I was thinking of making this a Pit rant, but then I decided that there might be an alternate point of view here, so I’d like to hear it, if it exists.
My annoyance with this topic was piqued this morning when I read an article entitled “Need a BIG Christmas?: Church’s holiday production dwarfs Broadway Shows” which can be linked to off this page but requires registration. You can also get an idea of this phenomenon here for free, but it’s old.
Am I the only one that thinks a church raising $250,000 over the holiday season should do something other than a spectacle? I submit that these donations should be used to buy winter coats and supply food banks for the needy, because that’s the (ahem) Christian thing to do. Discuss.
Okay, so these pageants are frivolous. (And, to be honest, I, personally, wouldn’t choose to spend that amount of money on them.) So what? There’s a place in the world the good Lord made for all kinds of things, including frivolity. Religion should be something to celebrate. You think God wants to look down from Heaven and see nothing but sanctimonious glum faces? So long as these people have their hearts in the right place, let 'em put on a show if they want to.
Steve, thanks for responding! I guess I should mention that I am not a Christian, but that I have pretty passable knowledge of the theology, and it was your quote that I had in mind when I wanted to make a debate not a rant.
I agree that a loving God should love all things, including happy people. And I don’t think that religious folks should be constantly destitute or glum. (Whether a Christian should have this kind of scratch is a debate for another thread, not my question here.)
I’m taking a position against these churches charging admission to hear the Word (and to pay for the Broadway choreographer). It strikes me that it would be a better thing to go minister to the needy, or at least to let everyone come see their beliefs. Or just to take the hundreds of thousands down to the food bank.
However, they claim that this helps reunite families who haven’t seen each other much, and that’s a worthy goal too. I just think that this is the wrong way to go about it . . .
Okay, this is the Prestonwood Baptist Church, with a 14,000 member congregation. Their sanctuary seats 7,000. And, last but not least, this is not a church service as such–it is now the Dallas Christmas Festival, a link to which is on the same page as the story. Many churches feel that the most important thing is just to get people into the church, and so they put on shows like this. This is considered by the PBC to be part of their “outreach ministry”, i.e. evangelism. They’re not charging admission to people who have come to hear the Word of God–they’re charging admission to people who have come to see a Broadway Spectacular. I think that’s an important distinction.
Evangelism, not fund-raising.
I have absolutely no problems with the Prestonwood Baptist Church’s annual Christmas pageant getting bigger and bigger and finally evolving about 10 years ago into the Dallas Christmas Festival, and with the Dallas Christmas Festival then using the PBC’s 7,000 seat sanctuary, and then charging admission.
Um, how do you know they’re not? Unless you’ve got some specific information to the contrary, I’m assuming that the money they’re charging for admission is going to pay the two salaries of the two paid actors, and for things like sheet music, costumes, props, etc. And for winter coats and food banks.
The other, older article doesn’t say anything about charging admission at the Heights Baptist Church Christmas pageant.
Heh, my OP has been judged wanting by DDG. I guess that my baptism into the SDMB is nearly complete ;).
I did not include the link to the Dallas Christmas Festival, an omission that I apologize for. However, it doesn’t specifically say that the money collected is going towards anything (that I can see). The older article claimed that these events cost up to a quarter mil, so I was just inferring about this one too – but since they’re using their own facilities, it’s likely that they’ll turn a profit, which would likely be used for good ends, as you say.
And obviously, it’s a free country, so these churches should not be enjoined from these events at all. It just seemed – well, a little Landover Baptistish at first glance. Now that I have seen your opinions here I am thinking it’s not as bad for the churches to do this as I was at first.
I’m still a little squeamish about it, though. But I guess if I went to church I would go to one where the Christmas pageant was some guys in a terrycloth robe.
And now that I’ve thought about it, I realize that probably most of the money raised by tickets goes just towards overhead–lights, heating, air conditioning, etc. A 7,000 seat sanctuary isn’t your Grandma’s church anymore.
I just came from a rehearsal for my own church’s version of this “get them into the church” Christmas program, considerably lower-key (25 singers and a tape deck instead of a cast of thousands), but the same idea. No charge for admission, no offering plate will be passed. “Invite your friends to come hear some Christmas music and a presentation by the Drama Team–maybe they’ll be touched by the Holy Spirit.”
So there are still pageants out there with the guys wearing bathrobes and the youngest church baby in the manger. The Prestonwood Baptist Church, with its 14,000 members, is what we call a “mega-church”, meaning, well, “mega”. For mega-churches, everything has to be larger than life–not only the annual Christmas program, but also the week-to-week ministries, like the choir, the nursery, the pastoral team, the Sunday School department, and especially the evangelism ministry. It’s about as far from your Grandma’s Church in the Wildwood as it’s possible to get, so I’m not surprised that they’re selling tickets to their Christmas program, and charging an arm and a leg, too. $18.00? Wah! :eek:
And–file for future reference…
Landover Baptist is a satirical website. Yes? Yes.
Now, while perhpas the OP’s specific example may not be the best, that doesn’t invalidate the premise.
I my home town, one of our churches always had to do everything BIG. Most of the money collected was simply put back into the church. Minister’s salary was high, parsonage was huge and expensive. Plays and events always had the best of everything. The church rarely did any kind of community service or put money toward the needy.
This always steamed me. I was “friends” with quite a few members of that church, and their activities never seemed to be for the right reasons. mind you, my opinion may have been biased since my church often had extra offeratories for different charity organizations, had food drives, ministered to the needy, voluntired often. Our plays rarely had props, and if they did, they had cardboard backgrounds and hand made costumes (if any).
There is NOTHING wrong with having fun or enjoying life, but one does not need to blow huge ammounts of money in order to do so.
I won’t comment on whether it’s Christian or not as I am not a Christian, and from my understanding of Christian teaching there is plenty of doctrine available to support both sides of the coin. In general, though, I see no intrinsic harm in holding gala events, especially during high festivals. I am of the understanding that the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ is considered a high festival by most Christian churches, so a huge public celebration seems not out of line. (Holding a gala festival on Good Friday might be inappropriate.)
If a church (of any species) wishes to hold a gala event in the spirit of community-building or as a religious celebration or just to have a good time, more power to them. If you don’t like it, don’t attend that church.
<Shrug> Hey, I don’t read every Pit thread. Avoiding everyone’s pet peeves would ensure that nothing got posted here at all. But I won’t do it again, how’s that?
