Well, no Easter service for *us* this year

[underpants]

My annual appearance in a church will not happen this year.

Past ventures have included a young hotshot (complete with shiny suit and heasdet) preacher equating Jerry Falwell to Jesus Christ-it didn't go over well with people who actually knew Falwell.

This year they are doing a live re-enactment. All services. Complete with stigmata simulation and blood. Not appropriate for our 4 1/2 year old.

The grandparents agree. They will just have to show off their granddaughter at a local buffet or something.

[MindandSoul]

1. I'm sure your daughter will be perfectly happy as long as she can find chocolate eggs!

Have a happy Easter!

[Taverner]

2. What kind of Sado-Masochistic Church do you go to?

I mean - it seems ever since Mel Gibson, some churches have been breaking out the ketchup

As a parent, this is part of the reason I do not go to church

[enough]

4. Our local Presbyterian church has a drive-through crucifixion going this weekend,

just like every year. Not sure what this all means to the kids along with the easter egg hunt.

[sandnsea]

5. Really? For how many years?

What does this look like? I don't get it. I get a live nativity, and to some extent a live passion play. But I thought the live crucifixion stuff was pretty much a Catholic thing.

[Taverner]

7. That's just f'd up...

And people wonder why we don't go to church on Sunday...

[Dead_Parrot]

8. A drive-through crucifixion?

Those words do not belong together, ever.

[Arctic Dave]

11. "drive-through crucifixion" Awesome metal band name. n/t

[Fleshdancer]

38. +1

perfect metal band name! :rofl:

[TheMightyFavog]

40. Crucifixion?

Good. Down the corridor, line on the left, one cross each.

[chrisa]

42. lol. Absolutely.

[hootinholler]

23. Do you pull up to the window for communion?

A drive through crucifixion you say? WOW.

-Hoot

[HuckleB]

29. Video of a drive-through crucifixion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF0bO5TlbNc

Words escape me.

[underpants]

10. It used to be a regular old Baptist church

from what I am told

but the preacher, a fixture of life in the community, quit due to someone following him around with a video recorder. This was back in the 90's so we are talking about big shoulder mounted technology.

Since then they have been searching for a preacher. The hotshot blew his big chance. This is a big (and I mean BIG church) in the of a western Virginia city-the congregation were mostly railroad folks - new deal- and some who switched during the civil rights era but mostly straight forward "church goin' folks"

I got along quite well with everyone I met.

They are grasping for membership at least that is what it appears to an outsider looking in. Last year the first half of the sermon was a counter argument to the resurrection non-believers. Typical attack the messenger (imagined threat) stuff.

[sandnsea]

3. What do non-believers tell kids about Easter?

We just have Easter bunnies and candy now and it is a little weird. Christmas isn't so bad because Baby Jesus Birthday isn't scary to tell a child about, if they ask.

But getting nailed to a cross?? Rising from the dead? I don't know. When you get a little detached from it, it is a little freaky to tell a 4 year old.

[Lyric]

12. As a non-believer, what we told our son was

that Easter is a celebration of fertility and spring, and that the word comes from the Old English word Ēostre, the name of a Germanic goddess related to spring. We talk about bunnies and eggs, and how those are good representations of fertility and life. Believe it or not, even a five-year-old was able to understand it because bunnies obviously have LOTS of babies, and even kindergarteners know that baby birds come from eggs. We have NEVER talked to him about the crucifixion stuff; it's just gross and incredibly inappropriate for kids, IMHO. I remember being horrified by the whole idea of crucifixion as a child, but being too embarrassed of being called a "baby" to speak up and say so. I don't want my son having the same nightmares that *I* had. He knows the basics of Christianity, but he doesn't know much about the details and holidays and stuff.

I remember the basic gist of one conversation last year:

---------------------------------------------------------

LyricKid: If Jesus died to save people, what was he saving them from?

Lyric: Well...Christians believe that he gave up his life to save people from going to hell because they did things that God didn't want them to do. In Christianity, that's called "sinning", and hell is a fiery, awful place where they'd be tortured forever.

