More time to open gifts
The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday was in 1994. I was only a teenager, but I still remember major news stories. One thing I don't remember is any church canceling its morning service because Christmas happened to fall on a Sunday.
As the cliché goes, “My, how things have changed!”
All the major news outlets in America have picked up the story that many megachurches are canceling their morning services because of this apparent conflict. The most notable of these churches is one of America's largest, Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago. According to one article from CNN, pastors at Willow Creek “are canceling services, anticipating low attendance on what they call a family day.”
Cally Parkinson, a spokeswoman for Willow Creek Community Church, said that church leaders decided that organizing Christmas Sunday services would not be the most effective use of staff or volunteer resources. “If our target and our mission is to reach the unchurched, basically the people who don't go to church, how likely is it that they'll be going to church on Christmas morning?” she said. She also pointed out that the last time Christmas fell on a Sunday only a small number of people showed up to pray.
Is there something terribly wrong with the above? Willow Creek is America's leading evangelical church and it is sad to see it be so off-base with its representation of evangelical ecclesiology.
Here are the questions I would like answered before I cancel:
- I wonder what they would say to a pastor like me who only has 50 people show up for a weekly gathering. Since I anticipate low attendance every week, should I cancel?
- There is no denying that Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with family. However, is it primarily a family day? Is there any reason it can't be a church day and a family day? Should we not be rearing our family up with the idea that time spent together hearing God's Word and encouraging others is truly the most valued family time?
- If the only mission of the church is to reach those who are unchurched (defined as people who ‘don't go to church’) then why not cancel every week? For, every week, not just Christmas Sunday, 100% of the people who ‘don't go to church’ don't go to church. Okay, maybe I am reading her a bit too literally here. However, my point is that the above stated goal of the church and the Sunday morning service seems to be a bit limited.
- What exactly is ‘effective use’ for a staff member? I hope that the opportunity to speak God's Words to others, however small a number, would be considered useful and effective.
- Can I be let in on the secret to getting a group of people, even if only a ‘small number’, to come together with the sole expressed purpose to pray? I can think of no better reason not to cancel a service than knowing that I'll have a group of people intent on praying together.