Why are Sunday Evening Services Falling By the Wayside?

[corndogggy]

if you are traveling 50 miles to church - yes that would be stupid.

Is 10 miles better? Do the math, it's not hard. Let's say 50 cars travel an average of 10 miles each way, 20 miles round trip, 52 times a year. That's 52,000 miles.

You could have flown around the world, twice, and had enough miles left over to go from Kentucky to central Florida and back.

Or another way of looking at it, with the standard IRS mileage deduction, your sunday night travel alone collectively cost the church members almost $30,000.

Tell me, is this a very good use of the church's funds?

Spoken like a true liberal

Actually it would be conservatives who believe that the role of helping people should be on the church, not the federal government. Helping people should be the primary goal. Nowadays though it's more of an entertainment venue, a country club of sorts, just without golf and beer. Regardless, if churches minded their expenses and had their priorities right, a whole heck of a lot more people could be helped. Why are you dismissing this as liberal jive talk?

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Up here in NJ they are all trying to convert Catholics ....and Catholics traditionally go to services on Saturday evening or Sunday mornings....thats if they go at all.

 

[Servent]

I've never understood Sunday night services.

Even when growing up in a church that had Sunday night services. They make little sense.

If there some kind of reward for venturing back out in the twilight to meet with other Christians and hear another sermon? Can we not accomplish the duties of community on Sunday morning? What is accomplished Sunday night that isn't possible Sunday morning?

We have never had regular Sunday night services. They don't make much sense for us. We'd rather folks spend this time with their families. We ask that our people spend this time with their families. Now, we do, once a quarter, have a core leadership meeting on Sunday evenings but this is not some kind of worship service, it is a meeting.

We are toying with the idea of expanding our ministry model and offering another worship time at 3:00 or 4:00 on Sunday afternoons, but this will be the normal Sunday morning worship reduplicated.

Sunday nights aren't effective uses of our time. We can do limited things of them, but nothing regular. They just don't work for us.

Fellowship

 

[Jerome]

Reminiscent of this scripture from Matthew 26:

But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor."

 

[Servent]

Sunday night is when we do our outreach, meet @ 4:30 10-3 person teams go out for two hours come back celebrate what happen, then break off into bible study, always something to do. close to 100 on Sunday night.

 

[Zaac]

We were averaging around 2000 on Sunday nights regularly. It was most people's favorite service. We stopped it last fall because folks weren't doing anything with what was preached during the 930 and 11 services.

Figured we didn't really need more preaching, but more obedience to what was already being preached.

 

[JonC]

Reminiscent of this scripture from Matthew 26:

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[go2church]

We stopped our Sunday evening service and transitioned to small groups and tripled our evening attendance. All I can say about not having Sunday evening is "free at last, free at last! It was a vestige of a day long gone, glad to see it go.

Thing is, in a couple decades or so, someone will get the bright idea to have church on Sunday evening and wonder, why weren't we doing this all along?

 

[JonC]

Thing is, in a couple decades or so, someone will get the bright idea to have church on Sunday evening and wonder, why weren't we doing this all along?

:laugh: that's how it usually goes.

 

[Zaac]

We stopped our Sunday evening service and transitioned to small groups and tripled our evening attendance. All I can say about not having Sunday evening is "free at last, free at last! It was a vestige of a day long gone, glad to see it go.

Thing is, in a couple decades or so, someone will get the bright idea to have church on Sunday evening and wonder, why weren't we doing this all along?

:laugh: So true.

 

[Jerome]

Charles Spurgeon, "A Dirge for the Downgrade and a Song for Faith" (1889):

"The evil over which I now mourn is not only prevalent among the outlying masses but it taints Christians themselves. Look at your half-Sunday professors—content with only one service and weary of that! How is it with many Christian people as to meetings for prayer? Prayer Meetings are the very soul of Church work and they bring down the blessing upon all our spiritual agencies. Yet they are despised by our high-fliers. In many Chapels two services in the week have proved too great an effort for the constitution of the ministers and too much of a tax upon the time of their hearers who are occupied with the far superior avocations of card games or lawn tennis."

 

[corndogggy]

All I can say about not having Sunday evening is "free at last, free at last!

Exactly. Seems that most people simply go to avoid a guilt complex.

 

[corndogggy]

Charles Spurgeon, "A Dirge for the Downgrade and a Song for Faith" (1889):

"The evil over which I now mourn is not only prevalent among the outlying masses but it taints Christians themselves. Look at your half-Sunday professors—content with only one service and weary of that! How is it with many Christian people as to meetings for prayer? Prayer Meetings are the very soul of Church work and they bring down the blessing upon all our spiritual agencies. Yet they are despised by our high-fliers. In many Chapels two services in the week have proved too great an effort for the constitution of the ministers and too much of a tax upon the time of their hearers who are occupied with the far superior avocations of card games or lawn tennis."

