Is Your Church Open on Christmas?
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, December 05, 2005
- Viewed 99
- (68) comments so far
Many large churches have decided to not have services on Christmas Sunday morning:
Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL)
Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX)
Southland Christian Church (Lexington, KY)
Mars Hills Bible Church (Grandville, MI)
North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA)
All of these churches have decided to hold multiple Christmas Eve services instead.
Of course... there's controversy; as stated in this article from Kentucky.com:
Megachurch officials around the country consulted with each other before deciding to take the day off.
The decision makes sense in today's hectic world, said Willow Creek spokeswoman Cally Parkinson. "It's more than being family-friendly. It's being lifestyle-friendly for people who are just very, very busy," she said.
Many evangelical churches don't hold Christmas day services, except when the holiday falls on a Sunday.
For some evangelicals, it's the day of the week -- not the day of the year -- that's sacred. To them, closing the doors of the church on the Lord's Day is unthinkable.
Others, troubled by the holiday's increasingly secular tone, lament the change.
While admiring the emphasis on family, Fuller Theological Seminary professor Robert K. Johnston worries that another Christian tradition is fading. Fuller, in Pasadena, Calif., is one of the nation's premier evangelical schools.
"What's going on here is a redefinition of Christmas as a time of family celebration rather than as a time of the community faithful celebrating the birth of the savior," said Johnston, a professor of theology and culture. "There is a risk that we will lose one more of our Christian rituals, one that's at the heart of our faith."
At Southland, the decision hasn't generated much controversy. "We've probably had maybe half a dozen (complaints), which is understandable," said church spokeswoman Cindy Willison. Southland members are encouraged to attend one of three Christmas Eve services instead. A Dec. 23 service has also been added.
Willison says attendance dropped significantly the last time Christmas fell on a Sunday, in 1994. Her church's decision was made "based on analysis of the number of people who attended in previous years and just a desire for us to emphasize family time on Christmas Day," she said.
"It's not anything unique to us," she said.
At least one other major Lexington congregation, Crossroads Christian Church, will close for Christmas.
Crossroads Pastor Glenn Schneiders says Dec. 25 is no longer considered sacred by many Americans -- especially those who are not regular churchgoers. "It's viewed more as a holiday than a holy day," he said.
The unchurched are more reachable on Dec. 24, said Schneiders, who leads a church with average weekend attendance of 1,900 people.
"Studies would say the best opportunity to invite people is Christmas Eve. It's, for whatever reason, the least threatening service of the year to attend ... so what we do is really point all of our energy in that direction," Schneiders said. "We don't think we're compromising. We're actually reaching more people by doing that."
Lexington Theological Seminary professor Bill Turner says it's difficult for some congregations to hold multiple Christmas Eve services and then return the following day.
"You're talking about a lot of volunteers and a lot of logistics to make Sunday happen in a lot of those megachurches," he said. By the end of Saturday's services, "you're pretty well wrung out."
Some churches are scaling down their Sunday schedule on Christmas.
At Louisville's Southeast Christian Church, where 18,000 people worship each weekend, they'll have one service on Christmas in the fellowship hall. Fewer than 1,000 people are expected to attend.
Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, where 1,650 people typically worship, will also have one service on Christmas.
"We want to be here to worship Christ on his birthday," pastor Bill Henard said.
At a time when some corporations and government agencies are shying away from even using the word "Christmas," Henard said, "We want the world to know that it's okay to celebrate Christ."
Meanwhile, Roman Catholics will be as busy as ever, Lexington diocesan spokesman Tom Shaughnessy said. "It's a holy day of obligation, which means for the faithful, Mass attendance is required."
At First United Methodist Church in Lexington, the pastor will perform a "blessing of the toys," and the congregation will sing Christmas carols, church spokeswoman Marsha Berry said.
"Even if there's a small group ... we'll be there to worship," she said. "What better day than Christmas to experience God?"
What do you think?
It only happens once a decade or so… Christmas Day actually falling on a Sunday. If you and your staff are like many, you had to determine what your schedule of services would be this Christmas weekend…
Comments
if you want a Globally Recognized Avatar (the images next to your profile) get them here. Once you sign up, they will displayed on any website that supports them.
