Pro the church party

It may not be your bag. I understand that. There are different personality types in a church, and not everyone is a ‘party animal’. That’s fine. But around Christmas or New Year church folk often enjoy meeting up and having some innocent fun. And there is a lot to be said for it.

Apart from the food and drink (strictly no alcohol avoids any offence, and please, no soggy bottom quiches!) the staple diet of these celebrations is generally some silly songs, games, sketches and a little bit of friendly leg-pulling concerning church routines or high-profile characters in the fellowship. Why are these get-togethers potentially positive for a church?

Theologically

It sends the signal that our God is the God of all of life – not just the serious side. As Christians we can afford to be human. With the caricature (mostly unfair) of grim-faced Puritanism hanging over us, it glorifies God to show a more well-rounded approach to life. All that is good and true finds its origins in him. There is a place for laughter in our Christian lives which ‘does good like a medicine’ (Prov. 17:22). Though the Lord Jesus was a man of sorrows, nevertheless He used humour against the Pharisees (Matt. 7:3,4) and it is unlikely that children would have felt drawn to Him, as they did, unless He often had a smile on His face. We have a ‘blessed God’ who loves us in all departments of life.

Socially

Well-balanced families learn to have fun together. If they don’t it’s a pretty dour, dire and unwholesome kind of family. At church on Sundays, there is friendliness and rejoicing, but hopefully a proper seriousness as we gather for worship. But the church party allows us to see a different side of our brothers and sisters. Not least it can bridge the generation gap. Bonds of love become deeper and more real. ‘Oh, she does laugh out loud, and he does bend in the middle!’ Older friends can giggle as the young people maybe produce a five-minute skit of Agatha Christie’s new drama series Miss Markle (it’s orange wig time!).

Some may say that a church party is ‘a waste of time’. In a way it is. But in our contemporary ‘time poor’ society, to be glad to ‘waste time’ with other people is a genuine indication that you love them – you just like being with them. Happy the church like that!

Evangelistically

A church party can be an event to which a few non-Christian friends can be invited and that can make an impact for good. I remember one young man, around the time of his conversion from quite a rough background, coming to our church party and towards the end of the proceedings saying to me: ‘I never realised it was possible to have so much fun without getting drunk.’ The comment was both poignant and heartwarming.

Culturally

Some church youth workers just cry out for a parody. How many times can you use the words ‘amazing’ and ‘awesome’ in one conversation (maybe a reintroduction of ‘word cricket’ is in order, with one scored for ‘it was like’, four for ‘awesome’ and six for ‘cool’)? As long as everything is done in good heart, even the person who insists on opening windows in a service when other folk are feeling the cold can raise a smile in self-reflection. It gives the opportunity for the fellowship to laugh at itself, even to be self-critical in an atmosphere of brotherly kindness. A spoof on a recent elders’ decision or a skit introducing the deacons in the style of the Go Jetters can be comical and simultaneously a healthy correction to people taking themselves too seriously. The church party can lighten the atmosphere of a church.

Of course, this is only possible if there is a gracious spirit in a congregation. Do you have too many harsh or touchy people for it not to end in upset?

If that’s the case it does not speak well of things. Also parties are less possible when a church becomes too large. People in a vast congregation hardly know each other. A certain closeness is required for the leg-pulling not to be taken wrongly, and it would be wrong, for example, to present a skit on the elders at a fellowship group Christmas social where those elders were not present – that could, understandably, be seen as quite subversive.