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

[mont974x4]

There's nothing wrong with football.

 

[saturneptune]

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 agree with your post. It is up to each local church to set the worship times and days. There is nothing in Scripture about Wednesdays, not sacred about it at all. It is a logical night to have Bible study or prayer time, as it is about half way through the week, but Tuesday or Thursday would serve the same purpose.

As far as older church members (that would be me in a normal age distributed congregation) that equate spiritually mature or faithfulness to attendance of all three services, one, it is not true, as people under 65 work for a living, and two, if they are not there, it is really no one else's business. I find in my experience, that those who worry about where so and so is on a given day are the exact ones that never show up for visitation, never drive the van, never help with church meals. In fact, they are usually first in line and have disappeared when it is time to clean up.

 

[dh1948]

At the time I retired from the full-time pastorate my church was not having Sunday night services. It was terrific. I loved it. I have long thought that Sunday night church was a waste of time in most cases. Some churches have a lot of success with Sunday nights, but I never did.

About a year after I retired, I was asked by a small rural church to be their part-time pastor. Basically, the church is on life-support and has been for several years. Thinking I might could attract some un-churched/lost people, I suggested that we start doing Sunday night church as small groups and invite friends and acquaintances to attend these small groups which would be hosted by three families.

You would have thought I had asked them to start serving beer during communion! I faced a lot of opposition over several weeks. I finally withdrew the suggestion.

So we still have that sacred Sunday night service that is attended by a dozen or so elderly people. I despise it. I am there for some simple reason: I am the pastor. I would welcome the opportunity to be a part of a church that did not have Sunday night services...and even Wednesday night services. I think greater benefit comes from small groups that meet at various times during the week.

 

[dh1948]

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

Amen and amen!!

 

[dh1948]

I agree with your post. It is up to each local church to set the worship times and days. There is nothing in Scripture about Wednesdays, not sacred about it at all. It is a logical night to have Bible study or prayer time, as it is about half way through the week, but Tuesday or Thursday would serve the same purpose.

As far as older church members (that would be me in a normal age distributed congregation) that equate spiritually mature or faithfulness to attendance of all three services, one, it is not true, as people under 65 work for a living, and two, if they are not there, it is really no one else's business. I find in my experience, that those who worry about where so and so is on a given day are the exact ones that never show up for visitation, never drive the van, never help with church meals. In fact, they are usually first in line and have disappeared when it is time to clean up.

I totally agree with you. To most of my people, that is the litmus test of spirituality and faithfulness....attendance at three services a week.

 

[Jerome]

Yeah, here's what the London Baptist Assembly recommended way back in 1689 (same people whose Confession some BB members supposedly 'hold to'):

The Questions Proposed from the Several Churches, Debated, and Resolved
....
Q. 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 shew good cause for such their absence?
A. Concluded in the affirmative, Heb. x. 25.

 

[12strings]

Our church (SBC, 50 years old, averages 200 on Sunday morning), transitioned from regular Sunday Evenings to only having them on special occasions (a few church gatherings with food, business meetings, special missionary in town...etc. Probalby equals about 12-15 times a year we do something on Sunday night.

Before, we would have somewhere between 25-35 members on a sunday evening. Now we have 5 small groups every other week, (some that meet on Sunday Evening, some not) that all included probably have well over 100 people participating. It was so obviously the right move, I can't imagine going back.

Wednesday nights have separated Bible Study programs for Children, teens, men, & Women.

Our Pastors (Senior Pastor, Associate Pastor, & Me (music/youth guy) had all been there about 3 years before we did this, and it was not a sudden thing but was obviously the right move. We have recieved hardly any complaints about it. The 1-2 people who mentioned something about it were people who did not attend Sunday PM.

Even before we did this, It was already a more relaxed service format in our fellowship hall, around round tables where the speaker would try to interact more with those present.

 

[Bronconagurski]

There's nothing wrong with football.

I agree. There's nothing wrong with dvr's either. I have found they work good when I am at church and there is a paticular game I would like to watch.