coc ‘Authorized’ Extra Services

[GuitarHero]

I have often suspected that the fact that COCers rob themselves of an extra day of rest is one reason why they are mostly unhappy people.

Having a second day free on my weekend has been an absolute revelation to me. I feel so much better, and I have time for so much more.

[OneStrike_ur_out]

I know of c of C's that have dropped the evening service in favor of a lunch and "devotional" right afterward, meaning it's essentially an afternoon service. That way, they get their time in and have the rest of the day. A bit much for me, though.

I gave up Sunday evening services because it meant a whole day of nothing but church; like another workday. Morning service is over, you have lunch and then you can't really do anything because just when you're getting into it, it's time to get dressed and ready for the evening service. Major pain. And it caused some strain with friends who didn't understand why I would drop everything to get ready and rush back for another service. And then you finally get home, you have to prepare dinner and there's no time to enjoy before bed and then starting a new work week.

Yep. Sundays in the cOC are no different from a Monday-Friday.

[Hildegard]

People always look at me like I have three heads when I tell them that the church I grew up in had no problem with Santa, exchanging gifts, the Easter bunny and hiding eggs, but a Christmas or Easter church service was absolutely wrong.

Same experience here. The first church I grew up in actually held Halloween parties in the basement classroom and Easter egg hunts every April. There was even a trip to the nearest big town in the church van to get our photos taken with Mall Santa.

But no Christmas tree in the lobby, and the Christmas Day sermon was always about how this day was the same as any other, etc. We got Easter sermons though.

I ran into the anti-holiday thing when I was away at college, and it never made any sense to me. I despise Trunk-n-Treat because it's essentially the same thing as Halloween. I get that parents might feel it's safer than wandering around random neighborhoods begging for candy (that was half the fun, people!) but they're still rewarding kids for showing up in costumes. ??? CoC logic I guess....