As I was busying myself with Holy Week and Easter preparations, I came across a posting from Bruce Reyes-Chow, the former moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Bruce makes the suggestion that maybe the church should not do anything extra special for Easter this year. He argues that our big Easter productions may actually reinforce the idea that there are special Sundays that are worth one's while to attend and then there are all those other Sundays that are nothing special. What if every Sunday service were a celebration of resurrection and new life, and then we could say to visitors in all honesty that that is what they can expect to experience every Sunday?
What do you think? How should the church celebrate Easter this year?
The link to Bruce's post is below:
http://www.reyes-chow.com/2011/04/why-easter-worship-service-should-be-nothing-special.html?utm_sourc
One of the wonderful traits I love of Presbyterians is at least having the option of inputting suggestions and ideas, as opposed to the Catholic Church wherein you do not dare to question tradition or dare to be open-minded enough to offer a suggestion of change. Having the benefit of once being a Catholic, now a Presbyterian, I thank you Pastor Jack for your willingness to bring us change and exchange new ideas. As for the Easter pageantry, I think a mix of Easter flowers, a word about what Mr. Reyes-Chow is suggesting (for the non-bloggers), and a powerful Sermon would complete a perfectly fulfilling worship. See you on Sunday - Don
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Don. I've been thinking about Bruce's article and more and more I'm wondering how to preserve many of the special celebrations on Easter AND be sure that every Sunday is a celebration of resurrection and new life. I grew up in a tradition in which no special liturgical celebrations were held at all, and so Easter Sunday was just like every other Sunday. And now I find that I appreciate the rhythms of the liturgical year. But I do agree with Bruce that something is wrong if we hype one Sunday so much that the next Sunday doesn't seem worth attending. But I also wonder if that kinda attitude is perpetuated more by the surrounding culture than by the church.
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