This morning on my way to work I passed a church in Manhattan (which will remain unnamed). I was so surprised to see their "Christmas" display. So surprised I took out my camera and captured the image.
In front of this admittedly urban church, six Christmas trees had been placed in holders, and then each one was tethered and locked with paddle lock and chain to the railings on the sides of the church entrance.
Now keep in mind these are small trees (3 feet or less), rather sickly, and not even big enough to fill their stands. Therefore, when the chains were put on, the trees were pulled to the side, making the whole scene sad and pathetic. To make it worse, passers-by constantly throw their trash around the base. While I am certain this was done by a very well meaning and faithful Christian, the message sent was certainly not one of the abundant life and light that Jesus brings to our lives and the world.
For me it raised several points that might be instructive:
- How often do we in the church continue to do things because we've always done them, and not evaluate whether they still work in today's context? This tree was a perfect example.
- Are we, who are close to the church, able to "see" what an outsider might see? Or are we blind to the unspoken messages and signals that we send? We might be blind to the way our buildings and worship space look to the outside world, blind to how our practices might be intimidating, or unaware of how we might speak in our own form of Anglican tongue that a visitor might not understand (ex: "Oh, you're visiting us today with your four children? Well when Don, the head usher gets here, you'll find him in the Narthex. He can tell you where the kids will go for Sunday school, but they stay with their parents until after the collect for purity and then leave for their classes, following the crucifer...They'll rejoin you after the Great Amen so keep an eye out for them." This really happened to our family! While I did understand, mostly, I couldn't imagine what I would have thought had it been my first visit to an Episcopal Church.)
- How do our actions show our priorities and values? When I saw those chained trees, I asked myself, if someone was so desperate that they chose to steal a very small, ugly Christmas tree, would that be such a great loss to the church?
A rant and a rave from this priest, but it comes with the heartfelt prayer that all who strive to be followers of Jesus Christ will make the true message of his love and light known this Christmas and always...S.
13 comments:
Amen sista. I here ya. more ppl need to understand the messages the church is sending isn't applicable to today's world, and if it is, then it is one that the rest of the world doesn't want to here. If the church wasn't so hellbent on staying the same, maybe we wouldn't be a failing cause. PS: I am a christian
Doesn`t it also symbolize how christians the world over throughout the centuries have been locked up for talking about Jesus...?
A Christmas present for this new blogger--comments! Thank you!
With regards to the "Amen Sista" comment...the anonymous responder sent an e-mail off-line. I know s/he is 15 years old. his/her comment reflects the relevance of the Christian message...as I shared in our off-line conversation, the Word of God is always relevant; what can happen in the church is that sometimes well-meaning Christians strive to share their faith in the way that is relevant to them, but in a way that is not necessarily relevant to other generations. It presents a huge challenge to church leaders to continue to adapt to a rapdily changing world.
Frankly, I'm struck (and encouraged) that a 15 year old responded to a post about a locked up Christmas tree and the message the church sends.
The locked up tree...I wish the intent was to symbolize that Christians the world over have been locked up for sharing the message of Christ's love, but in this case I'm afraid it doesn't. However, what a powerful message it sends when viewed in this context.
As a motorhoming couple who attend a different church every Sunday for 6 - 9 months a year, we find that the best way to evaluate how churches do and do not feel welcoming to the visitor is to go and worship with other congregations. It is a real eye-opener and the revelations can be brought back to your home vestry for consideration of possible changes. Al and Sheila
Let's hope that motorhoming couple stops and visits this blogger...
I love your insight. I am always hopeful that my Church family and I are always welcoming to new comers but, even well meaning people can says things that really confuse new people and even turn them off. So we always have to keep an eye out for things in and around our Church that can send mixed messages.
Mark V. Bowie MD
We learned last night that late services don't work in our community. Last year we had service at 7:30 with 90 in attendance. This year we had a 10 pm service with only 40 in attendance. Hopefully we've learned an important lesson. We must adapted to meet the needs of those we already have while finding new ways to reach the community at large. The same could be said of the Christmas tree. Is it important esp. with a chain and lock. We had two advent wreaths on the door this year. I made them and being on the street in town I wasn't sure they'd be there long. Fellow parishioners love them and no one ran off with them. In both instance's, a late service and wreaths we take chances. Sometimes those chances work sometimes they don't but we need to attempt new things if we are to remain relavent to people on the outside and inside.
Nice
Sometime ago, when I was rector of a Church in Dallas, TX, I found a program that was title "How Others See Us". Following its procedures, we took pictures from various approaches to the Church campus. We then did a slide show to show others in the parish the results. The reactions that we received after showing the slides was a real "eye-opener" for many people of the parish.
Suzanne--How sad. Sometimes we don't know we are members of the congregation of the walking dead until we see a photo of ourselves in the form of a chained Christmas tree.
In an "inefficient" small urban church, we found when we had programs for neighborhood children, youth and adults we had very little theft or vandalism. If we were turned in upon ourselves, acts of disrespect or violence were more likely.
This comment about programs for youth et al illustrates how important it is to turn our focus outward, rather than inward, as a congregation. I heard a wise mentor once ask a congregation if what they were doing was really worth Jesus dying for. This was a harsh statement, but it really does cut to the chase. We might ask ourselves that same question as we look at our programs and how we spend our money, time and talents.
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