Featured Would you/Do you attend a church that does not have a Sun and/or Wed service?

Wow......sorry, but I find that sorta shocking. Going to church to learn from God's Word, and fellowship with his saints is something I LOVE to do!

 

There are many types of Baptists. It is not a unified group of belief. Methodists would tend to be more free will and Presbyterians primitive or Southern. I do not understand why Episciples are exculuded more than any other group.

 

Interesting. Would love to know more about this. Who leads out in this? Is everyone doing the same things or are different tables doing different things? Is it well supported by the church members?

 

Why do I have to be confined to a church to do this?

 

You don't.........but I just was kinda shocked that someone who is a Christian stated they need a gun held to their head to get them to God's house! If going to church twice on Sunday makes you feel like that, you're gonna be miserable in Heaven! :smilewinkgrin:

 

Well, God doesn't have a house.

Also, I was being hyperbolic.

 

"that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God"

 

Tad,
I sent you a private message, hopefully answering your questions.

 

Tom, would you be willing to share with all of us what you shared with Tad. I, too, am curious about how your church does Wednesday nights.

Do you sometimes have a fellowship meal as part of it.

Do you have music?

 

I would not join a church that does not have a Sunday night or Wed. night service, though I might visit one. I don't understand the disconnect between Christians today. Sunday morning is the time when you will ususally have more visitors and some Pastors use this time for evangelical messages. That isn't always the case, but more so on Sunday morning than other times imo. Sunday night or Wed. night, in my experience, is the perfect time to teach through a book of the bible verse by verse. Wed. night is the time to pull apart from the world, get our feet washed if you will, and share prayer and praise time before the word is preached. To me that is a precious time of fellowshipping with the brethren. I am suspect of people that don't enjoy being around other Christians. How can we love God if we don't love the brethren. Now don't jump on me because I know that only having one service is not necessarily a sign of not loving the brethren. But comments about having to go to church 3 times a week instead of wanting to go don't make sense to me. But that's just me and my experience.

 

We did a traditional Sunday night for a few years here, but it was more a mini-Sunday morning with hymns, offering, preaching et al. But we wanted a way to introduce people into small groups like SS and weekday Bible studies. So we moved the service into the fellowship hall and sat people around tables and started various Bible studies that included book, doctrinal and church intro studies.

We try to keep people in their tables for as long as the study lasts (usually 12-13 weeks, although we've done longer) but don't force people to stay at a table. We want to encourage open discussion about the questions we give them and that only comes as people have been together for a little while.

Some no longer come on Sunday nights but are involved in another Bible study thru the week. I will introduce the passage or subject, define some terms so that new comers understand what we are talking about, then hand out questions for the table to discuss. Then after 20 minutes or so, we'll go thru the questions and answers. Then I'll finish up with a challenge from the passage. It's real simple. We usually have some kind of snacks and always have coffee. There are some nights when we will do something fun like a chili making contest or cake decorating or even just a game night.

On Wednesday night, we just take prayer requests and pray. We try to concentrate on praying for missionaries and those who we are witnessing to. But there's always some requests for Aunt Selma's bunions. :laugh: If there's time, i'll do a devotional or short Bible study.

We really don't do music on Sunday or wednesday night, nor do we take up an offering.

It's helped us, but YMMV.

 

Tom, can you give me some idea of the mix of people you have there....ages, Male, Female, etc. I really see this filling the void for the elderly.... stuff like cake decorating & Chili Cook off's etc. I guess it also depends on distances traveled....if your close, yea but if your farther away then the appeal is not sooo much.

What would you do for someone really interested in a penetrating & deep bible study? Also is there any programs for those of us who are alcoholics & drug addicts or plagued with any other addiction?

 

Agreed and thanks. I think it's more a matter of my own habituation to that "old time religion" and the being-there-if-the-doors-are-open-rituals.

Before we sought church membership we made it clear that our working and ministry life narrowed our participation to Sunday mornings. Our pastor was copacetic then and has always been. I think it's how we deal with the feelings of isolation internally.

 

We do the frothy kind of stuff (chili and cakes) maybe 1 time a year each. It's not like it's a reguular occurence. I wonder what you mean by "penetrating and deep Bible study"? Is our Bible study like a seminary class, not at all. But at the end of a study, our people will be able to tell you the major argument of the book, the context of the book, how the author has developed his ideas. And, they'll be able to know how they ought to act because of what the author wrote.

Who are our people in this Sunday night study? This is an older area so our people represent our environment. The average age is in their 50's. Many of our younger people are more apt to be in the normal small group stuff. We have one for public school teachers, the student ministry have their own Bible study.

Remember this is sort of an entry point for what we hope will get people involved in small group Bible study.

Currently, we don't have any for those in recovery.

 

We don't have Sunday evening or Wednesday evening services. ON Sunday afternoon/evenings the youth meet. On Wednesday they have AWANA.

There are several small groups that meet during the week for Bible study as well as a finance class, and leadership development classes. We are large, for our area, at about 300 people. There are two Sunday AM services as well as Sunday school. It is during the small groups that discipleship and shepherding are most effective.

I see no reason to be rigidly attached to a schedule that God does not ordain in Scripture. It's about doing the things the Church should be doing in ways that meet the needs of the people we are trying to reach and minister too.

 

What is AWANA?

 

AWANA is a youth program that intends to teach kids (through high school) to learn, memorize, and apply Scripture.

 

I've heard a few of our older members engage in conversation about one of the other nearby SBC-affiliated churches that recently stopped having Sunday night church services. The conversation was somewhat condescending in that they were being critical of the "spirituality" of that church and their "laziness" in not wanting to meet on Sunday evening. The pastor there happens to be a friend of mine, and in the two years he's been there, their Sunday morning attendance has gone from about 50 mostly older people, to about 200, packing their sanctuary, and last year they baptized about 50 new believers, mostly teenagers and young adults. They run about 90 in Sunday school on Sunday morning, mostly middle aged and older adults. But on Sunday nights, they have a dozen small home groups that meet for worship and Bible study, using the same curriculum as the Sunday school, and they have an additional 120 to 130 involved in discipleship and Bible study as a result. They have about 70 youth who do come to the church on Sunday night for worship and Bible study, and youth group, and they have "Team Kid", which is like AWANA, at the church as well. Parents can drop their kids off for a couple of hours and go to a small group. As far as I know, they don't have anything on Wednesday night.

I don't see anything wrong with that.

 

I wouldn't mind Sunday night small groups, but that doesn't usually happen. Most churches drop the service and the men stay home and watch football, imo. I would love to get small groups started in my church, but don't know how to approach it with the leadership of the church. I thought about having one in my home and invite the neighborhood to come, but I like to go through the local church.