LyricKid: But why would they go to hell? Who would send people there?

Lyric: Christians think that God sends sinners to hell.

LyricKid: Wait a minute. Jesus is God too, right?

Lyric: (seeing where this is going) Christians certainly think so.

LyricKid: So you mean that Jesus died in order to save people from...Jesus?

Lyric: Well yeah, basically!

LyricKid: I dunno Mom. Seems like it would make a lot more sense to just not send people to hell in the first place. Then he wouldn't have to die, and everybody could be happy, and it wouldn't be so complicated.

:rofl:

[underpants]

22. We just go with "Jesus wants everyone to love each other and be happy"

which from my understanding is pretty much the point....but then I don't have anything to sell so what do I know?

[blueamy66]

37. Yeah, I'd go with that too.

sounds perfect for a kid

[hedgehog]

25. I put in many years with Liturgy of the Word for Children -

basically kids 10 on down would go to another room to have a simplified version of the readings and a dialog about what they meant. I wouldn't do the Holy Week readings with the kids - those are just too adult and too horrific. I've never understood the need for grotesque Passion plays - the stark language of the Gospel accounts is more than enough for me. I think the various dialogs are stunning, especially the one with Pilate.

BTW - while a lot of Christians put the same interpretation to the Crucifixion you gave, there are many others out there. The Palm Sunday homily suggested that Jesus/God died on the Cross in solidarity with everyone who has ever suffered.

In 1983, Benigno Aquino flew to Manila and was shot on the tarmac. The incident precipitated the down fall of the Marcos regime. He knew he was to be shot, and told the journalists on the plane with him that it would happen quickly. It's that bravery I associate with Jesus and the Passion.

[keroro gunsou]

39. smart kid

and pretty much the same conversation i had with my uncle, who is a catholic priest btw, when i was about 11.

[Phentex]

21. My son asked about Good Friday and when we talked about it...

he said "That doesn't sound so good!"

[krabigirl]

28. I don't tell them anything about the Jesus aspect..it would scare my oldest (mine are 3 and 1) ro

I will someday down the road, when I read Bible stories (along with Greek/ROman myths, and other religious texts) but right now they are too young IMO to understand or to not be scared by it.

[HuckleB]

30. This is a good blog, with more links to parents discussing such matters.

http://www.parentingbeyondbelief.com/

:hi:

[RainDog]

31. easter is a celebration of spring.

my kids hunted easter eggs. they never attended a church service for easter. they never asked about people who did or cared that some people went to church on that day b/c of their religion.

easter is about the rebirth of the earth after the dead of winter.

it's not about christianity per se unless someone wants it to be.

[sandnsea]

32. I just happened to buy some seeds

So that will be a good thing to put together and just introduce the idea of rebirth so if the 4 year old wants to think about people being reborn after death later on, then at least there's a little foundation there without indoctrinating him or freaking him out. Thanks.

[Warpy]

6. One church here in NM seems to be doing the

game show format for Easter services complete with prizes like cars, TV sets and other consumer junk going to celebrants. The minister justifies it as a way of getting the "unchurched" to services.

It's marginally better than snuff porn, I guess, although that was the norm back in the Dark Ages.

[Beartracks]

15. What part of NM is this church in?

Sounds like it's gotta be in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. I can't imagine the smaller communities, which always seem so traditional, pulling a commercialized stunt like that.

Oh, wait -- you're not talking about a Catholic church, are you?

-------------

[Warpy]

18. I just heard the tail end of the story at noon when I flipped over for the weather

and I don't see it at that particular station's website.

Wish I could help you.

[elocs]

9. These same "Christians" who celbrate the resurrection of Jesus

would be exactly the ones who would seek to crucify him today if he were walking the streets. To them he would be a homeless bum, a rabble-rousing Liberal who should get a job.

Jesus never intended to found a "Christian" religion, however if a religion were to be founded a good one would be based solely upon his words. Such as Matthew 25:34-40:

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Now that's a foundation for a religion.

