Photo - Tronson du Coudray’s Art - AIS Canoe Unit Brian Hopley This is important to consider. Peter Sherlock some time ago published in The Conversation on church attendance at Christmas remains a contentious issue. He cited huge public events such as Melbourne's Carols by Candlelight and the similar gala occasions in Sydney where mystery galvanises Australians into a fresh world of wonder and Christian identification. He pondered on the increased numbers of people who attend local churches at Christmas and Easter and in spite of all this, he asks whether Christmas has been surrendered to heathens. I might concur a little here as at the December Tweed Heads Chamber of Commerce breakfast with so much materialistic sham I raised to my feet and suggested Christmas is celebrating something else of more significance, to which many acknowledged and applauded.