Saebyeoksong (Christmas Dawn Caroling)

Definition and Meaning

Saebyeoksong means "dawn song." After the Christmas Eve program, church members form small groups in the early morning hours of December 25. Standing in front of members' homes, they sing Christmas hymns and offer greetings such as "Rejoice, the Savior has come!" The practice carries the sense of being the first to bring the news of the birth of Jesus to one's neighbors, and because it involves visiting and blessing members' households, it also has the character of pastoral visitation.

Biblical and Historical Background

The biblical basis most often cited for saebyeoksong is Luke 2:10–11, the passage in which an angel announces the birth of the Savior to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night in the fields. Church members walking the streets at night to spread the news of the birth are seen as echoing the story of the angel and the shepherds.

In form, the practice resembles the custom in English-speaking countries of going from house to house singing carols at Christmastime. For this reason, it is generally thought to be a Western church custom that took root in Korean churches through missionaries. However, no clear documentary record has been found establishing when or in which church it first began.

Practice in Korean Churches

Traditional saebyeoksong was generally carried out as follows:

• Members of the choir, the young adult group, and the middle and high school youth divide into teams by district or neighborhood.
• From around midnight until dawn, they visit members' homes one after another.
• The songs most commonly sung are Christmas hymns from the hymnal, such as "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night."
• Households expecting a visit leave their lights on and wait, then offer snacks such as cookies, rice cakes, and drinks, or small gifts.
• The items collected were reportedly sometimes shared with neighbors or people in need.

Saebyeoksong is not a rite prescribed by the doctrine or church constitution of any particular denomination. Churches of many denominations, including Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel churches, have practiced it as a kind of local custom. Consequently, its form varied less by denomination than by the size of the church, the region, and the era.

The situation changed as urbanization made apartment living the norm. Singing in the middle of the night led to noise complaints, and gaining entry to apartment buildings became difficult, so the number of churches practicing saebyeoksong declined sharply. Today some churches continue the custom in modified forms, such as:

• Moving it to the evening of Christmas Eve.
• Visiting only selected households, such as elderly members who live alone or families caring for someone who is ill.
• Visiting nursing homes and care facilities.

Saebyeoksong was a custom that adorned Christmas and the close of Advent in the church calendar. For this reason, longtime churchgoers often recall it fondly as a memory of church community life in years past.