After our fun celebration, I began thinking, “Why is it important to celebrate? Are there good reasons besides the fun?” I remembered immediately that God must have thought it was important as he taught the OT people to set aside time for feasting and rejoicing. Now, in the glow of our big weekend, I can see some of the reasons.
Celebration motivates people to volunteer and identify with the cause.
The energy of the occasion is catching. People like to be a part of a good purpose in a way that is immediate and tangible. Helping out at a celebration provides a positive emotional feedback to the volunteer, especially when coupled with appropriate appreciation from those being helped. Volunteering in turn helps the volunteer to feel more a part of the organization that they helped.
Celebration generates creativity.
We found that the combination of workers thinking together and the challenge of a focused task that they strongly believed in generated much creativity. All kinds of new ideas were spawned in the past few months and many of them were used. One of the biggest examples was the sanctuary makeover. The idea of preparing for the future helped set a climate for change. The creative idea of dividing the front wall between paint and paneling instead of all paneling was accepted by a huge majority. The new design’s decorative flexibility became evident at the 50th as the background of the cross became purple to complement the purple and gold color scheme of the celebration. Enlarging the vestibule and moving the doors to the center created an entrance so natural that it seems like it always should have been like that. For another example, we had done slide shows before on the big screen but never with the music embedded and narration overlaid. Anne Kipping and JoAnne Jones went as far as they could and then called in Josh Basile to put it all together. A third example was the spontaneous recreation of the church sign landscaping by Cindy Centner and Vicki Hilliges. All these examples made it obvious that creativity just happens as we celebrate.
Celebration calls forth profound praise to God.
Sometimes our praises seem rather ordinary, habitual and dutiful. That’s certainly much superior to a lack of praise, but there is more. In times of celebration our praise seems to well up from deeper with in us; it involves more of us; it arises from a more conscious recounting of so many of the blessings of God. It is more heartfelt; more intense, more profound. God reads hearts and I know He was pleased with the intensity of praise that welled up in our hearts this past Sunday morning. I believe even angels praised God with us.
Celebration unites the Body of Christ.
People work together gladly and cooperate easily to make a celebration happen. Oh, friction can happen as ideas conflict or people get tired in the work, but even these glitches are more easily overcome because of the driving energy provided by reaching the goal together. It’s not a celebration if we don’t get there together. It addition, the natural recollection of history, reminiscing upon anecdotes we have in common, and recounting of landmark events all serve to ground our unity in common history.
Celebrations serve as an occasion for fellowship.
At our anniversary event, many people we had not seen each other in decades were brought together again. Those who had seen each other were given another opportunity to rub shoulders chat and enjoy good food and conversations. Being friends in the family of God working together through a celebration deepens ties of fellowship too.
Church celebrations serve as a time to honor those who have served well.
The Bible instructs us to honor those who are over us in the Lord and to take note of those who have served well (1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:12). But there are not many occasions that lend themselves as easily to doing this like an anniversary celebration does. Taking note of persons who deserve honor on special occasions can take many forms; having them take part in events, taking pictures of them, giving gifts, and recognizing them before the group are just a few of them.
Celebration creates momentum for moving forward.
One of the unseen things leaders work for is to create positive momentum that propels the organization forward. Celebrations such as our 50th anniversary do just that. The positive good will engendered the sense of unity, the strengthened sense of organizational identity all help to create a sense of forward movement that drives us into the future. This is doubly important when you consider that the alternative is to slowly die away, to allow energy and organization to attenuate over time. Periodic celebration works against this and injects positive new life instead.