I have noticed a curious event as of late in many Reformed Churches; incorporating "Mother's Day" on the "Lord's Day". I'm interested in knowing the following:

__________________
Pastor Jerrold H. Lewis. (Dipl. IT; Assc. A; B.Th; M.Th Candidate, PRTS)
Lacombe Free Reformed Church
"A hot iron, though blunt, will pierce sooner than a cold one, though sharper."

JOHN FLAVEL

My Blog - Click HERE
Our Church site - Click HERE

What do you mean by 'incorporated'?

__________________


http://www.villagecommunitychurch.org/


"Preparing a sermon is like cooking a meal. You need pots and pans and utensils, but you don't bring them out to the table where people are eating." Derek Thomas


Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

It was mentioned from the pulpit. Is that what you mean?

__________________
Daniel
PCA
Memphis, TN

It was just mentioned in the pastor's brief morning announcements - not the sermon, which we appreciated. We do not like the world's days brought into the church.

All of the moms get white carnations passed out to them after the service.

__________________
Toni Cunningham, Wife of Bill (Theognome)
Parkwoods OPC, Overland Park KS

"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace." ~ Alexander Pope

We mentioned it during prayer time, expressing gratitude for our mothers, but that was the only mention in the service.

__________________
Patrick
MDiv, RTS Jackson
Pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC), Lisbon, NY

"He does well, that discourses of Christ; but he does infinitely better, that by experimental knowledge, feeds and lives on Christ." Thomas Brooks.
"Let us not please ourselves that we have deep understandings, but let us shew our understandings by our practice." Richard Sibbes

During my pastoral prayer I gave special thanks for mothers and their godly influence in our lives. Does that constitute "incorporation?" Mothers got a potted flower when they left church. I didn't vote because I don't know where the line is between "yes" and "no."

__________________
Lance G. Marshall
Pastor
Georgetown, Indiana

I think the poll should be extended to have options, "Mother's Day was mentioned but the sermon was not about Mothers." Or something.

My pastor said something like, "And since my mother is here, I better thank God for mothers." And that was that. So I voted no. The sermon was what it would have been regardless the date.

__________________
Shalom,
jessi
PCA
Steelers fan exiled to Virginia


“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.”
Martin Luther

I voted yes including the pastor's mention.

This will probably start a debate, but I do not believe it is proper to 'share' the Lord's Day with 'Mother's Day'.

The church I attend in Cape Town had the children singing "Jesus loves Mom, this I know". I did not approve of this. We should be reminded of honoring our parents every time we read the 10 Commandments, not by declaring that the Lord's Day is also Mother's Day.

I have only recently come to this understanding (I had never considered it before), so I understand if someone is surprised that I would suggest giving up this observance.

__________________
Tim Lindsay
member, Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, Halifax, NS, Canada
Living in Cape Town, South Africa
"under the Southern Cross, at the foot of Table Mountain, not far from the Cape of Good Hope"

It could be a prayer, a sermon, a potted flower, asking the mothers to stand, etc. I'm just curious to see how many will "observe" to a greater or lesser degree, the honouring of our mothers on the Lord's Day.
The reason I ask is in the old Scottish tradition I was trained in, birthdays, Mother's Day, and Father's Day were strictly avoided on the Sabbath, as it was considered to take away from the Lord's Day. In our Church, we have a mother's day event on the Saturday so to avoid the temptation of Sabbath day additions.
Just wanted to know what other congregations do, that's all.

My children celebrated their mother on Saturday with flowers, gifts, doing extra chores for her, etc. I gave my mother some flowers. Our whole family got together with my wife's mother and gave gifts, reminisced, and had an enjoyable time together.

Our church observed it in the way that it always has: recognition of mothers from the pulpit at the beginning. I have always been uncomfortable with this, which is one reason why I didn't applaud.

__________________
David Broyles
Greenville Presbyterian Church
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
Upstate SC

"That man hath perfect blessedness;
Who walketh not astray
In counsel of ungodly men
Nor stands in sinners' way."
Psalm 1:1,2 - The Scottish Psalmody

Wait, let me guess....Mother's Day is actually rooted in paganism, which originated as the worship of the moon god, and medieval Christians created a more socially-acceptable cover for it by celebrating their "mothers" on a certain Sunday in the spring. Or maybe Walgreens or Hallmark is actually the originator of Mother's Day, capitalizing on our guilt of ingratitude and pinpointing our wallets as the true source of love...thus solidifying its pagan nature. And even uttering the word "mother" at church on this particular Sunday is a slap in the face of God as we cling to the gods of our culture???? Am I even close????

