Is Your Church Open on Christmas?

It only happens once a decade or so... Christmas Day actually falling on a Sunday.  If you and your staff are like many, you had to determine what your schedule of services would be this Christmas weekend.

Many large churches have decided to not have services on Christmas Sunday morning:
Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL)
Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX)
Southland Christian Church (Lexington, KY)
Mars Hills Bible Church (Grandville, MI)
North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA)

All of these churches have decided to hold multiple Christmas Eve services instead.

Of course... there's controversy; as stated in this article from Kentucky.com:

Megachurch officials around the country consulted with each other before deciding to take the day off.

The decision makes sense in today's hectic world, said Willow Creek spokeswoman Cally Parkinson. "It's more than being family-friendly. It's being lifestyle-friendly for people who are just very, very busy," she said.

Many evangelical churches don't hold Christmas day services, except when the holiday falls on a Sunday.

For some evangelicals, it's the day of the week -- not the day of the year -- that's sacred. To them, closing the doors of the church on the Lord's Day is unthinkable.

Others, troubled by the holiday's increasingly secular tone, lament the change.

While admiring the emphasis on family, Fuller Theological Seminary professor Robert K. Johnston worries that another Christian tradition is fading. Fuller, in Pasadena, Calif., is one of the nation's premier evangelical schools.

"What's going on here is a redefinition of Christmas as a time of family celebration rather than as a time of the community faithful celebrating the birth of the savior," said Johnston, a professor of theology and culture. "There is a risk that we will lose one more of our Christian rituals, one that's at the heart of our faith."

At Southland, the decision hasn't generated much controversy. "We've probably had maybe half a dozen (complaints), which is understandable," said church spokeswoman Cindy Willison. Southland members are encouraged to attend one of three Christmas Eve services instead. A Dec. 23 service has also been added.

Willison says attendance dropped significantly the last time Christmas fell on a Sunday, in 1994. Her church's decision was made "based on analysis of the number of people who attended in previous years and just a desire for us to emphasize family time on Christmas Day," she said.

"It's not anything unique to us," she said.

At least one other major Lexington congregation, Crossroads Christian Church, will close for Christmas.

Crossroads Pastor Glenn Schneiders says Dec. 25 is no longer considered sacred by many Americans -- especially those who are not regular churchgoers. "It's viewed more as a holiday than a holy day," he said.

The unchurched are more reachable on Dec. 24, said Schneiders, who leads a church with average weekend attendance of 1,900 people.

"Studies would say the best opportunity to invite people is Christmas Eve. It's, for whatever reason, the least threatening service of the year to attend ... so what we do is really point all of our energy in that direction," Schneiders said. "We don't think we're compromising. We're actually reaching more people by doing that."

Lexington Theological Seminary professor Bill Turner says it's difficult for some congregations to hold multiple Christmas Eve services and then return the following day.

"You're talking about a lot of volunteers and a lot of logistics to make Sunday happen in a lot of those megachurches," he said. By the end of Saturday's services, "you're pretty well wrung out."

Some churches are scaling down their Sunday schedule on Christmas.

At Louisville's Southeast Christian Church, where 18,000 people worship each weekend, they'll have one service on Christmas in the fellowship hall. Fewer than 1,000 people are expected to attend.

Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, where 1,650 people typically worship, will also have one service on Christmas.

"We want to be here to worship Christ on his birthday," pastor Bill Henard said.

At a time when some corporations and government agencies are shying away from even using the word "Christmas," Henard said, "We want the world to know that it's okay to celebrate Christ."

Meanwhile, Roman Catholics will be as busy as ever, Lexington diocesan spokesman Tom Shaughnessy said. "It's a holy day of obligation, which means for the faithful, Mass attendance is required."

At First United Methodist Church in Lexington, the pastor will perform a "blessing of the toys," and the congregation will sing Christmas carols, church spokeswoman Marsha Berry said.

"Even if there's a small group ... we'll be there to worship," she said. "What better day than Christmas to experience God?"

What do you think?

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