Yesterday, I talked about the experience of visiting different churches. One of the most interesting aspects of this visiting is seeing all the little traditions that different churches have developed. A lot of times, those of us who talk about churches sound a lot like college professors, assuming a sort of "basic church" level and then stating opinions based on our assumptions. We seldom actually get out and see what people do.
One of the interesting traditions is celebrating birthdays. This is something we give up when churches get larger, because you just can't do it anymore. After all, in any group of several hundred people, there will be many shared birthdays. But in smaller churches, it seems to be a pretty common practice to announce birthdays.
Many of the churches I have visited will identify who had a birthday that week and sometimes will actually sing "Happy Birthday" to whoever had a birthday that week. This is an odd practice, being completed divorced from any worship purpose at all, but is so common as to be worthy of being thought about.
The church I visited this week had a change on that program. They had people with birthdays come down front and everyone sang "Happy Birthday," but then the birthday people made a contribution of some money, putting it into a little wooden box on the traditional altar. The box was carved to look like a little church. Everyone seemed to really enjoy that part of the service.
Traditions are always interesting. These birthday celebrations, I believe, were created and have lasted because of the old Sunday School feel of smaller churches. Everyone feels they are part of the group as a whole. They share their lives and experiences not just with a small group outside the service, but with the whole service. They are "one body" in a sense that a larger church cannot recreate.
As for me, I tend to think that the whole idea of birthdays and anniversaries is kind of silly. Who cares that this is the 55th time since I was born that the calendar has come around to the same date? I can imagine a new preacher coming in to such a church and deciding to "get rid of" these old traditions, which, in fact, have no justification in scripture.
But, they do have importance to people. Some people really care about these things. These traditions add a level of intimacy and warmth that is really important to some people and, apparently, to some whole churches.
What are our services anyway? We call them "worship services," but they are often not just about worshipping God, but also about celebrating our fellowship as one body. We want our worship to honor God, certainly, and singing "Happy Birthday" does nothing to honor God.
It does seem important to many people. It does allow us to honor one another, which is a command of scripture. It does allow us to create a sense of oneness, of unity, of sharing, that we might otherwise miss.
Every tradition exists for a reason. No one started doing these things just on a lark, they do them for a real reason. Our job, as ministers, is to find out that reason and make sure that, in our ministry, we do not destroy what is useful just to create something more comfortable for us.
One of the interesting traditions is celebrating birthdays. This is something we give up when churches get larger, because you just can't do it anymore. After all, in any group of several hundred people, there will be many shared birthdays. But in smaller churches, it seems to be a pretty common practice to announce birthdays.
Many of the churches I have visited will identify who had a birthday that week and sometimes will actually sing "Happy Birthday" to whoever had a birthday that week. This is an odd practice, being completed divorced from any worship purpose at all, but is so common as to be worthy of being thought about.
The church I visited this week had a change on that program. They had people with birthdays come down front and everyone sang "Happy Birthday," but then the birthday people made a contribution of some money, putting it into a little wooden box on the traditional altar. The box was carved to look like a little church. Everyone seemed to really enjoy that part of the service.
Traditions are always interesting. These birthday celebrations, I believe, were created and have lasted because of the old Sunday School feel of smaller churches. Everyone feels they are part of the group as a whole. They share their lives and experiences not just with a small group outside the service, but with the whole service. They are "one body" in a sense that a larger church cannot recreate.
As for me, I tend to think that the whole idea of birthdays and anniversaries is kind of silly. Who cares that this is the 55th time since I was born that the calendar has come around to the same date? I can imagine a new preacher coming in to such a church and deciding to "get rid of" these old traditions, which, in fact, have no justification in scripture.
But, they do have importance to people. Some people really care about these things. These traditions add a level of intimacy and warmth that is really important to some people and, apparently, to some whole churches.
What are our services anyway? We call them "worship services," but they are often not just about worshipping God, but also about celebrating our fellowship as one body. We want our worship to honor God, certainly, and singing "Happy Birthday" does nothing to honor God.
It does seem important to many people. It does allow us to honor one another, which is a command of scripture. It does allow us to create a sense of oneness, of unity, of sharing, that we might otherwise miss.
Every tradition exists for a reason. No one started doing these things just on a lark, they do them for a real reason. Our job, as ministers, is to find out that reason and make sure that, in our ministry, we do not destroy what is useful just to create something more comfortable for us.