Last month Sydney hosted Pride Month, punctuated with the annual Mardi Gras.
This is not a post about the festival. Nor homosexuality.
But, as the streets were being cleaned on the Sunday morning, I was reminded of New Years Eve.
A big party.
A celebration.
A late night.
Last year, NYE was on a Saturday and, consequently, quite a few churches modified their Sunday services.
Some cancelled them alltogether.
A lot of them binned their evening service.
Or, at least they toned down their service structure.
In the past, I’ve done all of the options above. Total closure. Limited services. Only hosting a “casual gathering”.
Why is this so?
Why do we cancel services on New Years Day?
Is it to grant minister’s a holiday?
Well, church can still go ahead without an ordained person…
Is it because attendance will be lower?
Well, church services have been ill-attended often without the door preemptively being slammed shut…
Is it because the church expects that their young adults will be - at best - sleepy from a late night or - at worst - nursing a hangover?
Surely. Not.
This should never be something we expect and definitely not condone, be it in a spoken or unspoken manner.
On the back of Mardi Gras, did churches with predominantly gay congregations change their plans for the following day?
Did they cancel or tweak?
Frankly, I don’t know.
I’m not particularly exposed to gay congregations, especially now that I no longer work for an affirming denomination.
But, I suspect, those who minister to the gay community ramped UP their ministry, not turned things down.
I suspect, they saw it was an opportunity.
So, should the wider church - the next time NYE falls on a Saturday - seek for ways to use this as a ministry opportunity, not an excuse to slink back further into the shadows?
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