I have pastored churches for more than 30 years and, by far, the most fun time and the most stressful time of the church year falls between the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas.
Don’t get me wrong. I love that time of year, and I love going to Christmas parties, and I love all the music and pageantry. But you can get a little too much of a good thing.
When I was younger and at my first pastorate, it was expected that my wife, Marybeth, and I attend every Sunday School class Christmas party. No excuses. We had to be there. Thankfully, my later pastorates have been more understanding when it comes to these unrealistic expectations.
When I pastored River Oak Church in Chesapeake, Va., we had the most unusual holiday traditions. I had planted the church and, for the first nine years of the church’s history, we met in a local high school. It was fine to meet in the school for most of the year, but they would not allow us to meet there for the Christmas Eve service. So we decided to host the most unique candlelight service in the Tidewater area. We went out to our future church site on that cold Virginia Christmas Eve, built a huge bonfire, sang Christmas carols, read the Christmas story from the Gospels and lit candles. It was a fun and festive way to celebrate the birth of our savior.
This period was also very stressful when it came to celebrating with our family, who all lived in Georgia and Alabama. After the Christmas Eve celebration, my family and some of the other church staff would find the nearest Chinese place and chow down on some good Oriental food. Then we would head home and go to bed early so we could begin the most grueling part of the holidays – the trip down south.