Category Archives: Congregrational Ministries

Christmas on Sunday
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December 8, 2016

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Church Growth, Congregrational Ministries

Christmas Is On Sunday This Year

By Franklin Dumond – Director of Congregational Ministries

It happens only infrequently in the life of the church and the professional career of the pastor but Christmas does come on Sunday once in awhile. When this happens special plans should be made to keep the spiritual impact of the season and to support the witness of the church as expressed in its worship schedule.

This infrequent event occurs once again Sunday, December 25, 2016.

Many Christian churches have established traditions for Christmas Eve services, yet only a few offer Christmas Day services. In our culture Christmas Day is a secular celebration of surprise gifts and family celebrations very distant from most religious traditions.

Across the years, as a local church pastor, I tried many approaches to Christmas on Sunday and then I found one approach that worked best.

Early in my tenure as pastor, I took the approach that Sunday was a sacred day of worship no matter if Christmas or other holidays happened to arrive on that day of the week.

My approach in those days was one of denial, something like: “If I don’t admit it is a holiday we can have ‘church’ as usual.” With a generous amount of guilt along with some promotion of the schedule I found I could gather a little less than ½ of my congregation on Christmas Day if we kept our ‘usual’ schedule.

I have since come to believe that the attitude I held then was one of “They know where the church is so there’s no excuse for not coming.” I have also come to realize that this attitude is not conducive to church growth!

A second approach I took to Christmas on Sunday was one of adjusting the morning schedule. By working with/ through the Church Council we arranged a morning fellowship 30 minutes before the morning worship service. This adjusted schedule resulted in a little more than ½ of the regular attendance on this special day.

Then the next time Christmas came on Sunday I found an approach that worked best. We arranged and promoted two options for Christmas Worship. The first option was a Christmas Eve Service. The second was a Christmas Day Service. By offering these two options I found about ½ of the congregation came on Saturday evening and about ½ came on Sunday morning so that our combined attendance was the ‘usual’ number. With two options family and church celebrations were balanced and everyone felt good about the holiday being both a religious and a family celebration.

To fully reap the benefits of this approach the Christmas Eve Service must become more than the Candlelight Communion so often offered then. When elements of morning worship like special music, the Advent Wreath, tithes and offerings, Christmas sermon, etc. are combined with Christmas Eve communion a meaningful service of worship is offered for the church family and for the community.

Christmas worship on Sunday morning may need a bit different schedule. Perhaps the church that offers multiple services will offer “One Grand Celebration” or perhaps Christmas worship will be scheduled at the Sunday School hour to accommodate family gatherings at midday.

By finding a schedule that will work and by effectively communicating it to the church family and to the community, Christmas worship can be a celebration with a large crowd rather than the depressed assembling of a few faithful saints.

SantaNow about the guy in the red suit coming to church on Christmas…

  1. If he does come, let him come to the fellowship hall or to a location outside the building and make sure he comes after, not during, worship celebrations. Remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

  2. If he comes on Christmas weekend have him come after the Christmas Eve Service in the fellowship hall or on the church lawn. Let him go back to the North Pole for Christmas Day!

Let's Celebrate Advent
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November 17, 2016

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Congregrational Ministries, Pastoring

Let’s Celebrate Advent

By Franklin R. Dumond, Congregational Ministries Director

Long before Christmas became a commercial event that began appearing in retail outlets alongside Halloween, the church developed an approach to Christmas that made it a season of anticipation and preparation in the weeks before the holiday.

As a young pastor, I remember struggling with how to fit all the favored carols and all the special programs of Christmas into the one Sunday before December 25 traditionally given to Christmas celebrations in my rural home church. Then I stumbled onto Advent and learned not only the joy of anticipation and celebration, but also the beauty of preparing a congregation for that special time of the year.

When Is Advent?

Advent DatesAdvent is the season marked by the four Sundays before December 25, climaxing with Christmas Day and the wonderful good news, “unto you is born a Savior which is Christ the Lord.”

Many churches mark Advent by using an Advent Wreath composed of greenery and five candles. Artificial greenery is much preferred over live greenery, which may present a fire hazard in the later weeks of Advent. Pillar-type candles give the safest use of candles, as only rarely do they drip or spill.

Lighting the candles one each Sunday allows children to excitedly count the Sundays before Christmas as one candle burns on the First Sunday of Advent, two on the Second Sunday of Advent, three on the Third Sunday of Advent, and four on the Fourth Sunday of Advent to remind everyone that Christmas is almost here!

Many churches will use traditional themes of Advent, but I always enjoyed using Advent to tell the Christmas story in small parts. As a Baptist pastor I always found telling the story of Christmas leading up to the birth of Jesus was well-received by the congregation and a special treat for the children who hurried to the Advent Wreath for the Children’s message. Because I used a nativity set with a variety of figurines, the children could help place one or two figures in the scene each week as we explored the Christmas story.

Two special features easily added to the season could be a Hanging of the Greens service on Sunday evening, December 4. While we never used this event to actually decorate the church, we often used it as a song fest we called “Songs of the Season” with both religious and traditional Christmas music and readings. One of the later Advent evenings also lends itself to “Carols, Candles, and Communion.”

Even if you are not using Advent in your church it is worth using the Sundays of Advent to mention some aspect of the Christmas story. The more often Christmas is connected with the church the more often we are able to develop and reinforce a Christian worldview.

Even worship plans and sermon themes that are not related to Advent can be given an Advent flavor by adjusting an illustration or changing a song title. While some church leaders do not believe Christmas deserves 1/12 of the annual emphasis in a church, others who recognize the overwhelming significance of the Incarnation believe that the message of Advent cannot be restricted to just one month of the year.

Go ahead and cancel Christmas this year but don’t forget to celebrate Advent

Part 1. RECOGNIZE
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October 13, 2016

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Church Growth, Congregrational Ministries, Turnaround 2020

First Steps in Turnaround – Part 1. RECOGNIZE

Part 1. RECOGNIZE

This is the first part in a series which comes from the 2016 Turnaround 2020 Plan Book. A full version of this plan book is available by download at www.Turnaround2020.net or by hard copy from Congregational Ministries, 573-785-7746.

What Is Your Church’s Redemptive Potential?

Suppose your church became all that the Lord intended it to become? What might result? What is the full redemptive potential of a local church? Is it measured by attendance, programs, life transformation or some other metric?

A variety of factors impact the redemptive potential of any local church. Some of them are simple and practical. For example, megachurches are always found in large population centers. Villages do not contain the level of population to produce a megachurch.

Other factors are more complex and elusive. Craig Groeschel wrote a few years ago about having “It” and while sometimes “It” can be identified, it is often more obvious when “It” is missing.

In our Turnaround 2020 strategy we first take stock of the current reality. By recognizing where we are, we should be better able to chart where the Lord will lead us as we endeavor to become all that He intends us to become.

A. Church Life Cycles

Churches, like the people who comprise them, move through cycles in their existence. Some of these cycles a church moves through are life cycles. People are born, grow to maturity, then they age and die. Churches, too, are born and grow to maturity. Churches age. Some churches complete their life cycle and others discover new periods of growth and development.

Learning where a church is on its life cycle helps church leaders develop appropriate strategies. Learning life cycle status often provides a sense of urgency for church leaders as they plan for new cycles of growth and development to avoid the life cycle of decline. Life cycle may be measured by attitudes, chronology and comfort zone.

Because the life cycle is not always as predictable and smooth as many may think, it is important to avoid alarm over short periods of plateau or decline. The best possible advice for any church is to remain vigilant. Once a problem is spotted, ensure that all possible measures are taken to reverse decline before it leads to drop out and death. Continue reading →