文章基本信息
- 标题：Pastors welcoming 'C&E' crowd
- 作者：Mary A. Jacobs Dallas Morning News
- 期刊名称：Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
- 印刷版ISSN：0745-4724
- 出版年度：2004
- 卷号：Dec 11, 2004
- 出版社：Deseret News Publishing Company
Pastors welcoming 'C&E' crowd
Mary A. Jacobs Dallas Morning NewsDALLAS -- Carol French remembers an Easter service when her Methodist pastor strode to the pulpit and said: "Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year!"
Seeing the congregation's puzzled looks, he added: "I won't see some of you again before Christmas, so I thought I had better greet you now."
That was years ago, but the pastor was poking fun at a still- familiar group -- the people who go to church only at Christmas and Easter.
"C&Es," as they're known, account for big holiday surges at churches.
All Saints Catholic Church in Dallas, for example, said attendance will more than double, to about 5,000, for the six Masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Vista Ridge United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas, usually attracts about 450 worshippers on Sundays. It had 1,100 last Christmas Eve.
C&Es have been around as long as the collection plate. But the way churches greet them is changing. Today, few pastors would give C&Es the ribbing that French recalled.
"We'd be appalled if they did," said the Rev. Joan LaBarr, director of communications for the North Texas conference of the United Methodist Church.
Instead, most churches view Christmas as an opportunity, a chance to gently encourage infrequent attendees to come back soon -- maybe even before Easter -- and get more involved.
With that in mind, some Methodists have instituted a "Home for Christmas" campaign. Newspaper ads and mailings invite folks who aren't regular attendees to candlelight Christmas Eve services, a Methodist tradition. In addition, churches are encouraging congregants to make Christmas visitors feel at home.
"For people who may feel . . . even just the slightest inclination to come back to church at Christmas, we want to make that homecoming as comfortable and as joyous as possible," the Rev. LaBarr said.
Why do some visit only at the holidays? "I think we all have a deep need for spirituality," said the Rev. Lisa Marshall, associate pastor at Vista Ridge. "Day to day, it's easy to forget, but the holidays bring that out."