Brian La Croix on Wed, December 07, 2005
BeHim,
Where did I say anything about worshiping my family? My point is that families can worship together outside the church building.
I would never suggest worshiping anyone other than the God of Scripture! And this also means that I refuse to worship the yoke of tradition that seems to define how many people feel church “has” to be done.
I hope you are jesting in how you seem to have taken my comments.
“Family worship” is meant the same as “family dinner.” I certainly don’t mean we should eat my children! It means we eat together as a family.
Brian
BeHim on Wed, December 07, 2005
[RevJay,
I see your point, but don’t see how closing the door on Christmas is spending “more time with Santa and less with the Savior.”
Is a worship service the only place we can spend time with the Savior? [[[What about family worship? ]]]Can this not be done on Christmas instead of a church service?]
It was in your Dec 5th post bracketed above… thank you for defining what you meant.
Brian La Croix on Thu, December 08, 2005
You got it, BeHim.
And I apologize if I came off a bit tense on my last post. It was a tense day, but nothing to do with you - just my bi-vo job.
Blessings on you!
Brian
BeHim on Thu, December 08, 2005
No worries Brian. Good job on the Matthew 18…
ld on Thu, December 08, 2005
Brian, you are funny. That family dinner thing has kept me smiling all day!
Robin on Sat, December 10, 2005
My church is holding the regular Sunday morning service this year on December 25. Our drama ministry is doing a presentation this coming week and the subject is whether or not to hold service on Christmas Day. Man, talk about revelation!!! And conviction. (For those who wanted to cancel service) We say the real reason for the season is the Birth of Christ but do we really believe that if we don’t even go to the Lord’s house on “HIS” day? If we cancel service it makes everything we say all year null and void.
Lori on Mon, December 12, 2005
I have listened to this debate for the last several weeks. While some churches have successful Christmas Eve services (especially the megachurches) many, many others do not. I have been in 8 churches over the last 15 years due to being married to an Air Force officer and moving all over the country. The Christmas Eve services were usually attended by less than 5% of the church and even in one large church (1200 in attendance) only 34 people came. However, the few times in my life Christmas fell on Sunday, church was packed.
I think there are a few problems with not having services on Sunday. First, many churches provide no nursery or their usual children’s ministries on Christmas Eve which excludes families with small children. No one wants crying, tired babies and toddlers in a candlelight service and it is hard on these parents (me included with six children) to corral their little ones during this service. Secondly, as a pianist and worship team member, I found most who were going to be in town were committed to serving even on Christmas.
The third problem has nothing to do with the church staff. Most of the articles point to the decision not to have services on Christmas Sunday because of the assumption of low attendance. Again, the past times Christmas fell on Sunday, I saw churches across the country packed. Even those out of town went to church where they were visiting family or friends. If the assumption is that no one will come then who is asking the question—WHY? If even our committed Christians would rather skip church to open presents and eat dinner what is going on in the country? I’m all for more family time and a more contemporary format for church but to simply do away with a Sunday service is unprecedented. If anything a Christmas Eve service on Saturday should be reconsidered in a year with Christmas on Sunday.
I am sad my children won’t have the joy of worshiping on Christmas Sunday since even my church has decided to not have Sunday services. I am also sad that as Christians we are showing the world the family is more important than God.
Don’t get me wrong - that may not be true. However, to my non-Christians friends - that’s what it looks like.
Paul McDonald on Mon, December 12, 2005
Y’know, I’ve been a steady volunteer at churches over the last several years, and if I was in charge of a “mega-church” that had to round up 300-500 or so volunteers to put together five services on Christmas Day, I’d be in a panic!
Y’see, for a mega-church, it wouldn’t be “one” service on Christmas day, it would be five—if the church sold out to it and said “Let’s pack the house on Christmas!” Or maybe more…
But mega-churches tend to choose to do something different—they choose to have a week’s worth of Christmas services for the week of Christmas and have one day off.
Okay, so your church has one service on Christmas Eve and another on Christmas Day. Works for you, great! Do it! God loves it!
Other churches celebrate Christmas with services for an entire week and have 50,000+ in attendance, reaching 100 times what a lot of churches do. That’s great too, don’t you think?
