Some megachurches closing on Christmas

Some small churches are doing the same thing

 

I guess it shouldn't be too surprising. We've cancelled services for the super bowl for some time now (or at least made the serivce a Super Bowl party.) Now we're recognizing that by-and-large, Christmas is celebrated in a non-religious way, so we can cancel services for that as well.

I'm not one for having a special service on Christmas morning (if, for example, it was on Thursday), but I am one for having services on Sunday.

 

I would be willing to bet that if each person in every Christian church were to witness to one person we would see more saved than any Christmas service.

 

btw - that is an incredibly dumb statement. Surely these critical evangelicals know that the Church is the people, not the facilities.

 

Weird, overhere the churches always fill up around Christmas.

 

I attend what could be called a megachurch. They will hold several services on Christmas Eve, and I believe will have one service on Christmas Sunday (instead of the normal four which includes Sunday evening). But I will actually be attending church with my cousin, who attends a megachurch (it's a Dutch Reformed one, mioque would be proud). They have six services on Christmas Eve, and one on Sunday (they normally have three which includes Sunday evening).

Yes they are. They're doing so on Saturday instead. Jesus said the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. So while I prefer even a small service on Sunday instead of none, I don't see the problem with having services on Saturday instead of Sunday in the OP example.

BTW, most of these churches have as part of their Christmas Eve schedule a Midnight service on Christmas Eve night/Christmas morning. But the report likely considers that a Christmas Eve service, not a Christmas service.

 

The run of the mill Godfearing Dutch Reformed church around here, holds only 2 services on a sunday.

 

A lot of churches are doing this. I don't think you can draw any conclusions from closing the church on Christmas. It may be the church's idea of preventing people from choosing whether or not to go to church.

Of course, this may complicate the plan for all the Creasters (people who only attend church on Christmas and Easter).

 

We may be closed on Christmas, but that's because no one (literally) may be here.

 

We have a children's play on Christmas Eve (do so every year). We're having 1 service on Sunday morning. The pastor said he throught it funny to close church on the day we are supposed to be celebrating our Savior's birth.

I am looking forward to that service!

Take care.

Linda G.

 

I'm taking the last of my vacation on Christmas week---we will be attending worship at my wife's parents church in Alabama on Christmas day!! It will be our first "Alabama Christmas" in 5 years!!---but we will still be having Christmas Day services HERE---with our Youth Minister leading the 9am service! So---not all "mega" churches are closed Christmas!!

 

We will have a 1.00 service - only expecting my family and one other person though, everyone else will be gone.

But we are a mini-church, not a mega-church

 

We aren't a mega church, but we are the largest church in our town. And we are having Sunday morning worship as usual on Christmas day.

 

I attend one of the churches that was featured in the article. Should we move some of our services during the week to Christmas Day instead? Perhaps. Some of the local media have given us flak over it. But since we have so many services planned, and since our Christmas Eve service is one of our two major services where we expect very large attendance (Easter being the other), at this point it may be too late to rearrange schedules. Maybe our leadership will learn from this and hold at least one service on Sunday.

 

One thing people aren't realizing is how much of a toll the extensive Christmas Eve services take on the pastoral staff and volunteers. Imagine if you have seven services, starting at 3:00, and going on every hour and a half until midnight. That means support staff and volunteers need to get there as early as noon to open the church and get it picked up and ready for services. Your musicians and readers, and volunteers need to get there as early as 1:00pm to practice and get setup, not to mention that they'll be there until after the postlude sometime after 1:30 am. Your greeters, pastors, bulletin passer-outers, ushers, etc, need to be there at 2:30 and be there until every last person has left. No to mention the sound and tape volunteers (if any) and simplar folks. Many many people will give 13 or more hours nonstop from the 24th until the very last service on the morning of the 25th.

 

Johnv---not to take away from what you thought is---its a good thought, though---one that I myself would think---"How's this gonna affect myself and the rest of . . ."

But

at the deacon's meeting---they talked about what "time" we should have services----and all the hoop-la centered around---"Well---a lot of the women need to get home to cook!"---I bet that was "hashed" and "rehashed" two dozen times in the course of the hour long meeting---"The women have got to have time to get home and cook!!"

 

One of the factors in our decision was support staff from the school we meet at. It was all we could do to get someone to open the school for us on Chrismas eve. Opening up for us on Christmas day was out of the question.

 

For those who like to squabble about how many seervices to have then go to a Catholic Church. They have services everyday.