At the All Saints of America Antiochian Mission off East Skyline Drive, Christmas means a visit from the head of the West Coast diocese. The Right Rev. Bishop Joseph of Los Angeles visits every mission annually, and will be in Homer from Dec. 23 to the morning of Christmas Eve, leaving at noon Dec. 24 to visit other missions.

Starting at 10 p.m. Christmas eve, All Saints holds a celebration of liturgy until 2 a.m. Christmas day.

“There’s something uniquely different about praying at night. It’s just a very different, wonderful kind of experience,” said Father Paul Jaroslaw of All Saints.

Many churches hold evening candlelight services on Christmas Eve. At Glacierview Baptist Church, the 6 p.m. Dec. 24 service tends to bring in many people from outside the membership, said Pastor Rick Wise.

Candlelight services symbolize Jesus as the light of the world, said Pastor Darren Williams of Refuge Chapel.

“But also, we are the light of the world,” he added.

Refuge Chapel holds a Christmas Eve service at 7 p.m., with carols and readings of the Christmas story. Because Christmas falls on a Sunday, Refuge Chapel won’t hold services that day, Williams said.

At Homer United Methodist Church, at the end of the Christmas Eve service, with the room dark and as people sing “Silent Night,” candles are lit from the single Christ candle.

“It’s a demonstration of God’s light coming into the world,” said Rev. Dan Lush of the Methodist Church.

Lush will read from Isaiah 9:2, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined.”

Candlelight services also are held 7 p.m. Christmas Eve at Faith Lutheran Church, with a Christmas Day service at 9:30 a.m. There is a candlelight service in Seldovia at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Catholic church; a Lutefisk is the main course, as well as the brunt of jokes, at an annual holiday event sponsored by Faith Lutheran Church of Homer, according to Peter Larson.

If you’ve never had lutefisk or seen it eaten by lutefisk-crazed Norwegians, you don’t know what fun you’re missing. The main ingredient is a white fish, usually cod. Ingredients in the traditional recipe include lye. Yes, lye.

“I’m Norwegian, full-blooded, and my parents had it at home,” said Larson, who is 65. “In those days, it wasn’t prepared very well. Sometimes it stank horribly and didn’t taste very well.”

But that was then. On Friday, Larson’s wife, Flo, prepared the lutefisk and received rave reviews from diners, as well as her husband.

“The way Flo fixes it, it’s the best we’ve ever had,” Larson said.

Side dishes included potatoes and gravy, Swedish meatballs, potato balls, coleslaw, pickled herring, lefse and an assortment of delicious cookies for everyone that cleaned their plate.

Music was provided by the Nelson family of Anchor Point. And the self-effacing Scandinavian stand-up comedy of Dewaine Tollefsrud and Curt Olson had everyone laughing. potluck follows.

Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church is host to Father James Oberly of Texas, who will visit Dec. 16-25, said Sister Carol Ann Aldrich. Oberly conducts a Reconciliation Mass on Dec. 21, with private confession before hand. He conducts mass at 9 p.m. Christmas Eve with music and carols, and at 11:30 a.m. Christmas Day.

The celebration of light is a theme in Judaism. This year, Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light, starts on Dec. 26, with the celebration beginning at sundown the day before.

Homer’s Jewish community doesn’t have any celebrations planned, said Hope Finkelstein. Her family will celebrate privately, with such events as spinning the dreidel or lighting the candles of the menorah.

Another local faith is Bah’ai. P.J. Bauer, a local Bah’ai, explained her faith like so:

“If all religions come from God, then it’s a little like dropping a stone in a pool,” she said. “Each ring is a manifestation.”

Some Bah’ais celebrate Christmas, said Bauer. Bah’ais also celebrate New Year — March 1, under the Bah’ai calendar, or ayaam-i-Ha. The Bah’ai calendar has 19 months of 19 days. The extra four days of the 365-day year are inter-calendar days when Bah’ais do service to the community, Bauer said.

Many local churches hold celebrations leading up to Christmas. The Christian Community Church has a community carol sing at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Homer United Methodist Church has a children’s Christmas pageant at 11 a.m. on Sunday, with children acting out the story of Jesus’ birth. The church has been starting its Sunday services this month with 15 minutes of Christmas caroling at 10:45 a.m. before the regular services. Lush said the church choir also sings carols at the Homer Senior Center and South Peninsula Hospital.

At All Saints, Christmas continues beyond Dec. 25. The 12 days of Christmas for other faiths ends with the Epiphany, the visit of the Wise Men to see the newborn Jesus. All Saints celebrates on Jan. 6 the Theophany, the first appearance of the Holy Trinity when Christ was baptized in the river Jordan.

For Theophany, Jaroslaw leads services with the blessing of the cross at 3 p.m. Jan. 6 at Bishop’s Beach. The cross is thrown into Kachemak Bay, and if someone is brave enough, will run in and rescue the cross.

“Rain or shine, sleet or hail, 50 below, we’ll do it,” Jaroslaw said.