It’s OK for churches to take snow days

Posted by gingerbreadnewslady on May 7, 2010 in Spiritual Abuse |

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This is the scene that was out my front door (which I didn’t even bother to open) on March 21, the second day of spring.

Some of you might be wondering why I’m writing about churches having snow days when it’s mid-May. Well, to be perfectly blunt, I spent half of April in the hospital and the other half recuperating. So, I never got to finish this blog. I’m finishing it now because the ideas are still timely. As summer vacation time comes upon us, people will of course be missing church. There’s always going to be reasons some have to miss services some times but that doesn’t mean A) they are less of a Christian or B) that they can’t find other ways to worship God and learn outside their normal church service.

But back to the weird, late-March snow storm! We were all told that this would happen, but I’m not sure we believed it. After all, the snow was coming in on the first day of spring and the snow followed several days of 70-degree weather. That, and I live in the mid-south. Arkansas, to be exact. Not exactly one of the states known for being a frozen tundra six months out of every year.

But fall it did…on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. Many churches that morning canceled services and I know many people who chose to not attend services even though their church was in session. What upset me was I also heard people criticizing those churches and people who chose safety over showing up at a church service. It wasn’t the first time I heard it, either. Every time it snowed on a weekend here this winter, it was open season to judge. Comments about the lack of faithfulness from the churches because they didn’t open their doors. Or how those who chose to stay home were somehow less committed to God and the church because they stayed home one weekend.

It made me furious. I even called some people on it and called their attitudes what it is, spiritual abuse. Yes, I understand that many people use silly excuses to not attend church and are therefore not being fed as well spiritually and are not experiencing fellowship with other believers. This phenomenon of apathy is something with which churches really struggle. But safety and health are not silly excuses.

(I should step in and explain one minor detail here. Some of you may be looking at that photo and saying “they canceled church/school for THAT?” Remember, I said I live in the south. We don’t get much snow here, therefore we’re ill equipped to clear it as well as the northern states. We got about four inches that weekend, but even two inches of frozen precipitation has been enough to paralyze us here!)

I hate to break it to any denomination that preaches this using subtle means, but church attendance is not a salvational issue. You are not less of a Christian and you are not less committed to God if you happen to miss a service. Attending church may score you points with your pastor, but not with God. He doesn’t work on a point system! Yes, it’s a good way to be fed and to fellowship. I believe, that considering God is everywhere, there is no magic found in church attendance. It makes no logical sense (and I have yet to find it in the Bible) for us to put our safety second to the idea that we must show up every single Sunday. To openly chastise or criticize people using the faulty logic is bullying and abusive, in my opinion.

All that said, there’s a whole other, secondary point I wanted to make that ties in with these thoughts. Just because you can’t make it to your house of worship (church) doesn’t mean you can’t make your house, your home, a place of worship. After all, isn’t that how it was done in the early church?

This idea of having family church at home is another thought that seemed to pervade during the weekends this past winter when the NE Oklahoma/NW Arkansas area had more snow than normal. I absolutely adore this idea and encourage it. For one, it’s providing the necessary time to worship God and it’s providing spiritual nourishment for your family.

But it also teaches your children (and yourself) possible new ways to worship God and learn about him. So why not do it? I suggest something that may seem obvious…make the lessons something the kids would understand but the adults could still learn from. In fact, this isn’t as hard as it seems. You know the phrase “faith like a child?” I’m guessing that we adults could learn a lot about faith and God if we give kids the chance to learn about the Bible with us then let them share their thoughts on what they’re learning.

Society doesn’t use the phrase “out of the mouth of babes” for nothin’!

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