Not going to Church???

[Salty]

You get lost in the crowd

and I think that is why some want to go to mega churches

 

[JonC]

I don't care for large chuches. I've never been to one.

I have been in wonderful large and small churches. I have been in bad large and small ones as well.

Most of the small churches I have attended were small for a reason. They were dead. I think the average age of members was 55+. No youth to speak of (maybe some grand child here or there).

Most of the large churches I have attended grew from a small church to a large church because of their faithfulness. But it was difficult to function as a member (to be a part of the work). It was easy to get lost in the crowd. You functioned as a member of the church within smaller groups (like study groups).

I prefer smaller churches. But I never rule out larger ones. Most of my life I attended larger ones because the small ones were dead.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Well, those who promulgated the London Baptist Confession of 1689 favored imposing church discipline on persons who missed even midweek services without a sufficient excuse.

I didn't find any reference to the 1689 Confession in your link. Instead you offer one page from an American 19th Century writer of whom I have never heard. But people who come into membership of a church should undoubtedly commit themselves to regular attendance unless there is some pressing reason to be absent.

 

[Jerome]

Well, those who promulgated the London Baptist Confession of 1689 favored imposing church discipline on persons who missed even midweek services without a sufficient excuse.

I didn't find any reference to the 1689 Confession in your link. Instead you offer one page from an American 19th Century writer of whom I have never heard.

Here, I'll type it out:

Baptist General Assembly in London....A General Assembly was convened in London....from the third to the twelfth of September, 1689....Various questions were proposed at this meeting, and the opinions and advice of the brethren sought....in the matter of discipline....

"Question. Whether, when the Church have agreed upon the keeping of one day, weekly or monthly, besides the first day of the week, to worship God and perform the necessary services of the Church, they may not charge such persons with evil that neglect such meetings, and lay them under reproof, unless such members can show good cause for such their absence?

"Answer. Concluded in the affirmative (Heb. x. 25).

J. M. Cramp, Baptist History: from the Foundation of the Christian Church to the Close of the Eighteenth Century [London, 1868], pp. 461-3.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Here, I'll type it out:

Baptist General Assembly in London....A General Assembly was convened in London....from the third to the twelfth of September, 1689....Various questions were proposed at this meeting, and the opinions and advice of the brethren sought....in the matter of discipline....

"Question. Whether, when the Church have agreed upon the keeping of one day, weekly or monthly, besides the first day of the week, to worship God and perform the necessary services of the Church, they may not charge such persons with evil that neglect such meetings, and lay them under reproof, unless such members can show good cause for such their absence?

"Answer. Concluded in the affirmative (Heb. x. 25).

J. M. Cramp, Baptist History: from the Foundation of the Christian Church to the Close of the Eighteenth Century [London, 1868], pp. 461-3.

Thank you for confirming what I wrote. Found nowhere in the 1689 Confession.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

I wonder how we prioritize going to church as compared to being a part of the church.

Who is being more faithful - the man who goes to church every time the doors open but merely attends or the man who can only attend once a month but is active throughout the week with that church community?

We

and I think that is why some want to go to mega churches

perhaps your right. Then. Why go at all if you want to be a ghost?

 

[Jerome]

Sigh.
What I said was that it was the very same men who promulgated the 1689 Confession who made the ruling on attendance at midweek services.

Narrative of the Proceedings of the General Assembly of divers Pastors, Messengers and Ministring Brethren of the Baptized Churches [London 1689]
You can see it at the bottom of page 13.

 

[Salty]

On a Sunday night (some 40 years ago, I vistited First Bap of Dallas, tx. I sat next to a older man who asked me if I was a member at FB-D. I told him I was a visitor. That is when I realized that if someone does not know if I am a member, that that cchurch is too big