It’s that time of year again at The Summit Church–DPAC time. There are generally two types of people when it comes to Christmas at DPAC: those who have never been (and wonder what all the fuss is about) and those who have been (and have since invited every person on their block). This marks the fourth straight year we’ll be packing out the DPAC. By now our people should know why we do this. But still there are the heel-draggers, people who aren’t crazy about Christmas at DPAC because it’s not the Christmas service they’re after.
A couple years ago, our Connections Pastor Danny Franks wrote a helpful reflection explaining why we do events like this. It was such a good answer that it’s worth sharing once more. If you’re a member of the Summit, Danny wants you to know that Christmas at DPAC isn’t primarily about you:
We’re neck-deep in last-minute planning for one of the largest events we do all year. Christmas at DPAC takes months of planning, miles of cable, tons of lights, our entire staff team, and some 1,300 volunteers to prepare for the 10,000 plus guests that will show up at five services over two days.
When we pull away from the Durham Performing Arts Center on Christmas Eve at about 8 PM, it will be with the fullest hearts and most exhausted brains you can imagine. Full heart, because I’m confident we’ll see God do some incredible things during our time together. Exhausted brain (and feet, and legs, and every joint that we collectively own) because for three straight days, there’s no sitting down.
But if 2014 imitates the preceding two years, sometime in the days following DPAC one or more of our pastors will get a gracious inquiry from a well-meaning, inquisitive church member, telling us that something about DPAC didn’t feel right:
1. It didn’t really feel churchy.
2. I feel like I couldn’t sing along with all of it.
3. That sure did feel like more of a performance.
And the response to every statement? Yes. Yes. And yes.
You see, we don’t design Christmas at DPAC for church members. It’s not that we don’t believe we’ll have many there. We will. It’s not that we don’t love our church members. We do. But our Christmas Eve services are not primarily designed with Christians in mind. (Whew. There. I said it. It felt good.)
Read the rest here.
