Is your church open on Christmas??

I cannot believe all the press and controversy over churches choosing not to hold services on Christmas Day.

Yes, I do fall on the side of "open the church". If we're there for corporate worship every other Sunday of the year, why not on a Sunday that coincides with the day we celebrate the Savior's birth?

This article talks of different church perspectives and reasons why some have chosen not to open.

My problems with this:

A) The pastor at Southland Christian Church in Kentucky defended their church's decision to close discussing the origins of the Christmas holiday as a pagan holiday and how it would be more accurate historically to celebrate Jesus' birth in January or April.

Then why do we celebrate Christmas? I don't get it. The church takes a pagan holiday, uses it to celebrate a birth, and now uses it to justify why opening a house of worship on a Sunday isn't what they want to do.

B) Read this quote from the first article I linked to above....

Cindy Willison, a spokeswoman for the evangelical Southland Christian Church, said at least 500 volunteers are needed, along with staff, to run Sunday services for the estimated 8,000 people who usually attend. She said many of the volunteers appreciate the chance to spend Christmas with their families instead of working, although she said a few church members complained.

The word "working" bugs the heck out of me. If I volunteer at church, motivated by my love for God and for serving others, why would I even consider it "working"?

BOTTOM LINE: Do we worship 24/7? Yes, we do. Do we have to be in a certain physical structure at a certain time on a certain day of the week to look or be "holy"? No.

But I will say this....churches that choose to close simply because Christmas falls on a Sunday are akin to the NFL if it decided, when Super Sunday came, they would play the Super Bowl, but all television and radio feeds would be blacked out and no one would be allowed in the stands.

Football's biggest day and the impetus for its existence, the fans, not there??

The church where I'm concluding a nine-year pastorate on, ironically, Christmas Day, used to have church service EVERY CHRISTMAS DAY NO MATTER WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK IT FELL ON.

So, people will drive to grandma's house on Christmas Sunday, pass the corner church, see the parking lot empty and think to themselves....

"If it's such a big birthday, why isn't the family of God together to celebrate it?"

Come on, people, the least we could do is worship on Christmas; it hasn't fallen on a Sunday since 1994!

What's next?

"SHOCKER: MEGACHURCHES DISCOVER EASTER FALLS ON SUNDAY; WILL CANCEL SERVICES SO FAMILIES CAN SPEND DAY TOGETHER"