveil the litany of decor unveiled throughout December, from hydrangeas for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception to peace lilies interspersed throughout the church’s various alcoves.

All this work comes from a crew that gets together in September at Miller’s house for fellowship and game-planning. It has become a small community of its own.

“We like getting together,” she said. “When we finish decorating on the last day before Christmas, we usually have a little potluck, bring some food in, sit in the vestibule of the church and chit-chat.”

The reward comes partially from kind compliments, but also from the knowledge that God uses their work to foster a greater sense of Jesus’ coming.

“I really think our church is very focused on prayer, thanksgiving and gratitude,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to be involved.”

The same number of volunteers tend to the decor at St. Helena Parish in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, but they do the work in various stages.

Some people may wonder why Christmas decorations are not in place throughout the first two weeks of Advent.

Father Joseph Bongard, the pastor of St. Helena and parochial administrator of nearby St. Titus Parish, says stage one is purposely set to help people first gaze upon on Advent, using the tradition of a big piece of wood.

“There’s actually a log, almost like the stump of Jesse, that’s across the front of the altar. Then there’s the four candles, obviously the three purple and the one rose,” said Father Bongard. “It’s right in front of the altar. Everyone can see it visually.”

Father Bongard said that in 2024, he wanted to start a new tradition that follows a similar display he’s offered at other parishes, one that is deeply striking because it initially doesn’t fill the church with Christmas-specific displays.

Just last week a parishioner called him to say, “My gosh, that altar is stunning,” he recalled.

He gives a theological reason for why the church doesn’t begin to feature Christmas displays until at least Gaudete Sunday.

“It’s like Advent doesn’t even exist for most people. We go right to Christmas. We kind of just jump over Advent,” said Father Bongard.

“To pull that back a little bit, this really does help us to focus on the fact that (Advent) is a liturgical season. It’s a time of preparation. If we were to actually recapture the liturgical season, I think it’d be a lot less stress, a lot less anxiety.”

That theme of truly entering Advent for its entirety even involves when the scheduling of the parish’s Christmas concert, which the pastor tries to keep as late in Advent as possible.

“We’re fighting to reestablish an Advent-season feel,” Father Bongard said. “Christmas carols have been on the radio for weeks now, and then on Dec. 26, you’ll see trees by the curbside already.

“This could be a beautiful season,” he added, “if you’re just to follow the liturgical calendar. It really would.”