Different River

”You can never step in the same river twice.” –Heraclitus

There’s a (non-Reform) Jewish joke about Reform Rabbis bragging about how progressive and non-traditional their synagogues are, the punchline (SPOILER WARNING!) of which involves a Reform synagogue putting a sign out on Yom Kippur which says “Closed for the Holidays.”

I’m fairly confident that this is an exaggeration, one which actual Reform Rabbis would probably find somewhat offensive (to a degree depending on how humor-impaired they are). But apparently, some churches are doing the same thing — literally! And it’s not just one church, but a whole bunch of them:

Central Kentucky’s largest church will break with tradition and close its doors on Christmas Sunday so that staff and volunteers can spend more time with their families.

Southland Christian Church near Lexington, where more than 7,000 people worship each week, is one of several evangelical megachurches across the country that are opting to cancel services on one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar.

Supporters say the change is family-friendly. Opponents call it a regrettable bow to secular culture.

The list of closed congregations on Christmas Sunday reads like a who’s who of evangelical Protestantism: Willow Creek Community Church, the Chicago area’s largest congregation; Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich.; North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga.; and Fellowship Church near Dallas.

There is one possible redeeming (no pun intended) fact …

For some evangelicals, it’s the day of the week — not the day of the year — that’s sacred. To them, closing the doors of the church on the Lord’s Day is unthinkable.

… But not really — because this year, Christmas is on Sunday! Nice try.

Now, I don’t really claim to be an expert on Christianity, and I don’t want to make the same error described in my previous post of assuming that different religions’ holidays are the same — but this does seem a bit odd — and there most certainly are churches that have services on Christmas even when it’s not a Sunday, and I know most Churches have services every (non-Christmas) Sunday, so I don’t think I’m too off-base in finding this odd.

(Hat tip: Bearing Blog, from Open Book, both of whom make similar points from a Christian perspective.)