Sorry, We're Closed.
Willow Creek Community Church, one of the largest churches in the Chicago area, will be closed on Sunday, Dec. 25 - because it's Christmas.
Apparently many other churches throughout the country are closing on Sunday as well. According to some church leaders, Christmas Sunday is a good day for folks to spend time with their families.
I don’t know, but something about not celebrating and worshipping God as a community on Christmas day seems contrarian, especially to those who so often want to keep Christ in Christmas.
Many of these folks want prayer in school; "Christian" prayer, of course; many want the 10 Commandments posted on the walls of our school; and the list continues. Just please do not inconvenience us on Sunday December 25th.
I mean if folks are going to close down Church for a day, why not choose Super Bowl Sunday rather than Christmas Day? Think of all the great food that would be available. If there was an agrument it would be over whose team is the best and not the color of the carpet.
Once again a huge segment of the evangelical church caves to culture.
I don’t want to be judgmental and perhaps there is no way around it but for a group of folks who talk a great deal about transforming culture it seems that culture transforms many evangelical congregations than the other way around. And now evangelicals and evangelical scholars are going around in circles trying to decide what is right or wrong. It would be silly if it were not so sad and disappointing. They can tell you who is going to “heaven and who is going to burn in hell” or who God wants as President but they’re not sure if the church should gather on the chief principal day of the year set aside to adore and worship God incarnate.
So, to all my dear evangelical buds-- Happy Holidays!
I just hope Easter Sunday doesn't interfere with the huge Easter egg hunt and the Easter Bunny showing up.
I bet those Roman Catholics that so many of the evangelicals assume are going to miss heaven will be there on Sunday. This may be a good opportunity for those whose congregations will not be gathering on Christmas Day to discover what we have been missing for 1500 years.
I am curious, what do you think?
18 Comments:
I am with you on this one. What kind of message do we send the rest of the unbelieving world when we don't "have time" for church on the day we are celebrating the birth of our Lord!
Thanks folks!
Actually Snoop, it isn't really about "believers" getting together as much as it is the "cultural mindset" of the evangelical church in America. I am with you in many ways, The argument for not worshipping on Christmas day could be made for any day of the week. I doubt God cares. My trouble is with the seeminly hypocrisy of it all.
Okay, just to throw my two cents in: since I'm no longer part of a local, 4-walls-type of church, I don't see a problem with this. In fact, my mom invited us to go to her evangelical (Baptist) church on Christmas day (she wanted us to "see the new buildings, here the orchestra, etc." but honestly, I was thinking "ugh."
I would, however, feel more comfortable attending a Catholic Mass on that day. For some reason, it seems more appropriate and timeless compared to how most evangelical churches I'm familiar with tend to celebrate Christmas. IMHO, evangelical churches overall have already caved to culture so much that I might as well become a member of any social club and get the same benefits. On Christmas, I want to be reminded of the Holy Mystery of God become flesh, and catholic churches seem to hold forth the wonder of that mystery better.
Thanks J.R.
I guess this argument could be made for any Sunday. I like the ideas about DVDs. We could just distribute DVDs and then go "be" the church, heck we wouldn't need staff. When it's convenient we could all get together and visit the Roman catholic congregation to worship God in community. Heck, they have tons of candles and incense. They could even teach us what they mean and their significance.
Well... I am open minded on this.
After all, it's about keeping Christ in Christmas - not church in Christmas.
That's a key difference, by the way.
Perhaps the best way to do that is to do a Christmas Eve celebration as a church, then honor the family and help them keep Christ in Christmas as a household. After all, God created the family before He created the church.
Don't pick on Willow Creek. Maybe you weren't, but you mentioned them. I know from personal experience what goes on inside that church and to give them a week off between Christmas and New Years Day helps them keep the bar raised the rest of the year.
Maybe that's a separate topic.
So again - going to church does not make a holiday sacred. Nor does negating a church service make it secular.
If the first Christmas could be celebrated in a smelly cave, certainly a house is a step up.
As someone that served in the church for eight years I can honestly say that I have not heard of anything that made more sense than closing church on Christmas. Its one day in the year that you want to spend with your family. If you have to be at church and hour before the service to make final preparations and the do the service which can easily take two hours and pack up after the service, you have lost nearly four hours of the day. I think it's great that churches have been able to step away from this very religious habit of going to church on Sunday. As a child my parents never went to church on Sunday and we always had very memorable days together.
Well done evangelical church! You are slowly releasing all those religious habits which you have always claimed not to practice.
Thanks Tony, well said.
I guess when I hear the word Church I assume it means Christ or more so his body. If we can't keep the Church in Christmas we really have a huge problem.
Why don't we just keep the Christ in the family year around and skip the whole "church" thing?
My only point is that to cancel worship services on Christmas Day seems contrariwise. Right, wrong or indifferent.
Johan, I agree. I would rather sleep in with my lovely wife and cuddle on Sunday mornings. If folks can't make it to church between 9-5 pm too bad.