This is obviously nothing more than Satan trying to separate the church! “hmmm… I know! If I can get the little churches to get the media to rake over the big churches, then the big churches will get defensive and screw up! And then the little churches will get a good ego and pride going… pride and ego, yeah!”
Don’t let Satan win this battle: Some churches meet for a week, others for a day. They do what works for their flock, and who would know better?
Merry Christmas!
Michael on Mon, December 12, 2005
I guess I step back and look, not at the fighting between churches, but how this appears to those outside of our churches.
So, Christians are boycotting Walgreens because they choose to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas!” in their ads. After all, we want to keep Jesus at the center of Christmas. And Walgreens caves in.
Then, what do you know, Christmas day is on a Sunday this year. Most people in our culture associate Sunday as the “Lord’s Day.” While mega-church attendees know they can worship on Sat. or Sunday, most non-Christians, while not attending church, still associate Sunday as church day. My athiest friends associate Sunday with Christian worship, even though they don’t believe in God. It is culturally entrenched!
So, these same Christians (lets face it we are all lumped together for good or for ill) who get onto Walgreens for dismissing Jesus during the Christmas season ALSO cancel church on Christmas morning - Doesn’t that seem a bit odd? [Now, we know they are not the same people - but that is not how it appears to those on the outside]
Unfortunatly, the minority (in number) mega-churches that made the decision get all the press. The many churches that will worship on Sunday - Christmas or not - don’t get a lot of attention.
It makes us look hypocritical. We are presurring secular companies to risk offending their Jewish, Muslim and non-religious customers BUT as churches, we are cancelling worship becasue it is inconvienient, or there won’t be enough people there, or we can’t get volunteers - My daughter would say, “Whatever”, roll her eyes and walk off. I think many non-Christian people in our culture will do the same.
I think the whole thing hurts the credibility of churches and we don’t have a lot of credibility left in American culture.
Lest the mega-church forget, just because THEY are big doesn’t mean the cause of Christ is being advanced in America. I think the mega-churches in America have to realize the power they have to shape popular perceptions of Christianity and be a little more responsible to the larger body of Christ. Whether they will own it or not, I think they made the Christian church in America look bad on this one. To those who are given much, much is expected.
Paul McDonald on Mon, December 12, 2005
Okay, Michael… I’ll bite…
How does doing what’s truly working best at one place of worship make another place of worship look bad?
... and if so, why do we really care what CNN says?
This shouldn’t be about “big church” vs. “small church” but instead should be about “church” vs. “satan” (guess who is gonna win)
Michael on Mon, December 12, 2005
Maybe my point only makes sense to me! I am open to that possibility. Let me try this a different way.
I believe that news coverage, focused on churches, clergy, etc. creates a “general impression” of Christianity as a whole.
While we, inside the church, understand Protestant American Christianity is far from a mono-lithic group/movement, that nuance is lost by the news media. They paint with a broad brush.
When media stories run that cast Christianity in a bad, or hypocritical light - either through misrepresentation or actual errors on the churches part - it is another hurdle or barrier to the gospel. [That is why what CNN, FOX, etc. say is important - information is power. I care about media voices only to the degree that what they say helps shape the culture in which we minister.]
In the media, I have heard two messages very loud and very clear this Christmas. 1.) “Christians” are angry because secularists are taking Christ out of Christmas. 2.) “Churches” are cancelling Sunday worship services on Christmas Day. It seems odd, that’s all. A secular company can’t take Christ out of Christmas, even though they serve people of all [or no] faiths. But churches cancel Sunday worship because it interferes with a secular celebration. Which is it? Is Christmas a religiuos holiday or not? If it is, why on earth would you cancel church on Christmas Sunday? If it’s not, then stop hammering companies that say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.
My question: How does that apparent contradiction sit with most people that are indifferent or even hostile to the gospel? Does it help their perception of Christians and the church or hurt it? I may be wrong, but I think it hurts.
My only point about large churches is that they have the bullhorn. When you have the bullhorn what you say gets heard. The story wasn’t “95% of Churches will be open Christmas Sunday” it was “Christian churches cancel services.” I wish the mega-church didn’t speak so loudly, but you can’t ignore the fact that they do. I don’t say that to snipe at mega-churches. I like what they do. I just think in this case, what may have made sense in the Leadership Team meeting fell sour on the streets.
