At the church of my youth, the contemporary (and the largest) service was at 9am in a giant multipurpose room called the Center for New Life. We had church setup and church tear down. I don't remember when setup happened, but tear down happened at the end of the Sunday service. Everybody stacked their chairs up in the back, put the hymnals away, moved the communion table (which we mistakenly called the altar) back to its weekday place, etc. Every week there was a list of families in charge of making it happen. It was regular - a set thing. You knew when tear down was supposed to happen.
Not so with Christmas. Our tree is dried up, our stockings are empty, there are no more presents to open, and I am debating whether I should let it linger, or if I should put everything away and get back to the business of unpacking. Most years I am all about the lingering and letting Christmas extend way into the new year, but I began feeling the tear down itch first thing Saturday morning and I haven't been able to shake it yet.
How long do you leave your Christmas decorations up?
I try to do the whole "12 days of Christmas" thing. However, my tree had turned into a serious fire hazard, so I gave up and threw it out. Everything else is staying up, though.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the hymnals are no more. And as far as I know, tear down is no more too... no more school to use it!
I wrote a very long comment here that somehow did not post. I cannot possibly remember it and the furor at having something so long be lost makes me too mad at your blog commentary section to give it the satisfaction of reposting.
ReplyDeleteNo teardown? that's so weird!
ReplyDeleteAnd Kelley: note taken, and I'm sorry for your pain.