Posted on 12/11/2005 8:58:32 PM PST by Pikamax
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The senior minister at central Kentucky's largest church defended a decision to not offer services there on Christmas Sunday and responded to mounting criticism.
The Rev. Jon Weese praised the decision of elders at Southland Christian Church during a service Saturday and said they "chose to value families. People over policy."
Weese has heard from hundreds of Christians across the nation protesting the closure, Southland officials said. Preaching before a crowd of about 1,150, Weece said the full story hasn't been heard.
"I was deeply saddened by the knee-jerk response of the Christian community as a whole to give the benefit of the doubt to the media and not a church or a Christian brother. I'm still troubled that more Christians did not stand up for us," said Weece. "Can you see or begin to see that the devil is stirring the pot on this?"
The backlash came after the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Southland and other megachurches in Illinois, Michigan, Georgia and Texas would not hold worship services on Dec. 25.
Standing on a stage decorated with 15 artificial Christmas trees, Weece downplayed the significance of the day.
"Christmas began as a pagan holiday to the Roman gods, and if we were to really celebrate the historical birth of Jesus, it would either be in early January or mid-April," Weece said. "I'm only pointing out the historical technicalities not out of intellectual arrogance, but again because of the illogical, ill-informed and even hypocritical arguments that were aimed at me this past week."
Weece also said that the church technically would be worshipping every Sunday in December.
Referring to Christianity's Jewish roots, he said that Sunday begins at sundown on Saturday according to biblical tradition.
Weece noted that Jesus also was criticized for breaking tradition. "There were some whose zeal even in the days of Jesus was misguided," he said. "They emphasized religion over relationship."
Worshippers applauded Weece several times during the service and gave him a standing ovation at one point.
"It's absolutely appalling that he and this church have been treated this way," church receptionist Olivia Byrne said after the service.
I would like to think Christian churches would be open every Sunday, whether people show up or not.
The guy wants the day off. Everything else is just drama for cover.
If I were considering to change a regular Church service schedule, and was posed with cancellation of a Christmas service, the first thing that would strike my thinking would be the purpose of the service intuitively.
The issue has nothing to do with missing a periodic meeting of religious people.
On the contrary, rationalism is the wrong thinking that needs to be challenged by Scriptural worship.
Hopefully, today's Christian is immersed in Scripture daily, not merely weekly.
There are also enormous opportunities to communicate the Gospel to believer and unbeliever alike on Christmas that appear to not even trace across the thinking of this church.
On the contrary, an issue that I am not judging, the church canceling the service is displaying their true works magnificently. They definitely appear absorbed in rote bureaucratic management thinking in their operational policies. I discern that type of behavior very differently than a body of believers seeking to study Bible Doctrine and apply it to their lives daily in all thinking. If that is not occuring, then that does far more to promote carnality than spirit-filling living.
The most beautiful hymns ever heard by our Lord begin with the sound of the leaves of the Bible being rustled by a congregation searching for His Word.
I think it is a backlash from the "more Christian than Thou" attitude emanating from many of these megachurches.
Do I really care? No. That is, no more than I care if the greeter or the checkout person at Walmart/Target ... wishes me a Merry Christmas.
Jesus asked that he be remembered by the Lord's supper, not a pagan holiday.
Reckon, Jesus knew this Christianity would catch on?
I think that while the intentions of these churches were good in not having Christmas day services so that the congregation could spend time with their families, they ended up with egg (or egg nog?) on their faces. A simple service where you can bring the entire family, like the one at my church, could have provided family time without requiring a large volunteer effort.
Excellent reasons NOT to cancel a Christian church service for a pagan holiday.
Maybe they could drape some construction debris over their dumpster enclosure, call it a manger and hold church services there.
This pastor has obviously never heard of the first rule of holes. He ended up digging another 10 feet deeper.
Standing ovations because the church finance committee found the return on investment for having services on Christmas is negative?
On Mt. Sinai, did God give to Moses the Ten Policies?
Very well said.
Not to quibble, I agree with the spirit of your statement, especially the first 7 lines, but I would say Easter is the holiest day of the year.
If Christ be not raised...
This is truly troubling also, that the staff of a church cannot bring themselves to be there on a Sunday, holiday or not? Above and beyond the fact that December 25 this year is a holiday, it is the Lord's Day, and should be observed no matter what.
It's not that families can't still be together on Christmas Eve. And besides that, there is the rest of Sunday to be together. It's not like church lasts all day, just usually the forenoon, even when there are three services.
Our church gets very full when the big box churches close. People still want to worship on Christmas Day and our church will be open.
How did Whitfield, Spurgeon, Wesley and Calvin lead their congregations with hundreds of staff?
These churches have decided to Focus on the Family, and have taken their focus of Jesus Christ. Dobson has ruined another church.
OK, let's see if these ministers notice when people do not show up when their birthday is on Sunday, and when he doesn't get the birthday bonus that most churches give.
"Pator, we won't be in church Sunday. We will be at home eating a huge feast and remembering your birthday. We know how you feel that celebrating the birth of somoen annually is a pagan practice, because no one celebrated birthdays in the Bible.
By the way, see the new car my wife bought me on your birthday?"
Life, and our expectations, are more complicated now than in the 18th century.
I was raised to sit in cold 18th-century Episcopal churches without electronics or modernism of any kind, to hear music of previous centuries and listen to the Word of the Lord in absolute simplicity. But as we all know, the Episcopal church transmuted into the left-wing political organization whose attitudes infuriate us all. The Lord showed me in a very clear, unmistakeable, even shocking way that He wanted me to be in this new church. In twenty years it has metamorphosed from six people in the pastor's living room to something that's soon going to be a megachurch, and it is now heavily reliant on electronics to run the huge building, record sermons, manage the sound system, etc. The traffic problems its services create are so awful that phalanxes of cops have to turn out to manage them on ordinary Sundays (a common problem in our area), and the huge new nave is not large enough to hold parishioners and all their kids at the same time. Screaming babies are discouraged in the services because sermons are taped for TV broadcast.
Am I entirely comfortable with all this modernism? No, not by a long shot. But God said I was supposed to be there, and the message the pastor speaks each week enlightens our family and is bringing my atheist ex-husband to Christ. So I can't argue with it or take myself off in a pique because the service schedule doesn't please me.
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