From the Rector: Calendar Conundrum

21 SEPTEMBER 2023

This year Christmas Day is a Monday. Even though Christmas is months away, I mention Christmas due to postings on social media. Because Christmas Day is on a Monday and Christmas Eve is a Sunday night, the Fourth Sunday of Advent will be on Christmas Eve morning. Cue abundant lamenting from altar guilds, choirs, clergy, and lay leaders.

Some want to move the entire season of Advent forward one week, allowing church services to be skipped on the morning of December 24. The Fourth Sunday of Advent would be on December 17, and on Sunday, December 24, there would be no services in the morning.

This calendar reshuffling is being proposed because some fear that people, when given choices, will make the wrong choices. Some fear that people will only attend church on the morning of December 24, skipping Christmas masses completely. Others argue people will skip Advent 4 masses and only attend Christmas Eve masses. Still others feel it is too much work to conduct worship on December 24 in the morning, and then again for Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day, especially if you are the solo priest of a small congregation. Missing in these conversations is the joy and excitement from Christian leaders regarding celebrating Advent and Christmas in their fullness.

This past week the Episcopal Church released the financial giving and worship attendance statistics for 2022. As many of us have predicted, the Episcopal Church continues to decline in attendance, while giving remains stable, but still is not keeping up with inflation. Viewing the statistics, while witnessing the conversations about Advent and Christmas scheduling, I think we can see what part of our challenge is.

Episcopalians used to be known for our excitement for worship. We have always had other ministries that were thriving and well-respected, but primarily we have been known for our excellence in worship. If Christmas Eve was on a Sunday night, everyone simply increased their organization. The Fourth Sunday of Advent was celebrated in the morning, then parishioners decorated the church for Christmas in the afternoon, and everyone returned in the evening for the Midnight Mass.

It is also interesting to note the fear of clergy that their parishioners will choose to worship on the morning of December 24, and then skip Christmas altogether. Clergy have less trust in their parishioners to make decisions that reflect a mature discipleship. Thus, the idea to remove any chance to worship on the morning of December 24, so that people cannot make such a decision. I believe a better option is to trust that people will choose to worship on December 24 in the morning for the final Sunday of Advent, and then they will return for the Midnight Mass and/or the Christmas Day Mass.

It depends on one’s anthropology. When we schedule church services, do we believe people naturally make the wrong decisions, or do we believe people will rise to make the better decisions. My preference has always been to encourage people to rise to the occasion - to give people the opportunities to increase their faith. My experience as a priest has taught me that it is often best to champion ideals, rather than to make everything easy.

All of this reminds me of another conversation I had with clergy years ago. A fellow priest mentioned that they gave up on celebrating daily masses, because they found that many people would choose to attend a daily mass in place of a Sunday mass. I must admit that this does happen. Sometimes it is because people are working on Sundays, but sometimes people do choose convenience. I always try to remind people that our daily masses, Monday through Saturday, are in addition to our Sunday masses. We are all expected to be at worship on Sundays. In fact, for the Christian, our worship on Sunday is the centerpiece of our entire week. After all, what else do we need to do than worship the Lord on Sundays?

The key to mature discipleship and growing congregations is not to make things easier, but rather to believe that each one of us can always do more for God and for God’s church. With this in mind, it is no problem to worship our Lord on a Sunday morning, and then again on a Sunday night. It is no problem to worship the Lord of Life on a Sunday, and then return for weekday masses. As we grow in faith, this is what we naturally do - not because it is required of us, but because we are expressing our love for Jesus Christ - the one who saves and blesses us. Through our love for God, we discover we are willing to do more than we realized we could. We grow in our faith by rising to the challenges. We grow in our discipleship by joyfully making the sacrifices.

Father Paul Lillie +