November 4, 2005
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Is this me being picky, picky, picky? Or is there actually a problem?
Got the latest issue of the Christ Chapel newsletter, and in it are the
various service times for Christmas and New Year's Day, which are on
Sundays this year.One service each, at 11:15 p.m. Now, the good thing is that's the
service we normally attend, but the bad thing is . . . hello?
It's SUNDAY. The day the saints assemble to worship the
LORD? To be fair I can kind of understand the cutting down to one
service on Christmas, seeing as how Christmas Eve boasts services at
3:00, 4:00, 5:15, 6:15, 7:30, and 11:00 p.m.But there are no New Year's Eve services, so what's up with omitting
all assemblies except one on January 1, which ought to be communion
Sunday? Isn't that tantamount to giving people permission to just
give church a miss that Sunday? Not to mention, it seems as if
it'd be tricky trying to emphasize to the congregation how important it
is to attend church the rest of the year, once the pastors have pretty
much signified it's okey-dokey to skip due to having a late night the
evening prior. I'm trying to imagine Paul nodding affably at this
arrangement, but my imagination's not up to the task.
Comments (2)
I'd say it's a problem. Anytime the message is sent that there's flexibility in the worship of God because other (optional) things might keep you away, there's a problem.
It's one thing to schedule morning worship at 11:00 because it fits between milkings (that's what I once heard was the reason for the commonness of that hour in American culture), because the cows have to be milked. You're still putting worship up there as the priority -- in fact in that case, you're allowing people to honor it by fitting it into their actual obligations.
It's another to send the message that a "big night" is so important that you can fudge on worship the next today. It implicitly hints that if the choice is, "Hmmmm....should I turn in early on New Years' Eve because the next day is the Lord's Day, or should I at least commit to making it up on time the next morning even if it hurts, or should I stay out late and just give worship a miss that day if I can't make it out of bed," it's okay to choose option C. How is that even possible?
It ought not BE possible. For pity's sake, Christ Chapel has maybe five or six pastors on staff, not to mention a dandy elder board. Fine, don't make one pastor preach at four services, which is what normally occurs. It'd be sort of fun to have a different pastor at each service, and it'd certainly send a message to the congregation...WE'RE here, so YOU be, too.
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