As Christmas quickly approaches, pastors and church leaders are preparing for one of the busiest times of year. Many are planning multiple Christmas Eve services and special events, strategizing about how best to connect with those who will be in attendance for the first (and perhaps only) time all year.
And as church leaders are playing calendar Tetris, seeking to maximize their impact without double booking their churches or their families, many have wrestled with the fact that Christmas day lands on a Sunday this year.
For some churches, it is a foregone conclusion that they plan to meet like normal every Sunday, regardless of what holiday may fall on it. Nevertheless, others are open to thinking creatively about how to adjust their regular Sunday schedule in light of Christmas.
Below are three ways to approach Christmas this year when it comes to your slate of Sunday services, along with some pros and cons of each.
Meet Like Normal
Many churches will opt to meet on Christmas Sunday with their regularly scheduled service or services.
Pastors and leaders of these churches operate under the logic, “If Jesus is the reason for the season, then why would we not meet on the very day that is marked for celebrating his birth?” Further, they do not want to be found guilty of “neglecting to meet together, as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25), even for one day when it is tempting to take the day off of Sunday worship.
Thus, they plan on holding regular services full of Christmas hymns and a special Christmas message.
The benefit of this approach, apart from keeping in line with a particular church’s convictions, is consistency. Meeting on Christmas day can send the message that the church building is a place to gather and worship Jesus every single week, rain or shine.
On the other hand, the number of people who are looking to attend church on Christmas day is dramatically lower than on most other Sundays, so pastors can expect sparse attendance, and it may be more difficult to secure volunteers for key positions in running the service. This can be discouraging for key leaders who are sacrificing more than usual to put on the service, so it is something worth considering.
Adjust Your Meeting Time and Number of Services
Understanding that Christmas is a special time that most families want to spend together to exchange gifts and share a special meal, but still not wanting to completely cancel church services for the day, some churches will opt to simply adjust their service schedule on Christmas Day.
This could mean that a church that normally offers three services will retract to one service. Or, if the church normally meets in the morning, they may opt for an early afternoon service, strategically placing it between meal times, so that church members can spend those special moments with family while still being able to attend a service.
This approach may increase attendance slightly, and it will certainly make it easier for your leaders to secure volunteers. Further, it may also communicate to your leaders that while “doing church” is important, and the congregation has a conviction to meet every Sunday, the operation of church services need not come at the expense of important family time.
Be that as it may, attendance will still likely be low relative to normal services. This isn’t to say that low attendance is a reason not to hold a service, but it should be part of the expectation for pastors and leaders putting on a Christmas day service.
Stream Service Online or Take the Day Off
While some pastors and church leaders hold to the conviction that their church is morally obligated to hold Sunday services 52 times a year (and there is nothing wrong with that conviction), others feel more comfortable with going online for the day or taking it off entirely.
This may be particularly true for churches who will be holding two, three, or even as many as six Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve-Eve services in the days leading up to Christmas. Having poured so much effort and energy into those services, where it is most likely that unchurched people will be present, some pastors may opt to give their congregation, leaders, and volunteers some much needed rest after the full-court Christmas press that came the night (or nights) before.
In the place of an in-person Christmas service, some churches may offer a pre-recorded Sunday service, which will stream “live” on Christmas day. Still others may opt to take the day off entirely.
The benefits of this approach are that you are giving your people permission to rest. And while you may get some pushback from folks who warn about giving up regularly meeting together, they can be reminded that your church likely held more services on the week of Christmas than you do any other week of the year, apart from perhaps Easter.
Let’s Be Respectful of One Another This Christmas
When it comes to this question, it’s understandable that many people have strong feelings, and that’s totally warranted. Further, the decision you arrive at will arise from your convictions or the convictions that represent the majority of the people in your pews.
Nevertheless, we should also recognize that, at the end of the day, this is not a matter of life and death. It’s a matter of personal conviction and strategy preferences, not a moral absolute.
So let us refrain from accusing the churches who offer a full slate of services on Christmas day of being fundamentalists or not caring about their volunteers, or accusing those who opt to cancel services of being lazy, pragmatic, or obsessed with attendance numbers.
Christmas is a day of joy, celebration, and charity. Let us not forget that when we come across a church in our neighborhood or social media feed that is planning to celebrate it differently from our own.
This article originally appeared on ChurchLeaders.com and is reposted here by permission.