Church promotes holiday downsizing

Ad campaign calls for fewer gifts and focus on what really matters.
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A Kentucky church is approaching Christmas a little differently this year: It's skipping it.
And through advertisements around town and their Web site, www.skipchristmas.net, members of the church are urging you do to the same.
Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington isn't suggesting bailing out on the celebration altogether, just the bad parts:
The stress. Spending money you can't afford to spend. The huge crowds.
"We want to encourage people not to get so caught up in the trappings of the season that they miss the heart of what Christmas is about," said the Rev. Fred Turner, a minister at the church. "We are not calling for people not to buy presents or put up trees, but we are trying to turn the focus on the things that matter."
He said people often tell him how they wish they could scale back and not spend as much this Christmas. Or how they feel obligated to buy gifts for certain people, even if they don't want to.
Crossroads Christian Church is giving those people permission to do just that, the Rev. Mr. Turner said.
'Skipping Christmas'
He said the church got the idea from John Grisham's newest book, "Skipping Christmas," which has been made into a movie "Christmas with the Kranks," featuring Tim Allen.
The story is about Luther Krank (Allen), who is sick of the high costs of Christmas, and persuades his wife to skip the holiday and spend the money on a cruise.
But when his Peace Corps-bound daughter decides to come home for Christmas, he goes into a frenzy of preparations.
The church, a nondenominational Christian church, began a series of weekly discussions last Saturday. The sessions focus on helping the community find simplicity, joy, rest, belonging and Jesus, while skipping the loneliness, obligations and rush that come with the holiday. The last session will be Christmas Eve.
"We really think this is important because the heart of Christmas needs to be getting back to who Jesus is and why he cares," Mr. Turner said.
Davis Caldwell, a member of the church since 1989, said he thinks some people might consider the church's message negative when they first see the billboard advertisements -- some just list the Web site address.
Caldwell said he thinks the advertisements will intrigue some, though, and encourage them to log on to find out what the message is all about.
"I think people will find it interesting when they see the Web site," he said.
Caldwell said that, when the idea was brought up at church last week, he and other members were instantly excited.
He said the "Skipping Christmas" theme, as ironic as it might sound, will bring some back to the original reason for the holiday.
"It's fun to celebrate, it's fun to give gifts and talk about Santa and all of that, but it's important to focus on the gift God gave us: Jesus," he said.