I agree. These Mother's and Father's days are based on sentimentality and I believe they usurp the authority of God's fifth commandment.

Or...

How many pastors preached on Proverbs 31 yesterday?

__________________
Scott Kessler
Covenant Community OPC
Staunton, VA
Covenant Theology
Christian Skepticism
Christianity In History

Same here. I had two services yesterday and only made passing mention of mothers in the announcements at the beginning. I think I briefly - very briefly - prayed for mothers in the Pastoral Prayer during the first service in my church.

Later on I did a service at a retirement village. Someone was joking with me asking if I was going to do a "Mother's Day Sermon." The little old ladies were probably not too happy when I eschewed references to mothers and focused instead on Jesus Christ.

__________________
Kevin Guillory
Pastor
Redeemer Christian Congregation
Baltimore, MD

I don't interpret Scripture. Scripture
interprets itself. And in the process ...
Scripture interprets me!

Thanks for the clarification. Since I think it is appropriate to honor the 5th commandment on the Lord's Day, I voted "yes".

A brief mention, but we kept on with our sermon series and did not deviate from it in any way.

__________________
JC - PCA - PA...homesick for SC
A we n' de Ya, ho; I mak sikker; Deus juvat

Indicabo tibi o homo quid sit bonum, et quid Dominus requirat a te: Utique facere iudicium, et diligere, misericordiam, et sollicitum ambulare cum Deo tuo. Michaeas 6:8

"Who says you can't go back, been all around the world and as a matter of fact. There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home" Bon Jovi

God has given us His commandment to honor our father and our mother. This is a 'reminder' to us. Why would we then add our own reminder of this aspect of Christian life?

We could very easily go into the Christmas and Easter debate here...but let's not.

Err... no, nothing that elaborate. We would see it however as an encroachment on the Lord's glory on the Sabbath.
Isa 42:8 "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another..."

Yes, it is rooted in paganism in the sense that it takes what is already commanded in God's Word and replaces it with its own commandment.

I made no mention of it at all for the reasons that you listed as common among Scottish Presbyterianism.

__________________
Rev. Adam King
Minister in the RPCNA
Pastor,Trinity Reformed Church
Wichita, KS

There was no mention of Mother's Day from the pulpit. People at our church observe it privately (my hubby told me "Happy Mother's Day" for the first time since we're expecting our first child this fall). But I think there is typically too much emphasis on days like those. (Josh and I haven't exchanged gifts since we've been married because we're so sick of commercialization.)

Our church allows for private observation of any and all holidays, but we do not rearrange our preaching schedule to fit Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Armed Forces Day, etc. It's not the time or place for it.

The independent fundamental baptist church I grew up in gave away cherry pies to the oldest mother, youngest mother, mother with the most children, and mother with the most children present in the church service (you should have seen the ruckus when there was a tie!), then we'd hand out flowers to all the mothers, have a message about a mother in the Bible, have the children sing special music about how much they loved their mothers, etc. I'm SO GLAD to be done with "mother-worship." (I love my mom, but singing a song about my love for her during church is just wrong.)

__________________
Kim G
Non-denom church (holds to the WCF)
Zion Community Church, Greenville, SC

Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
Psalm 86:11

We have the duty to engage the world with the Word of God. Honoring of parents is very Biblical.

Our church (I'm back in Saint Louis now) said a special word AFTER the sermon.But I would not have had problems with a sermon on Proverbs 31 being preached. Even a sermon on the duties of children to parents or vie versa would have fit well.

If major wildfires destroyed half of your state, or the World Trade Towers were blown up the day before, or Pearl Harbor was bombed, I would see nothing amiss in a pastor addressing these current and relevant concerns to the congregation.

In the same manner, mentioning Mother's Day is appropriate...if the Bible has something to say about it (which it does).

-----Added 5/11/2009 at 10:38:01 EST-----


Under your rationale, you should give NO announcements WHATSOEVER besides preaching during Sunday worship.

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Outta thanks! Amen.