For those of us who see the church as a "way of life" as opposed to a "scheduled event", I applaud their willingness to allow one another to "be the church" instead of obligating them to another production of lights and sound. If people are released into the freedom to enjoy God wherever they find Him, they will become the church, wherever they are.
Rick, what I really agree with is your objection to the reasoning of not getting together on Christmas Day. Speaking as a Pastor, I can tell you it has nothing to do with wanting to spend time with your family. You can do that every day. It smacks of the disciples saying that the spikenard should have been spent on the poor instead of poured over Jesus' head. He answered and said "You always have the poor with you." What about the thousands in our communities that do not have families to spend the day with on Christmas? Oh wait, I forgot...Willow Creek and Temecula Valley and Saddleback Valley are all suburbs...there aren't any non-family types around, are there? For those of us in urban church communities, Christmas is an important day to spend with people. People are submerged by programs in megachurches anyways, so their appeal to family time rings false. That is my major problem with it.
I agree with you. It's Sunday, the day believers typically gather for community and worship plus it's Christmas, double reason to celebrate if you ask me. Maybe they could have less "special Christmas" services and just focus on the main one. I guess what really bothers me is that it gives more reason for people to call Christians hypocritical.
I just checked my church's website and it doesn't say what we are doing - we typically meet on Saturday so I assume that's the plan.
I do hope regular worshippers at Willow Creek take time to check out God in other places that Sunday.
Christmas Day (whatever day of hte wekk it falls) is definitely a day to celebrate both the incarnation and the resurrection.
I'm saddened by the message. I'm saddened too that their seekers thought that Christmas has nothing to do with Christ may be reinforced.
That sad Christmas as it's celebrated mostly, has very little to do with Christ
so yeah happy Holidays
and I will worship on Sunday 25th in a church . IF mine closd its door I'd go elsewhere, but that's me :)
Catholic girl (no tiny little moustache), checking in.
i'll be at Midnight Mass this year because i am scheduled to either lector or serve as extraordinary minister of the Eucharist (give Communion). it is my first Midnight Mass ever and i am so excited :)
closing church on Christmas? i know there are a lot of believers who actually resent the C&E Christians - Christmas & Easter - but i actually love seeing the church packed and uncomfortable. if we only reach some of our folks twice a year, we are shutting the door on half of the times we could potentially reach them.
if Christ is the *reason for the season*, then i fail to understand why the doors would be closed. and saying it is a time for family (which it is) is true; however, i go to church to worship God with my family and i know the Word says we are not to foresake the assembling of the saints.
(i know, i know - we can all pray at the beach or in our living rooms, please don't misunderstand my point. oh, and yes - the moustache reference was to lyrics of an old frank zappa tune, lest i offend anyone :)
can't we be like our jewish friends for a bit and let the sabbath start at sundown? that way our christmas eve service "counts." i, for one, won't be attending church that day, and think that's okay.
As part of a community church, we are meeting "Christmas Eve" instead of on "Christmas Morning."
Concept: What is RELEVANT to our community? DOING church is not relevant to us at anytime, and what we understand from those around us is: we wish to be with family. Many within our congregation WILL be with each other on Christmas day - truly celebrating community in Christ (def: Family).
If you think outside the 4-walls, you can also see that the church IS meeting together on Christmas. Just not in the traditional sense, per se.
I find it almost humorous that - the very thing we don't want to be (doing church vs. being church) is the very thing we brow-beat ourselves for not being. We don't want to DO church, but let's not get caught NOT doing church.
Catch 22.
Thanks Kevin,
Good point and it is a Catch 22.
I guess my point is that Christmas Day is the time that we worship Christ in Community. This is the DAY for centuries that the Church has celebrated Christ birth. (I guess we could celebrate Christ's birth every day)
It is not a day that we "do" church, it is a day that we celebrate Christ and worship God.
I agree, we are the Church.
What does the LORD say?
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. NKJV
Let us gather together on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).
Let me kick at the tires a bit more...
1) Was the first Christmas special?
2) Why/why not?
3) Did they have a church service?
4) What does this tell us?
I know Christmas has long past, but I just came across this and as I was reading realized that I had something to say anyway.
First of all how can we say that we need to close the church down in order to be with family on Christmas? Isn't the body of Christ our family?? I agree with the comment about the church being the only family many people have and when we close the doors to a church because it's convienient for the staff it excludes the members of the congregation from being part of 'our family'.
Secondly, I totally agree with the fact that Christ isn't only found in church and that as christians we need to 'celebrate' and bring Christ into every area of our lives...but seriously how many (american) christians are going to take time to worship Christ as a family on Christmas day???
In the end, closing the church (which is the people who actually do want to meet in the church building) is taking away an opportunity to celebrate as a family - which is the opposite result of what I'm hearing being argued for why it should be ok to close the doors. It's not religious unless it's done religiously - something we 'have to' do on Christmas.
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