What do you do with Christmas when you’ve left church—but still love the season?

If you’ve ever wondered how to redeem Christmas without going back to religious performance, this conversation offers permission, language, and ideas for creating a conscious Christmas that actually feels like you.

In this episode of the Unchurching Podcast, Clint and Rachelle talk honestly about how confusing and guilt-laden Christmas can feel after deconstruction: Do you still “make it about Jesus”? What do you do with the nostalgia, the carols, the services, and the pressure to celebrate?

They explore the deeper history of Christmas—from pagan solstice festivals to the surprising lore behind Santa, stockings, and gifts under the tree—and how that history can actually free you from religious obligation. You may be surprised, we were!

They reframe Jesus through an awakened lens: Instead of centering a distant God or a baby “born to die,” they invite you to see Christmas as an inner event—honoring your own awakening, inner guidance, humility, and soul gifts.

They also introduce a playful new “bumper sticker” segment, where they take familiar Christian phrases and "gently" re-interpret them through a lens of consciousness, freedom, and light.

✨ Christmas can be about light within, not religious obligation.
✨ Jesus shows us our own divinity, not our depravity.
✨ You’re allowed to rewrite your traditions in a way that feels true.

–––
🌀 Unchurching is for the spiritually curious, the deconstructing, and the awakening.

📲 Follow us on Instagram: @unchurchingpodcast

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Welcome & the chaos of Clint’s Christmas décor
01:20 – When Christmas feels strange after leaving church
02:45 – Missing old traditions & asking: “What do we do with this now?”
04:30 – Was Christmas ever really about Jesus’ birthday?
06:20 – Solstice, Yule, and the return of the light
09:30 – How the church absorbed existing midwinter traditions
12:40 – A curious rabbit hole: Santa, symbolism, and old shamanic stories
18:30 – Why exploring origins helps release religious guilt
20:10 – The church’s version of Jesus: savior narrative & hierarchy
26:00 – The awakened view of Jesus: mystic, teacher, and breaker of religious rules
31:00 – Presence, compassion, and living what Jesus embodied
38:00 – New segment: Bumper Sticker of the Week
44:20 – Turning familiar phrases into invitations to awaken
47:00 – Where awakening fits with Christmas now
48:00 – The birth of inner light after the dark night
49:20 – The “star,” intuition, and inner guidance
50:30 – The manger, humility, and the human condition
51:20 – Gifts, soul gifts, and what we really bring to each other
52:30 – Making Christmas an inner event instead of a religious obligation
54:20 – Final reflections & a conscious Christmas blessing