When we bought the building that has become our store for Mountain Arts Pottery and The Coffee Pot Bakery, we had our annual retreat and during that retreat, decided, with much prayer, that we would not be open on Sunday. We are closed only on three other holidays during the year. We are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is pretty normal, but then Good Friday rolls around and people start asking why we're closed.
There is a story that goes along with that decision, as with so many things we do. I was serving on the School Board for Bozeman when all of our kids were in elementary school or preschool. In the spring, back in the day, we had a standard Easter vacation in the schools. As society has changed there has been an attempt to remove every form of Christian symbolism from the public schools, and the Easter Break has now changed to Spring Break. Being young and wanting to have some kind of impact in our community, I talked to Jennie and we decided not to send our kids to school on Good Friday. Our kids were ecstatic; it was a great day not to have to go to school. On Good Friday of that year they all slept in, so Jennie and I had a nice breakfast together and then I went out to the studio, which was in the back yard of our home, and went to work. Some time later in the morning the kids all showed up in my studio and poised this question, "Dad, if Good Friday is so important that we don’t go to school, why are you going to work?" I only had to think about that for a short time when it became obvious that this was a double standard, so I washed my hands, shut the wheel off, turned out the lights and that was the last time I worked on Good Friday. I feel that Good Friday is probably the most important Christian holiday for us, and want to put my money where my ideals are, so that it why it's a paid holiday for all of our employees, and why we choose not to be open.
There is a story that goes along with that decision, as with so many things we do. I was serving on the School Board for Bozeman when all of our kids were in elementary school or preschool. In the spring, back in the day, we had a standard Easter vacation in the schools. As society has changed there has been an attempt to remove every form of Christian symbolism from the public schools, and the Easter Break has now changed to Spring Break. Being young and wanting to have some kind of impact in our community, I talked to Jennie and we decided not to send our kids to school on Good Friday. Our kids were ecstatic; it was a great day not to have to go to school. On Good Friday of that year they all slept in, so Jennie and I had a nice breakfast together and then I went out to the studio, which was in the back yard of our home, and went to work. Some time later in the morning the kids all showed up in my studio and poised this question, "Dad, if Good Friday is so important that we don’t go to school, why are you going to work?" I only had to think about that for a short time when it became obvious that this was a double standard, so I washed my hands, shut the wheel off, turned out the lights and that was the last time I worked on Good Friday. I feel that Good Friday is probably the most important Christian holiday for us, and want to put my money where my ideals are, so that it why it's a paid holiday for all of our employees, and why we choose not to be open.
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