{"id":1730,"date":"2015-05-07T14:58:32","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T19:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?p=1730"},"modified":"2021-03-09T09:30:40","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T14:30:40","slug":"mothers-day-in-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/mothers-day-in-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother\u2019s Day: It\u2019s Complicated"},"content":{"rendered":"

My friend Judy once told me that every year on Mother\u2019s Day, she makes sure to sign up to volunteer in her church\u2019s nursery during worship. When I asked her why, she said, \u201cEver since my mom died, I just can\u2019t be in worship on Mother\u2019s Day. They make such a big deal of it in the service: they recognize all the moms, and the sermon is always about motherhood. And it\u2019s just too painful for me, so I work in the nursery instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Often churches imagine that by celebrating Mother\u2019s Day very publicly in Sunday morning worship, they\u2019re doing a good thing \u2013 after all, they\u2019re honoring all the hard-working moms out there who may not always get the appreciation they deserve. But Judy\u2019s story got me thinking: What if observing Mother\u2019s Day this way is actually causing pain or even doing harm to people in our faith communities?<\/p>\n

Consider the following people, some of whom are likely to be in your congregation on Mother\u2019s Day:<\/p>\n