Christmas on a Sunday

Interestingly, I have been involved in lots of discussions around whether or not to have a Christmas service when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. As we are under grace, I would not say that church is ever "compulsory" and while gathering together is important, I would not say that any particular day is mandatory to be in church either. That said, my preference would be to have a Christmas service on Christmas Day; when the Lord's Day falls on His (observed) birthday, surely that is twice the reason to celebrate! I always think that Christmas carols sound so much more meaningful when today really is the day that Christ was born!

Strangely enough, it never occurred to me that this discussion would be anything but theoretical. I never doubted that Solace would celebrate both the Sunday and the Christmas Day. Now, all of sudden, we are not. I was rather shocked and disappointed, and now I feel somewhat at a loose end. I guess it's the old it could never happen to me feeling.

Maybe I'm being selfish. I see that it is certainly a lot of work to put together both a Christmas Eve and a Christmas Day service, especially when not that many people will come (I presume). But surely the emphasis should not be on how many are there, but the quality of what happens for those who are there? It is not as if we even have a proper sermon which would need writing - I would be happy just to sing (more) carols with a CD if necessary. I guess it is too late now, but I would have been happy to help organize a Christmas Day service - maybe I should have offered.

Some of the comments made on other blogs about this have been very thought provoking, both on Ben Witherington's blog and Jesus Creed in particular. The one which struck me the most was from Ben Witherington:

Can you imagine these same churches announcing they were closing on Easter so people could spend time with their families? Would you willingly miss your own child's birthday? Why would you miss the birthday celebration of the birth of God' only begotten Son?

All good points, and though I don't want to be legalistic about it, I feel like I am grieving a missed opportunity to celebrate and rejoice in Jesus' presence in our world. Still, there's always next year!