[paulsby]

33. matthew was written MANY decades after jesus' death

and merely attributed to matthew, not written by him, according to most scholars. it was most likely written by a non-witness and in greek

assuming he (jesus) ever existed.

so, i'd hesitate to quote matthew as HIS words

[malaise]

13. I was watching news from Florida earlier

two churches had different approaches to filling up their pews - one was giving away Starbucks vouchers and another was offering free lunch. 'Business' must be really bad.

[virgogal]

14. The free lunch doesn't bother me,socialization and all that,but Starbuck's coupons?

Words fail me.

[underpants]

19. The "new" thing is casual coffees for couples in the morning

Several churches are trying to make it as comfortable and convenient as possible from what I hear.

[DeschutesRiver]

16. Is this why that church is giving away free tvs and cars on Easter?

To drum up business? Or because people were thinking about not attending with children due to some graphic re-enactment?

I am not a part of organized religion; however, I don't remember churches doing stuff like this when I was growing up.

[underpants]

20. No I don't think they would splurge on anything like that

Like I said above this used to be a regular old Baptist church in a railroad town. Now they are trying to be a megachurch with, from what I can tell, direct political leanings (at least in their badgering tear-down-the-enemy tactics).

[DeschutesRiver]

17. dup. nt

[patrice]

24. I think a lot of churches appeal to wannabe actors' & performers' exhibitionism..

Been there, done that. One needs to ask themselves how deeply any of this would be felt without all of that showy stuff.

[hedgehog]

26. To a certain degree, it's different strokes for different folks.

I think the music at our Holy Thursday service ranged from light Christian rock to Gregorian chant. I have to agree though, that sometimes it seems the spectacle takes over and becomes the goal.

[patrice]

27. Best congregation I ever belonged to was in Oklahoma. Bunch of Catholics who

spoke the Mass in one strong voice and sang together like a bunch of Baptists. No choir. The priest did the Consecration, of course, but in all other regards the congregation was his peer.

Long time ago. I think that's all gone now; never saw anything like it before or since.

[ChicagoSuz219]

34. We've been going to Science of Mind/Religious Science churches...

...where they believe that there are many paths to God and they honor all of them.

Tonite, we went to a fabulous communal Sedar there & on Sunday there's an Easter brunch!

Works for us... :-)

Hope you have a Happy Easter whatever you do!

[sfwriter]

35. Seriously... Try a Unitarian Church.

You'll be glad you did.

[underpants]

36. We have been looking around at different ones

My wife wants our girl to have that experience. I personally just missed out on a lot of material growing up :-)

[sfwriter]

44. Just read the UU seven principals...

There is a reason they are attacked by conservatives.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. That's really messed up

The fundie churches must be hurting if they have to bribe people to come to Easter services. It's known that they pad their membership rolls by counting everyone who has ever joined, even if they're no longer attending. (Mainstream churches have rules about when people have to be dropped from the rolls, mostly if they haven't attended for a certain period of time.)

For mainstream churches, Easter is the one time that non-attenders show up. It's the Sunday when they have to set up chairs and open the balconies.

My Episcopal parish is going to celebrate the day with gorgeous classical choral music accompanied by brass, flowers all over the place, lots of "alleluias," the Vidor Toccata as an organ postlude, and a brunch.

No gory stuff. We don't even do gore for Good Friday, and it's surely inappropriate for Easter, which is supposed to be a day of pure joy.

[DollyM]

43. Dress up your kids and take them to a nursing home . . .

I work at a nursing home and I can't begin to tell you how much the residents love having children there. Many of them never get visitors and they see other residents getting visitors so it makes it doubly a difficult time for them. The other day, I picked some daffodils from my mother's garden and took them with me to the nursing and gave out a couple to each resident. You would have thought I had given them a million dollars. But they can't get out and do something as simple as pick some flowers so it was an amazing gift to them. Don't lose the spirit of the day, do something to brighten the life of someone who is lonely.