Posted on 12/24/2011 4:34:44 AM PST by Cronos
Every few years Christmas is on a Sunday and suddenly believers face a dilemma: Stay home hanging stockings and opening gifts, or upend those cherished domestic traditions and go to Sunday church services. That is, if their church is even open.
Nearly 10% of Protestant churches will be closed on Christmas Sunday this year, according to LifeWay Research, and most pastors who are opening up say they expect far fewer people than on other Sundays. Other reports suggest that churches across the board are scaling down their services in anticipation of fewer worshipers.
"We have to face the reality of families who don't want to struggle to get kids dressed and come to church," Brad Jernberg of Dallas's Cliff Temple Baptist Church told the Associated Baptist Press. Similarly, Beth Car Baptist Church in Halifax, Va., is planning a short service featuring bluegrass riffs on Christmas music. "I'll do a brief sermon, and then we're going home," said Pastor Mike Parnell.
..St. Augustine of Hippo said that such associations should spur the faithful to deeper observance, not to downplaying the holiday altogether or tailoring it to the prevailing culture: "So, brothers and sisters, let us keep this day as a festival—not, like the unbelievers, because of the sun up there in the sky, but because of the One who made that sun."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Are people going to celebrate Jesus' birthday by giving each other gifts instead of focusing on Him?
My husband and I and our children will be at church worshipping.
Not Jesus’ birthday. It’s the festival when we celebrate his Birth. He was probably born in the Spring when shepherds would have been in the fields.
Church tonight and tomorrow.
you can rest assured that each and every RC Church will be open on Christmas.
...and they will be FULL.
Current temp in Bethlehem is 64F.
It’s true we don’t really know exactly when He was born, but sheep graze outdoors year round.
We will be in church both tonight and tomorrow. That’s the plan anyway. Our family Christmas commences at noon today with 16 members here. I’m already tired....
I am out of town with my family for the Holiday.... I’m looking for a Midnight Mass as we speak.
Well, this is kind of sad to read. I am a Seventh day Adventist and when Christmas is on the Sabbath, there is no place I’d rather be than in Church and church is usually packed.
But God has his people in every church and I suppose those who will be in church tomorrow, well, they are probably among them. I love Christmas.
Easter is my favorite. ;-)
Amen to that.......!
I will take this to my opportunity to practice charity and keep my thoughts to myself . . . . However, I have duty as a Christian to admonish the sinner and remind them that December 25th is a Sunday, and thus the Lord’s Day. Shame on these ‘pastors’.
Well our church cancelled Christmas Day services (and there are 3 services on Sunday.) Instead, on Saturday night they’re going to try to accommodate everyone for a single service...how will they do that on Christmas Eve, some big production outside. The logistics of doing such a thing (remote parking, erecting a stage, seating for thousands, boggles the mind.)
I just don’t know why they didn’t go ahead w/the Saturday night service as we usually have inside (it might have been packed, but we have overflow areas.) And then have just one service on Sunday if they expect fewer people.
So that leaves members of our family looking for a church to attend on Sunday. My dad’s church is also closing, so that’s out. Quite frustrating.
My take...it’s not the problem of fewer people on Sunday, it’s that the pastors want to spend Christmas at home. Most weeks the rest of the congregation works a five or six day work week, then show up every Sunday to volunteer as Sunday School teachers, or parking attendants, etc. Our pastors consider Sunday to be one of their “work” days, so they take every Monday off. Color me cynical, but that’s how I see it.
Here is the actual headline from the source:
Research: Pastors plan to host Christmas services despite busyness of Christmas Day
Virtually all pastors will have service on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas day. The overwhelming, overwhelming majority (at least 91% out of a sample of 1000 pastors) will have Christmas day service. Hardly a story, especially if if doesn’t affect your own ability to worship as you see fit.
But by all means, oh holier-than-thous, let’s go ahead and tsk tsk the others. It will make you feel superior. Merry Christmas.
He also reminded us that we will see lots of new faces - ones we probably haven't seen since Easter Sunday. Funny.
Merry Christmas everyone, celebrating the birth of our savior.
We are having 6 services today and only one tomorrow.
We’ll be at one tonight and also the one tomorrow, but we don’t company or little ones so makes it easier.
My dad was a fundamentalist Methodist minister (the last one north of the Mason-Dixon, I believe), and i have to admit that as a little kid, I hated it when Christmas fell on Sunday. The whole Santa Claus thing was pretty much out the window as we all rushed off to Sunday school!
But, having said that, the entire month of December was a sheer delight at church — with Christmas pageants, Christmas parties (every group had its own), live Christmas nativity scenes, Christmas caroling, and, of course, the Christmas services where Dad got the chance to preach the message of Salvation to packed houses.
I look back on all of that with fond memories now — but, I still hated Christmas falling on a Sunday!
I think Paul said something about days in Romans 14:5.....
When we spend our time tsk tsking over other Christians' choices, we really are not so holy.
We are going to church this afternoon. the last time Christmas was on Sunday, our church was nearly empty. We were new to the area and I was flabbergasted! I expected it to be full.
Ok, I must be losing it. Christmas is a church day period. Regardless what day it falls on. If it falls on Sunday I would think churches would be fuller since that week would only have one church day. Why would people NOT go to church for Christmas ???
Hmmmm... let's see. Nearly 10% means less than 10%, meaning less than 10% of the churches will be closed. They COULD have reported that OVER 90% of the churches would be open. But that wouldn't make good news, would it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.