Closed for raucous around the Holiday Tree (and How I have become a Traditionalist)

I am writing this as a public service announcement (sort of):

Faith Community Church will hold a public worship service on December 25th at 10:30 AM.

If anyone is reading this (and I mean if anyone is reading this) who is a part of one of those churches who felt the need to shut their doors on Sunday, December 25th because that happens to be Christmas day, please understand that this is not personal. I am not writing this to flame big churches. Some of my dearest colleagues in ministry are on staff in large churches. My intent is not to be critical with a spirit of criticism. However, I do believe canceling corporate worship on Sunday for the reasons that I am hearing is a bad idea. Frankly, I was surprised to read about the number of churches that are doing this. So to be clear: We're meeting. It will be scaled back and the attendance will be low. However, I believe that it will be truthful and meaningful. If your church is closed on Sunday, you're welcome to join us.

Here are the reasons why we will not be closing. Take them for what they're worth.

1. Corporate Sunday Worship is a significant tradition.
Yes, I said tradition - and frankly, it concerns me when this tradition is taken so lightly. (There you have it. I can no longer be pigeon-holed as a 'non-traditional' pastor.) Granted, we will not be having Sunday School. Our service will be scaled down, and the fact that many will be out of town and that our volunteer staff will be low remains true. It will probably be a shorter service than usual. None of this changes the reality of Sunday's corporate gathering as a highly valued aspect of our weekly rhythm of communion and community. There may be lower attendance. I am not terribly concerned with that. The church has been worshipping together on Sundays longer than the church has been involved with the Advent celebration. It seems that the older tradition should get precedence.

2. Not having a Sunday corporate worship service because of a holiday is a 2005 phenomenon.
Perhaps my views here are colored by the fact that I am in the throes of completing a course on Ancient and Medieval church history. But the fact is that in the 1600 years in which the church has celebrated Advent on December 25th, it would have fallen on a Sunday approximately 228 times. I don't think there has ever been a time that anyone would have considered not meeting for regular Sunday worship services because of Advent. I would also venture to say that this is not only a modern option for the Christian church, I would guess it's also an exclusively American option. I somehow don't think that our brothers and sisters in China and in the Sudan will put off meeting on Sunday because it happens to fall on December 25th. My guess is that our brethren in these places would think us strange.

3. Canceling corporate worship for the convenience of Christmas morning raucous around the Christmas tree caters to (rather than fights against) the worldly tendencies of the season.
Again, I realize that I am going to come across as a legalistic-stick-in-the-mud. However (here comes the stick), canceling corporate worship because it is inconvenient to some worshippers strikes me as being an over-the-top caving in to American consumerism. While I wouldn't want to make corporate worship intentionally inconvenient (let's hold worship services on Monday mornings at 10:00 - that would be a fantastically inconvenient time ...) Worship that is determined entirely on convenience is being driven by the wrong things. If we allow our children to think that Christmas morning is, indeed, mere raucous around the Christmas tree the lesson must be more than the simplistic Charlie Brown morals of the commercialization of Christmas. I don't see how this can't lead to a tendency toward a worldly heart; that is - a heart that loves the world and the things (key word) of the world more than it loves Jesus. That's serious. Canceling corporate worship on December 25th only accentuates this.

4. Should we abandon the practice of meeting on Sunday because we can't pull off the "Sunday Morning Production"?
I pose this question as a pastor of a small church who doesn't understand what would be wrong with gathering with a small group of people (children and babies and everything) for a scaled-down, intimate worship service that consists of the singing of a few hymns with an acoustic guitar and Biblical meditation on the incarnation. I realize that many of the large churches canceling services are doing so because of staffing issues and, while I am not writing this to flame my brothers working in large churches, I do challenge that notion. Have we lost perspective on the realities of worship to the point that we can't worship together without putting on a production that's on the scale of a Rolling Stones concert? I personally believe that the priority of the gathering of the saints takes precedence over the production of a service. Therefore, canceling because of staffing seems a small thing, because a lot can be done with less. I know this, because it happens in my church every week. My plea to my brothers in large churches: scale down and contextualize. Don't cancel.

5. We need to be careful that we are not bowing to the family idol.
Many services are being canceled on December 25th so that people can spend time with family. I question the legitimacy of that way of thinking for two reasons. First, the implication is that 'family time' and corporate worship are two separate activities in our lives and are not compatible with each other. I personally reject that notion. It is my conviction that corporate worship must be a part of the rhythm of the Christian's family life. Sinful neglect of the practice of corporate worship will ultimately be a detriment to family life. It is a constant battle to keep this perspective. I do not believe tossing the Christmas morning service is going to help the family cause in the long run. Secondly, I believe that we too easily forget those who are without immediate family - a reality that is only amplified during the holiday season. While families are indulging in presents and Santa Claus there are many who are alone. Single adults and 'empty nesters' and those who are alone for whatever reason may find the solace of the gathering of their local church to be deep consolation and encouragement. The entire program does not have to (nor should it) be catered to the suburban American family demographic. I believe 'family' tends to be the predominate idol in the church (an idol being defined as anything which draws our affections away from God). Canceling Sunday services because it might inconvenience the family seems to be another way the church is bowing down to the idol.

6. Irreligious people tend to actually seek out a church to attend twice a year.
It seems strange to me that we close our doors on the one day of two when many non-attenders actually show up. Not only does it seem like a lost opportunity, it really doesn't make any sense. Should we close on Easter, as well? It's always on Sunday and this would give staff and volunteers a day off to spend with their families. Perhaps on Palm Sunday we can pass out Resurrection DVD's for families to show after the Easter Egg hunt and the ham? That way we can shut down on both Sundays when unbelievers tend to come to church and we can all stay home and not feel guilty about it.

Something in this logic doesn't sit right with me.

7. The church lends to the further secularization of the holiday by taking herself out of the picture.
This may not matter to some. There are some who would just assume that Christmas be a mere 'holiday'. (An aside: The irony of 'Happy Holidays' is the fact that the word 'holiday' is merely the coming together of the two words "Holy Day". Substituting "Happy Holidays" still doesn't take out the religious connotations of the season that our secular society would so love to eliminate.) I believe that the churches who have closed their doors on Christmas Sunday have effectively taken themselves out of this discussion. From my perspective, those pastors who have canceled Sunday worship services for the sake of convenience need to leave Home Depot and Target alone and let them have happy holy days. The irony is that many of these places adjust their hours on Sundays (a small few businesses close altogether) so that people can attend corporate worship.

Some may take great comfort in knowing that while some churches may be closed on Christmas Sunday, most Walgreen's will be open.

Happy Holidays.