Church and Christmas

This year, churches found themselves facing an interesting situation: Christmas fell on a Sunday. Church leadership this year had to wrestle with the question of what to do with traditional Sunday worship gatherings. On one hand, the possibility existed that many families would be traveling or would want to spend the full day enjoying their own private celebration of the holiday, thus reducing church attendance. On the other hand, many grappled with the fact that Christmas is and should be seen primarily as a spiritual, religious holiday. This issue should not be mistakenly seen as a cut-and-dry simplistic matter; but, unfortunately, the question falls easily into cut-and-dry language: "Should we cancel church on Sunday?"


Perhaps the popular approach wound up with churches presenting some form of modified, consolidated, and relaxed worship opportunity on Christmas Day; many churches also opted for Christmas Eve celebrations in lieu of Christmas Day gatherings. This type of middle-ground response presents a best-of-both-worlds option: a worship opportunity for those who desire to gather, while the change in scheduling allows for a more relaxed, low-key day.


However, this response should be seen for what it is: a compromise. While many do embrace this (indeed, many friends told me that the special service their church offered had higher attendance than a normal service), this approach cannot please all. Many feel that churches should offer their full complement of gatherings on that day, being that Christmas is second only to Easter in importance on the church calendar. Why should the church compromise or cancel on such a day? If the holiday is primarily a spiritual celebration, as many hold, then why would churches even consider abbreviating, much less canceling, gatherings on that day?


Also, it may be that the compromise still does not compromise enough; many regular attendees might not be able to attend, due to family plans and travel. As a friend of mine pointed out, this does not mean that worship is not taking place; it just is not taking place "corporately." If churches offered their full schedule, would people show up? No pastor wants to preach to empty pews, much less on Christmas.


Ironically (though naturally, if one observes the calendar) New Year's Day also fell on a Sunday. Churches were faced with the same questions, though to a lesser degree. Would people attend? Should the church "make space" for outside celebrations? How does the church itself celebrate?


An insightful WSJ article by David Gibson delicately notes the difficulty embedded in the issue: "...It's...self-defeating to complain about keeping Christmas holy when churches close on Dec. 25." Another blog I read (I cannot seem to find it again, otherwise I would link to it), written from an atheist perspective, blasted Christians for all the noise we make about the increasing secularization and commercialization of the Christmas season if churches are only going to cancel their services anyway. 


Ouch. 


As noted above, the issue at hand is both deeper and wider than that. However, this stark perspective casts the matter in a different light. If we as believers are bemoaning the "spiritual decline" of the world in which we live, the answer cannot be taking a break from seeing and interacting with the world in ways that recognize the spiritual significance of what we do. Rather, we should seek to foster and embrace heaven meeting earth in what ways we can - and to celebrate corporately when we can as well! Rather than seeing Christmas (and New Year's Day) this year as a hindrance, Christian communities should be rushing forward to embrace the grand opportunity they have this year - the opportunity to celebrate these special days with their Christian brothers and sisters in corporate worship. What better days to be in church than on the days when we celebrate Christ's birth and the coming of a new year? 


Tim Tennent, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, pulled no punches when he said the following on Twitter: "Churches canceling Christmas a.m. services is not a sign of being pro-family, it's a sign of spiritual malaise." A spiritual holiday is worth celebrating spiritually! We would not dream of cutting corners like this with Easter; then why do we with Christmas? In future years, let us embrace our freedom of worship by rolling out of bed, bundling up the family, and making it a point to celebrate Christ with our Christian family when the opportunity presents itself.