Come all ye unfaithful: why do we still go to carol services at Christmas?

This year, Christmas carol services are expected to draw their largest congregations since the pandemic. As numbers attending carol services swell, one central London church has appealed to its regular congregation to donate 12,000 mince pies to give away. Even in the wake of shocking revelations of religious abuse in recent years, those who rarely engage with faith may still find themselves stepping into cathedrals and parish churches this Christmas season. But why will we go? What are we looking for?

The sights and sounds of Christmas stir emotions of altruism and goodwill, of warmth and cosiness, of well-being and belonging. The imagination flickers with images of toasted teacakes dripping in butter and slippers warming by a crackling fire. The German language even has a word for that special sense of ‘cosy’ we associate with home: gemütlichkeit.

There’s another emotion woven into the fabric of the Christmas season too: nostalgia.