Church Socials

A gathering of church members for celebratory, social, or charitable purposes, church socials in America have remained popular—while becoming more varied and elaborate—throughout the past two centuries.

Church socials in America are rooted in ancient Jewish festivals. Jews traveled to Jerusalem to participate in public worship activities that commemorated important events or celebrated the harvest. Because the tribes of Israel were separated geographically, these festivals served the additional purpose of providing the cement needed for national unity. Old prejudices and misunderstandings were often swept away by these major events.

With the birth of the church, Christians shared common meals designed to enhance relationships within the church. The Bible says in Acts 2:46, "… They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts." Eventually, the Agape meal or "love feast" became popular. It provided fellowship and opportunity to help the poor and widows. It was later practiced in the Moravian and Methodist churches.

Socials enhance church celebrations of Easter, Christmas, and other holidays. Because the Bible says that Jesus' resurrection took place at dawn, Christians often meet together early on Easter morning for a "Sunrise Service" followed by a breakfast. An Easter egg hunt is often included, though some frown on this as a secular activity. Churches plan various Christmas socials such as caroling, exchanging gifts, and serving special dinners. Opinions vary on whether to include Christmas trees and Santa Claus. Some avoid them as secular symbols while others include them because they believe these traditions have Christian origins. As American society embraced other holidays such as Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving, churches discovered fresh opportunities for social activities including mother-daughter, father-son, sweetheart, and Thanksgiving banquets. Churches in communities sometimes join together for patriotic celebrations on the Fourth of July.

Socials get people together in informal settings so that they will become better acquainted and work together more effectively in the church. Congregations in rural and small town America enjoy popular social activities involving food and games. Ham, bean, and cornbread dinners, chili suppers, "pot luck" meals, homemade ice cream socials, wiener roasts, picnics, hayrides, softball games, watermelon eating contests, and all-day singing events are only a few examples. In fact, for these rural congregations, church socials have often been the only source of social activities in a community. In some cases, homes were so far apart, separated by acres of farmland, that churches were the only places where people could go to meet others. Many people went to church socials on dates, and was a place where they often met their future spouses. Some churches included dancing and alcoholic beverages, but others believed those activities were inappropriate for churches to sponsor. Churches in both rural and urban areas often have family nights designed especially for busy families. A family comes to church on a weeknight and shares a meal with other families before Bible study or other small group activities.

In the latter half of the twentieth century, churches began planning more elaborate socials. Churches in or near urban areas attend professional sports. This is so widespread that most professional stadiums offer discount rates for church groups. Churches join together to sponsor basketball, softball, and volleyball leagues. While most churches rent community facilities, some have built their own gymnasiums and recreation halls. Other social activities involve trips to major recreation areas such as amusement parks. Swimming, picnicking, camping, and enjoying amusement rides are a few of the activities that round out these outings that last whole days or even entire weekends. Some church groups in recent years have provided cruises, trips to major recreational sites such as Branson, Missouri, and even vacations to other countries. While more elaborate, a cruise for Christian singles, for example, serves the same purpose as the traditional hayride and wiener roast.

As the early church was concerned for widows, orphans, the sick and the poor, and gave generously to meet those needs, so modern church socials may be founded on the desire to assist the needy or fund church programs. As a result, activities such as homemade-ice-cream socials, sausage-and-pancake suppers, and craft bazaars are opened to the public. Some Catholic churches sponsor festivals that take on the flavor of county fairs. Amusement rides, carnival games, and food booths draw thousands of people. Money is used to pay for parochial schools or some other church project. (Some Catholic and many non-Catholic churches believe that these activities are too secular. Card playing, gambling, and the drinking of alcoholic beverages included in some of these events have also been quite controversial.) Some churches use their profits to support Christian retirement homes and hospitals. Some believe churches should not sell food or merchandise, but they give free meals away to the poor in the community. Other groups such as the Amish still have barn raising and quilting socials to help others in their community.

—James H. Lloyd

Further Reading:

Clemens, Frances, Robert Tully, and Edward Crill. Recreation in the Local Church. Elgin, Ill., Brethren Press, 1961.

Conner, Ray. A Guide to Church Recreation. Nashville, Convention Press, 1977.

Roadcup, David, ed. Methods for Youth Ministry: Leadership Development, Camp, VBS, Bible Study, Small Groups, Discipline, Fine Arts, Film, Mission Trips, Recreation, Retreats. Cincinnati, Standard Publishing, 1986.

Smith, Frank Hart. Social Recreation and the Church. Nashville, Convention Press, 1983.