Don’t complain about the increasing secularization of Christmas, if you’re going to close your church on Christmas.
Some of the nation’s most prominent megachurches have decided not to hold worship services on the Sunday that coincides with Christmas Day, a move that is generating controversy among evangelical Christians at a time when many conservative groups are battling to “put the Christ back in Christmas.”
As a Catholic, the idea of not having Mass on Christmas, and on a Sunday too boot is just completely foreign. Yes, I know that Protestants, especially those of the megachurch persuasion, have a very different view of worship from the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but it seems to me a bit hypocritcal to complain about taking Christ out of Christmas when you’re not even having services that day.
Megachurches have long been criticized for offering “theology lite,” but some critics say that this time the churches have gone too far in the quest to make Christianity accessible to spiritual seekers.
“I see this in many ways as a capitulation to narcissism, the self-centered, me-first, I’m going to put me and my immediate family first agenda of the larger culture,” said Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. “If Christianity is an evangelistic religion, then what kind of message is this sending to the larger culture - that worship is an optional extra?”
Excellent point. But then it appears that attendance at Christmas services has been a problem for some denominations for some time:
For years, it has been an open secret that many mainline Protestant churches are half empty - or worse - on Christmas Day. The churches’ emphasis has been instead on the days leading up to Christmas, with Christmas Eve attracting the most worshipers.
Of course, us Catholics are hardly in a better position:
In many Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, known for their rich liturgical traditions, Christmas Day attracts far more worshippers than an average Sunday. Grown children return with their parents to the parishes they belonged to when they were young.
Ah yes, I know that phenomenon well.
I don’t write much about religion here, and I haven’t had anything to say about the so-called War Against Christmas that seems to be the theme-of-the-month on Fox News Channel, but cancelling Church on Christmas is, well, interesting.
H/T: Ann Althouse
