{"id":265074,"date":"2017-12-23T08:30:11","date_gmt":"2017-12-23T13:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aleteia.org\/?post_type=post&p=265074"},"modified":"2017-12-23T08:30:11","modified_gmt":"2017-12-23T13:30:11","slug":"preaching-at-christmas-heres-some-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2017\/12\/preaching-at-christmas-heres-some-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching at Christmas? Here’s some advice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From The Wichita Eagle:<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Regular church attendees will likely notice strangers filling their pews and parking lots this weekend.<\/p>\n

They call those people \u201cC \u2018n\u2019 E\u2019s\u201d \u2013 urbandictionary.com even has definitions for \u201cChreaster\u201d \u2013 \u201cThose Christians who only show up to religious services on Christmas and Easter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pastors at several Wichita churches say it\u2019s their goal to turn the Chreasters into active churchgoers, but they won\u2019t go as far as to alienate the rest of their congregation while they do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no secret that you\u2019re definitely preaching to people you may only see once or twice a year,\u201d said the Rev. Andrew Bergkamp, parochial vicar at Church of the Blessed Sacrament, who will deliver the homily at the church\u2019s midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. \u201cIt is tempting to preach to your normal congregation, but it would behoove us to reach out to those who normally won\u2019t be here. That is certainly something that I try to be cognizant of, to put myself in their shoes a little bit to see what they need and what will captivate them, certainly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Bergkamp joined Blessed Sacrament in June shortly after graduating from seminary. As a first-year priest, he said, he doesn\u2019t have the relationship with his congregation built up to say what some veteran priests might say.<\/p>\n

\u201cPriests sometimes are very explicit, in a half-joking way, to call people out and say, \u2018For those of you who don\u2019t frequent our services, you are welcome and even encouraged to come next weekend and any weekend,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI think it just depends on how well established you are at an established parish or church.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rev. John Oelze, executive pastor of First Mennonite Brethren Church, said his church\u2019s approach to the two-time-a-year attendees is subtle, with an information card in their bulletin and a wall of information of what the church has to offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly for any guests, or even a Chreaster person, we\u2019d love for them to come back further for other things we have here, whether it be events or concerts or small groups or anything like that,\u201d Oelze said. \u201cWe\u2019ll encourage people to do that if they come for the Christmas Eve service.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From The Wichita Eagle: Regular church attendees will likely notice strangers filling their pews and parking lots this weekend. They call those people \u201cC \u2018n\u2019 E\u2019s\u201d \u2013 urbandictionary.com even has definitions for \u201cChreaster\u201d \u2013 \u201cThose Christians who only show up to religious services on Christmas and Easter.\u201d Pastors at several Wichita churches say it\u2019s their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":263839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11252],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-mind"],"yoast_head":"\nPreaching at Christmas? 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