Why not just go every day then? Twice a day at that, every day. Three times on Sunday. Extra long sessions on Friday and Saturday nights to keep you from hitting the town. :thumbsup:

 

[corndogggy]

Charles Spurgeon

Outdated much?

 

[JonC]

Charles Spurgeon, "A Dirge for the Downgrade and a Song for Faith" (1889):

"The evil over which I now mourn is not only prevalent among the outlying masses but it taints Christians themselves. Look at your half-Sunday professors—content with only one service and weary of that! How is it with many Christian people as to meetings for prayer? Prayer Meetings are the very soul of Church work and they bring down the blessing upon all our spiritual agencies. Yet they are despised by our high-fliers. In many Chapels two services in the week have proved too great an effort for the constitution of the ministers and too much of a tax upon the time of their hearers who are occupied with the far superior avocations of card games or lawn tennis."

IMHO, there is a truth to this statement. It shows where priorities lie (not necessarily with multiple services but with the notion that it is taking away from life to attend).

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

IMHO, there is a truth to this statement. It shows where priorities lie (not necessarily with multiple services but with the notion that it is taking away from life to attend).

Well everyone has an opinion....among other things that function similarly.

 

[Sminasian]

My church still has Sunday evening service. We have a new pastor as of 2 years ago this week. The Sunday evening service, to me is very refreshing and I love being with my church family, but sometimes I am just too tired to move. I have low b12 and Fibromyalgia, so getting ready to go to church for 6 pm is difficult for me. I am in bed early. The winters are even worse but I do try to go as often as I can on a Sunday night. Then there are the die hards. God bless them for being there most of the day on Sundays. Our choir practices at 430 on a Sunday and service is at 6; Personally I think that is way too much. They warm up for choir at 930 am. Sunday School at 10. Service at 11 then back at 430 for more practice and service at 6. That's insane

BUT As a church member, I do like the sunday evening service. I figure we may as well take advantage of it while we are still a free nation( somewhat). The day will come when there is no sunday service for anyone and we will miss it, but it will be too late.

We need to plant more Baptist churches, that's the answer. Way too many rock and roll, Joel Osteen type of churches out there. Way too many

 

[JonC]

Well everyone has an opinion....among other things that function similarly.

:laugh: The difference from everyone else's opinion is that mine is right.

 

[righteousdude2]

That sounds like ....

Outdated much?

like Dr. Gene Scott, who has passed away, and that was a good thing, because this man was truly off center when it came to the Bible, and his witness for the Kingdom. I had many folks that I knew that loved the man! What a waste! :tear:

 

[PreachTony]

My church still has Sunday evening service. We have a new pastor as of 2 years ago this week. The Sunday evening service, to me is very refreshing and I love being with my church family, but sometimes I am just too tired to move. I have low b12 and Fibromyalgia, so getting ready to go to church for 6 pm is difficult for me. I am in bed early. The winters are even worse but I do try to go as often as I can on a Sunday night. Then there are the die hards. God bless them for being there most of the day on Sundays. Our choir practices at 430 on a Sunday and service is at 6; Personally I think that is way too much. They warm up for choir at 930 am. Sunday School at 10. Service at 11 then back at 430 for more practice and service at 6. That's insane

That's insane, to you. I get that you have medical issues. I do too. My back is a complete train wreck. But I wouldn't project my medical hindrances onto someone else.

Believe it or not, some people actually enjoy spending time at church. They don't need constant stimulation to be interested. That's one of the biggest problems with society (at least in my humble opinion). We've taught the younger generations that they must be continuously stimulated and instantly gratified in order to be interested in something. But how often do you receive instant gratification in the things of God? In my experience, we have to "wait upon the Lord," not complain when he doesn't instantly answer our prayers.

BUT As a church member, I do like the sunday evening service. I figure we may as well take advantage of it while we are still a free nation( somewhat). The day will come when there is no sunday service for anyone and we will miss it, but it will be too late.

Before that happens I would think that believers would return to a more first-century mindset concerning worship, and would being meeting secretly at people's houses, should your dire prediction come to pass.

We need to plant more Baptist churches, that's the answer. Way too many rock and roll, Joel Osteen type of churches out there. Way too many

Couldn't agree more. I'm extremely troubled by Joel Osteen and the following he commands. People seemingly have no clue just how far he is leading them astray.