Zurich. Following some discussion in the most recent District Apostle Meeting in Dortmund (we reported), the international Church leadership has decided that there will be no divine services anywhere around the world on New Year’s Day 2011. Instead, the congregations will be invited for divine services on Sunday, 2 January 2011.

The calendar has something of a special accent at the turn of the year 2010/2011, in that New Year’s Day falls on a Saturday. After some brief discussions on the matter, the District Apostle Meeting resolved to postpone the otherwise usual New Year’s Day divine service by one day. Concerning this Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber stated: “New Year’s Day is not a Church holiday. Let us mark the Sunday with a divine service and therefore have the first divine service of the New Year take place on 02 January.”

It is a different matter for the Christmas Day service, said the international Church leader. Christmas is a significant Church holiday and a firmly settled element of the ecclesiastical calendar. Although Christmas day—25 December 2010—also falls on a Saturday, there will still be divine services on that day around the world.

Divine service order at the turn of the year

Following is the official divine service order for the turn of the year 2010/2011:

• Sunday, 19 December 2010: Divine service
• Wednesday/Thursday, 22/23 December 2010: No divine service
• Saturday, 25 December 2010: Christmas Day divine service
• Sunday, 26 December 2010: No divine service
• Wednesday/Thursday, 29/30 December 2010: No divine service
• Friday, 31 December 2010: New Year’s Eve divine service
• Saturday, 01 January 2011: No divine service
• Sunday, 02 January 2011: New Year’s divine service

At the next turn of the year 2011/2012, both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Sunday, and the usual divine services will take place on those days. The District Apostle Meeting has reserved the right to make further decisions concerning divine service order for next year.