Lori on Tue, December 13, 2005
Michael,
While I agree with most everything you said in your post one interesting thing I would like to point out. While the mega-churches have received the media spotlight, they aren’t the only cancelling Sunday services. From a small church in Broomfield,CO to the medium size church across town, to the the medium church here in New Hampshire to the mega church in Dayton, Ohio—they are all cancelling Sunday services on Christmas. In fact the majority of churches here in NH from Baptist to Congregational to non-denominational, they are for the most part not having services. I think this is very sad. For our family, where we are located we would have to drive 45 minutes or attend a Catholic mass (which we would not do) to attend services on Christmas. Our friends and families across the nation feel the same. I agree what sounded good to the Leadership Team in many churches may not have been based on what the congregation wanted or what the world would see.
Michael on Tue, December 13, 2005
I guess my point is not so much about whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, to cancel services. We are not talking about compromising an essential truth of the Christian faith. We cancel services when the snow is too deep and it’s dangerous to travel.
I just think an unintended consequence of the decision of a minority of high-profile churches is the perception that Christians/churches are inconsistent at best, hypocritical at worst.
If Barna is right, church attendance in every county in America (even counties with “growing” mega-churches) is declining. American is a growing mission field. I don’t think this helps.
Will “Satan” prevail over the church of Jesus Christ? Never. But do we sometimes give Satan the ammo to slow us down? Without a doubt.
Shalom
Paul McDonald on Tue, December 13, 2005
Thanks for the follow-up, Michael! And yes, you have good thoughts and ideas.
I have a story… y’see, a friend of mine was a bodybuilder way back when… he tells the story that one time he was doing his bench press excercise, he was on his third set of 12 reps benching 325 pounds or so (for those of you that think that’s a lot, that’s because it is) when a little guy came up to him and watched him finish out his set.
When Jeff was done with his set, the little guy said “You’re doing that wrong.”
Instead of arguing or telling the guy that he’s been lifting and competing for years, Jeff got up off the bench and simply said “Show me.”
So with that story, I want to make sure that you understand that 1) bodybuilders never want to scare off someone from exercise at a gym, and 2) megachurches don’t want to ridicule small churches.
All I’m saying is that if anyone has got a better idea, the entire Christian community is all ears!
If we’re doing it wrong, show us the right way to bench press 3-5 sets of 325.
Show us the right way to have 50,000-100,000 people at one Christmas service on Christmas day.
I’m not saying it’s impossible, I’m just saying that we haven’t figured out how.
Karen on Sat, December 17, 2005
We are a small church that had originally planned to cancel our service for Christmas morning to allow families to celebrate the holiday at home. Plans were changed only a week or so ago to accomodate a handful who wished to worship at Church on Christmas day. I am the worship leader. I have two small children and would prefer to be at home with them, in my pj’s with my video camera. I have wonderful memories of my childhood with Christmases at home. Reading the Christmas story by candlelight, talking as a family about what it all means. I was excited to begin that tradition with my children this year since my oldest is old enough. So, I was disappointed to learn I would have to rush through the process and get myself and my kids scrubbed up and dressed for morning service. I would prefer to worship at home. I understand the theory that many unchurched would only come on Christmas day but I have not seen any proof of that in my area. I see a lot of the unchurched come to the Christmas play and Cantata but not to the “Christmas Service” We celebrated Hanging of the Greens. We have lit a candle every week since then, sung Christmas carols int eh morning service, done Christmas Choir specials at every service. WE had a children’s play on the 4th, an adult dramatic musical on the 11th. We had our church Christmas party on the 14th. We will have our Candlelight service on the 18th with Christmas carols, reading of the Christmas story and communion, another Christmas service tomorrow on Love, a Christmas Eve service with communion and now yet another Christmas service on Christmas day. I have grown up in church my whole life. People may think this sounds bad but I have celebrated and reflected on Christmas with my church family for twenty days. I am ready to sit down nose to nose with my flesh and blood and bring Jesus and the Christmas story into my home without having to worry about compying with anyone’s schedule.
Page 3 of 5 pages < 1 2 3 4 5 >
Post a Comment