Tim is very sensitive to making an issue out of Mother's Day at church; one of our closest friends confided how much it can make the childless feel like second-class citizens. However, we have a congregant who has good intentions and loves to celebrate, so she brought yellow roses for the mothers' lapels. When this became awkward, "every woman is a mother" through Sunday School, etc. and received a rose. I counted up on the way home and realized (in our very small congregation) that we had more women who are not mothers (at all age levels) than are in yesterday's worship.

__________________
Anna
Wife of Tim/Marrow Man
Louisville, KY
Member of Midlane Park Presbyterian (Associate Reformed Presbyterian)

Mother's Day and Father's Day are special days of thanksgiving. To give special thanks to God for godly mothers and fathers is scriptural. Unless we are saying that there are to be no special days of thanksgiving, I think a prayer of thanksgiving is appropriate.

Our announcements are done before the call to worship, as I imagine is the pattern in many churches attended by folks here.

Hogwash. It's not replacing anything. If you take from Mother's Day that there's one day a year that we are to honor our mothers, and the rest don't matter, then you have greatly misunderstood the holiday.

It's a day set aside to show special appreciation to somebody. In no way is it intended to be a "command", and in no way is it to replace or add to Scripture.

I mentioned the raising up of disciples in godly households as a sermon illustration/application, but I continued our series on John 6 by preaching on the concluding verses of that chapter (including the marks of a true disciple, ones who did not abandon the "difficult teachings" of Jesus). I mentioned the influence of Eunice and Lois upon Timothy as an encouragement to godly mothers and grandmothers, but that was about it.

__________________
Tim Phillips
Pastor, Midlane Park Presbyterian Church (ARP)
Louisville, KY
Husband of Scottish Lass
My Blog: Gairney Bridge
My Facebook/My Avatar

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

"Wherever the gospel is preached, it is as if God Himself came into the midst of us." ~ John Calvin

Not my church. Instead, my pastor talked about how we were whores and God's grace towards us to make us His bride.

__________________
sarah
WI
OPC
My Pastor's Sermons: Mark Jenkins...he's awesome!!!

God has also commanded us to pray, but I guess it's somehow wrong to have a national day of prayer. Am I right?
I'm not trying to change the subject, but I don't see how it's so problematic to recognize those things in our culture that do not run counter to Scripture.

So, what's wrong with announcing gratitude towards mothers at that time?

I bought my mom's dinner and gave her a card this Saturday. It was nice because my mom, Dad, and Chloë all visited me here in Dallas. But there was no observance of Mother's Day at our Church on the Lord's Day, and for that, I'm thankful.

__________________
Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
Facebook - The Calvinist Vent
Board Rules - Signature Rules - Suggestion Box

It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry

What's wrong with doing it on December 9th or July 9th? - provided those days are Sunday's!

-----Added 5/11/2009 at 10:53:04 EST-----

Yes - the National Day of Prayer is the same type of thing I've been talking about. It's usurpation. May be hogwash to you, Tripel, but I've done my homework on this issue.

Celebrate mothers on any day you want....usually for an annual event, some sort of arbitrary date must be chosen. July 9th is fine too.

Agreed. Announcements do not belong in the worship service.

Nothing. And what is wrong with May 10th? I have yet to see an argument against a prayer of thanksgiving for mothers on the Second Sunday of May. I think it fits in with WCF 21.5. I don't run scared before the world. Just because something is abused or misused by the world does not exclude it from proper use by Christians, if it is used to proclaim Christ and thank God.

So JOwen:

How do you handle other info on Sundays?

Most all churches have some sort of time for announcements or some form of info giving other than worship on Sundays?

Your position is consistent, but how do you practically carry it out? Advise folks by email or pamphlet about news and/or upcoming events?

I would assume that announcements are made before the Call to Worship. Nonetheless, I wouldn't pretend to know what Pastor Owen does. I would also assume that the announcements don't pertain to giving honor to anyone else other than the Lord on the Lord's Day; rather, necessary information for the congregation, prayer requests, etc. It's one thing to say, "Hey, such and such day is coming up," and quite another to say, "Today is Mother's Day."

Forgive me, but I don't take your homework as authoritative.
Just because something is cultural does not mean it is usurping God's law. If we share a common culture, and we collectively pray for a cultural issue, how is that usurping anything of God?