Comments on: Resolving Low Sunday

By: Philocrites

Philocrites — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:35:56 +0000

Location and school vacations also play a role: My wife’s urban Episcopal church sees attendance drop the Sunday after Thanksgiving, for example, but it goes up at the suburban church where she worked because young adult children were back in town and so were adult children of members with their families. With Easter in New England, on the other hand, there’s the double-whammy effect of school vacations: This year, the Sunday after Easter was also the start of spring break, so many families had hit the road.

By: juniper

juniper — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 04:54:05 +0000

You know, they always say these things about Low Sundays, but our church was packed today. And so many children, I almost didnt have enough pots of soil/seeds for everyone. Yikes, it was crazy.

And the choir was supposed to be smaller, but they looked full size to me.

Which just goes to show you, it might be worth it show up somewhere for a so-called low sunday. I mean, sure, it’s jsut the lil ole associate preaching, but you might be surprised.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 04:38:16 +0000

Coming from old Puritan stock as I do, I guess I feel that there is only one holy day, and that is the sabbath day — Sunday — when God rested. To elevate one Sunday above any other is to bow to idols. Yup, I really do feel that somewhere down in my guts, and my Puritan ancestors would be pleased. Sure, I bow to the pressure of commercialized American culture and make a big deal out of Christmas, but I always preach the Sunday after Christmas too. Naturally I feel that Easter is just another Sabbath, but with more flowers. Oh, and in the New Bedford congregation attendance is usually lower on Easter than other Sundays because so many people have family obligations elsewhere.

@Adam — Oo, oo, I like your sermon topic better than mine! Next year….

By: Adam Tierney-Eliot

Adam Tierney-Eliot — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:11:12 +0000

Our Maundy Thursday service was the only extra worship opportunity we offered at Eliot. It is a half-hour communion service and is lightly attended, so I cannot imagine that it would tire too many folks out!

Still, we had low attendance today. I preached it though. I try to put extra effort into the Low Sunday service to reward those happy few who come. The title: “Unto Ceasar”. Yes, it was a sort of ‘Tax Day” sermon concerning the separation of church and state. It was fun.

By: Chris T.

Chris T. — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 16:28:57 +0000

I agree completely about not going into rest mode as soon as Easter Sunday is over (in fact, Easter lasts for fifty days, longer than Lent), but I can’t agree about cutting Holy Week services. Those liturgies are some of the most beautiful in the whole church year, and it drives me nuts when churches don’t have them. And it’s hard to overestimate what everyone washing everyone else’s feet during the maundy can do for a community.

And I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the notion that the liturgy should “do” anything specific for the community. It’s worship of God, first and foremost — it’s not merely programming that can be done away with because it’s inconvenient or doesn’t draw many people.