There’s been much discussion in the blogosphere lately of the fact that some evangelical megachurches are holding no services on Christmas this year, even though it’s on a Sunday. I was going to make a point that, as it turned out, Michael Spencer made first:
…but for the largest churches in the community to lay aside a time to exalt Christ as Lord of the culture in the name of “family time†does play, in my opinion, into one of the primary idolatries of this culture: family. The mega-churches have banked everything on Christ as a MEANS to family success, good parenting, etc. What about Christ’s claim that supercede even family life? Morning worship isn’t the essence of that claim, but there is something important here.
Yep. But then, I’m not in much of a position to criticize, since I’m doing the same thing. I’m not going to church on Christmas because I’m going to be with my family, and they don’t go to church. (Theoretically, I could take time out to go to church somewhere in Asheville, but heading alone to a church full of strangers somehow kills the point.)
I remember a few years ago, in one of the annual “consumerist Christmas” discussions, Richard Hall remarked that there’s nothing wrong in principle with celebrating Christmas somewhat carnally, since it is after all the feast of the Incarnation. The problem, he said, is the rest of the year — we indulge so much the rest of the time that Christmas turns into an orgy. Which I think is why I’ve found that as a grownup, Christmas is less and less about gifts and more and more about family. We mobile coastal Americans are to a great extent in the reverse position of our forbears. The premoderns were with their families all the time, but only on special occasions did they get to indulge in big meals and new possessions. People like me are drowning in stuff, but we only get to see our families once in a while. (Hell, this can be sort of true even when you live with them.) So holidays have, to a great extent, become occasions to see family — interruptions in all those other factors that keep families apart.
There is, in fact, a great need for Get Together With Family occasions. But since that need is only recent, there are no new calendrical institutions for it, so they take over the old ones as the liturgical calendar recedes. I hope someday I can work out space in my life for both, but as it is, I make my choices.
I hear ya. I agree with the IMonk’s (and your) sentiments, but, like you, Christmas for me is largely about traveling to see family. In the 5+ years I’ve been regularly attending church as an adult I haven’t once attended a Christmas (or Christmas Eve) service at my regular church. (We do usually attend Christmas Eve services as my in-laws’ church – an independent, mega-church style congregation (who are, incidentally, having a Christmas day service).)
A couple of years ago there was an article published in the (UK) Spectator about reclaiming Epiphany as the primary religious holiday of the season – bypassing the Christmas hoopla altogether:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200312/ai_n9339831
Comment by Lee — December 6, 2005 @ 8:34 am
Actually, I’ve dropped a hint or two to the bf that we could attend an Orthodox Christmas service — which, because of their adherence to the Julian calendar, falls on the Western Epiphany. I’m not sure if doing two Christmases will help heal the rift here, or just make me more schizophrenic, but it seems worth a shot.
Comment by Camassia — December 6, 2005 @ 10:47 am
Not all Orthodox Churches follow the Julian calendar. In fact, most of them in the U.S. do not. For example, the Greek Orthodox archdiocese, the Antiochian archdiocese, and the Orthodox Church in America (Russian heritage) do not. The largest jurisdiction that does follow the Julian calendar is the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (aka “the Church Abroad” or “the Church in Exile”). Chances are, if the parish has services in English, it follows the Gregorian calendar.
So if you show up on Epiphany expecting to participate in a Christmas service, you might find them celebrating Epiphany! (Or Theophany, as they call it.)
Personally, I’ve always found Christmas in the Orthodox Church to be a bit underwhelming (even though I was Orthodox for ten years, and still love the Orthodox Church). The music at Christmas sounds just like the music sung in Church the rest of the year; there’s nothing distinctive about it. Plus, I’m pretty attached to our Western hymnody for Christmas. If I don’t sing “Angels We Have Heard On High” and “Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming”, it’s just not Christmas for me.
On the other hand, worship in an Orthodox Church is an experience of timeless beauty all of the time, and it will hardly be less so at Christmas. So don’t let me discourage you.
Comment by Chris Jones — December 6, 2005 @ 4:12 pm
Maybe you can sneak out early to a church with an 8 AM or some kind of sunrise service. That way, you get to see both your Body of Christ family and your normal body family, and all is well.
Comment by Maureen — December 7, 2005 @ 7:06 pm
This is my first Christmas as a Quaker attender, and Christmas Day will be no different from any other Sunday: an hour of Waiting Worship. Our big Christmas get-together is an evening potluck and sing-along a week before. (It’s a liberal Quaker Meeting, so many members are not Christians.)
The megachurches, IMO, are merely being consistent in their idolatry. If, as Spencer says (and I believe he’s right) they exalt Christ as a means, rather than the end (Omega), there’s no reason why a worship service shouldn’t be cancelled in favor of family time.
But I see that as very different from an individual Christian deciding to spend time with family on Christmas Day rather than attending church. I’m not exactly sure why, but it may have something to do with the decision being corporate rather than individual. Then again, perhaps I’m just being judgmental, a tendency I’m finding perhaps the biggest obstacle in my journey to Quakerism.
Comment by Dave Trowbridge — December 7, 2005 @ 9:50 pm
Yeah, my church is doing the same thing: potluck a week before, normal worship schedule Christmas weekend. The church is moderately calendrical though: we observe the holy seasons and use the common lectionary for them, but don’t do non-Sunday services except for Good Friday. (And during Ordinary Time it’s pretty freewheeling.) I would have assumed that the Mennonites opposed liturgical calendars, but we don’t seem to be the only ones using it: the Mennonite Central Committee puts out recommendations for observing Advent, Lent, etc. Might be interesting to look into the history of that sometime.
I do think that there’s a difference between individuals skipping church, and the church body actually cancelling services. Mennonites place a lot of emphasis on corporate faith, so I can’t imagine the leadership there saying, “Go home and worship with your families, it’s just as good as doing it here.” I am giving something up by not worshipping with the Body on Christmas, and the church won’t blame me for it, but it also won’t act like I didn’t give something up.
Comment by Camassia — December 8, 2005 @ 10:14 am