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.
