Does your church do this?

[MusicMaster]

For years I have attended Christmas programs at various churches where the event was done as an outreach type service to get the parents of the bus kids to attend and to attract visitors.

This year, it has been announced that our Christmas program will be a dinner theater fundraiser. The cost of admission is $15.

I don't mind giving money to my church, but I feel this is the wrong way to go about raising funds. I may be alone in my opinion on this, but I was just appalled that they would make the decision to do this. It's not like this church would not be able to pay the bills if they didn't do this fundraiser.

Anyone else's church using the Christmas program to solicit more money from it's members?

[notofworks]

Originally Posted by MusicMaster

For years I have attended Christmas programs at various churches where the event was done as an outreach type service to get the parents of the bus kids to attend and to attract visitors.

This year, it has been announced that our Christmas program will be a dinner theater fundraiser. The cost of admission is $15.

I don't mind giving money to my church, but I feel this is the wrong way to go about raising funds. I may be alone in my opinion on this, but I was just appalled that they would make the decision to do this. It's not like this church would not be able to pay the bills if they didn't do this fundraiser.

Anyone else's church using the Christmas program to solicit more money from it's members?

Rather than creating a firestorm here on the Forum and gathering up ammunition for your distaste about what is going on at your church, why don't you do the Matthew 18 thing and go talk to either your pastor directly or those responsible for this? It'll save your heart a whole lot of trouble.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by MusicMaster

For years I have attended Christmas programs at various churches where the event was done as an outreach type service to get the parents of the bus kids to attend and to attract visitors.

This year, it has been announced that our Christmas program will be a dinner theater fundraiser. The cost of admission is $15.

I don't mind giving money to my church, but I feel this is the wrong way to go about raising funds. I may be alone in my opinion on this, but I was just appalled that they would make the decision to do this. It's not like this church would not be able to pay the bills if they didn't do this fundraiser.

Anyone else's church using the Christmas program to solicit more money from it's members?

There's always a need to raise more funds. How effective have the previous "outreach" productions been?

What's this fundraiser focused on? To provide funds for a different type of outreach or to bolster one that has a proven track record?

What's on the menu? ... Maybe that's just "nice to know information."

[coadie]

Originally Posted by notofworks

Rather than creating a firestorm here on the Forum and gathering up ammunition for your distaste about what is going on at your church, why don't you do the Matthew 18 thing and go talk to either your pastor directly or those responsible for this? It'll save your heart a whole lot of trouble.

Not a bad idea. These dining and theatrical events can cost a lot of money. They can also stir up discord.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by notofworks

Rather than creating a firestorm here on the Forum and gathering up ammunition for your distaste about what is going on at your church, why don't you do the Matthew 18 thing and go talk to either your pastor directly or those responsible for this? It'll save your heart a whole lot of trouble.

ur funny when you put on those thick glasses and act all serious.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by coadie

Not a bad idea. These dining and theatrical events can cost a lot of money. They can also stir up discord.

Really. Our church did a production of "Showboat" once to raise money for flannelgraph and other Sunday School supplies.

Between the issues of miscegenation, lusty dames and the fact that our stevedores were all "Irish" instead of Blacks, we lost half the congregation to one thing or the other.

[Margies3]

I suppose our church is probably the exception to the rule, but we rarely ever charge for anything we invite the public to. I can't even remember the last time we charged for something, now that I think about it. In fact, we do 2 FREE clothing give-aways every year. Our mother-daughter tea is free, our Christmas banquet is free, we do a Christmas "play" with the Sunday School kids every december, which is, you guessed it, free.

[missourimary]

I've seen it done. Is it your choice whether or not to go, or is it a required event? Is the food and entertainment worth the price? Is not going worth any upset it might cause? I always went. The food was worth $5-7, and the rest of the $8-10 was worth it's value for keeping the peace.

[notofworks]

Originally Posted by pelathais

ur funny when you put on those thick glasses and act all serious.

The truth is, I don't like the idea. But I just get an icky feeling when someone has some angst with the church they're attending and attempts to solve it by going on an internet discussion board looking for opinions. I don't see much of a way that's going to result in anything good. We're all here just blabbing. But MusicMaster has to sit there next week and potentially listen to a pastor she's ticked off at, loaded with negative opinions he/she gathered on AFF.

[freeatlast]

We have a church in our area that does a yearly Christmas program that has grown so big that they had to move to I-Wireless Center. They sell out the theatre 4 nights.
They do charge, many tickets are given away by their congregation to people they invite.
The "Littledrummer boy" in the video I am posting is different every year, but always a crowd favorite.
It starts with one drummer and builds and builds to a great crescendo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdikl88ntBE