I realize that this particular blog is going to irritate and alienate some people, but I also believe it raises important questions. I was having lunch with a friend and we were discussing Bible study and it's effects on Sunday evening worship. In our discussion he made a couple of points that I believe need to be considered:
First, there was a reference to "make-up church." Sunday night services have many purposes, but one of the primary purposes upon its introduction was to have a 2nd service to accomodate those who had to work - make-up church for those who were "providentially hindered" on Sunday morning. After hearing that term 1,000 times I am still not sure what providentially hindered means. We make special accomodations for the Lord's supper (typically seperating those people out from the rest of the worshippers), and we all know there is an attrition factor on Sunday night.
Second, my friend made mention of the fact that not only do we schedule a time for this make-up service for those who missed Sunday morning, but we also make it mandatory for all to attend. Now before you mark me as a heretic, or change agent, let me make some important observations.
- The eldership has every right to make decisions that they believe are in the best interest of the spiritual well being of the flock. When they make those decisions, we need to honor them. Whether that is one service, two or three.
- I am not opposed to Sunday night services. I have been attending all my life. If that is what the eldership designates as the most effective way to feed the flock, then I respect their decision and honor it with my attendance.
Let me share a few thoughts for discussion:
- Why can't we function like a mission field? Sometimes as we grow we forget that when we started we operated like a mission point. We still are a mission point, we haven't begun to accomplish all we can accomplish.
- Could our Sunday morning worship and study periods be extended. Rather than 1 hour for worship, could we schedule an hour and a half for worship?
- Could we worship together, break for 30 minutes of fellowship and then move to our Bible classes?
- Could we focus our time, attention and energy on the worship service, Lord's supper and praise to God for an extended time on Sunday morning (or evening) and have just one service on the Lord's day - without rushing through the songs, sermon or Bible study periods?
I find it far more offensive to rush through our worship time, constantly keep watch on the clock, or rebuke the minister because he preached 10 minutes to long. I thought our intent was to honor God and the sacrifice of His son on this special day. I would much prefer to spend 3 hours together in worship, fellowship and praise; give proper attention to God and His son; and allow our Bible school teachers time to fully develop their topics in class rather than struggle to "beat the clock" and get to Buffalo Wild Wings on time.
I hope that you will take the timeto share your thoughts (pro and con) on this current post.
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I thought I was going to read a shocking proposal. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty much what we do here. One meeting, do it right, take your time. People ride buses, so no option, financially or in terms of time, to have a second meeting.
Also provides us the option to work Sunday afternoon with another new congregation.
Thanks for your balanced and respectful approach.
From a missionary friend in New Zealand:
ReplyDeletei there, you might not remember me but my parents are Mac & Sophie de Thierry and my husband is now working for the Wellington Church of Christ here in NZ. He attended East Tennessee School of Preaching.
Anyway,Here in Wellington we just do a Sunday morning service and have had many conversations with people regarding having to rush thru service... See More, to make sure we finish on time etc. We meet at 10 and will finish our service around 11:15 and then we will fellowship for about 20mins and proceed to have Bible Class. We are trying to focus more on what we are giving to God instead of what we can get out of it.
I think sometimes we forget that we are only here for an hour to hour and half of our week (exc Wed) and we try and rush that. As the Church of Christ we try to follow what the New Testament Christians would have done and I would think that they wouldn't be checking their clock every 5 mins. We are trying to devote more time to prayer, singing and to the Lord's supper instead of making sure we are just checking all the boxes.
We have recently been talking about starting another class up in our home on Sunday night for sole purpose of study. An optional group but another opportunity to get more into the word with fellow brethren. Anyway, that was my 2 cents worth. :-) Thanks
Trent,
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts. I actually started working on a survey for our membership at Spring Meadows that the elders discussed months ago. I need to get to work on that again and send it out. It was designed to look at worship times and what would be the most meaningful. One thing we did at a previous congregation I attended was have a Sunday morning service that lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes (children were in a Bible hour the last 1 hour of that time). We did not have Bible classes in the morning. Rather, we had our Bible classes on Sunday evening. We had an exceptional "return" crowd on Sunday p.m. to go to Bible class. The kids MADE their parents bring them back. Bible school teachers felt less rushed and we actually had more volunteers of people willing to participate as a teacher. I hope to get that going again and send out for thoughts and other potential idea on how we make our worship the best that it can be to glorify God and edify one another.
Oh, in my previous comment...when I said, "get that going again..." I am referring to the survey, not my suggestion of what I experienced in the past. That wasn't real clear.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom - I appreciate you! It is great to have so many with different experiences. Not in the essentials of worship, but in how we expedite our time together.
ReplyDeleteOne funny thing is that we always talk about how the elders have designated the times...when in reality they have only rubber stamped what they inherited or copied. It is crazy we talk about it being in the elders right to set these times BUT if an eldership does in fact seriously investigate when would be the best time and how much time and come to any conclusion of change the elders who serve the Lord in that congregation (and are at that point really leading) as looked upon by other congregations and even some in their own congregation as liberal. Makes no sense.
ReplyDeletedale
Trent, I can't find anything unscriptural in anything you said. There are good and not so good about all options. I feel it is what is considered best for the Christians involved. I would hate to give up an evening worship time. Personally I need all the time with the Lord I can have. Even a longer Sunday morning service. Expediency in many cases takes the place of ture service. Nice topic to discuss.
ReplyDeletejohn
I really like your ideas. I would love to see us have an extended worship period with time for fellowship and the bible classes in the evening or directly after the fellowship period. I also hate to spend worship service feeling as if we are on a "clock" to finish on time. I personally think we don't have enough worship time and that causes us to do the 2 songs, prayer, etc. routine instead of being able to change things up to have a more meaningful time of worship. The monotony of the routine service causes me to get into a rut rather than focusing on true worship. Thanks for your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteSorry I posted under Ava - I'm sure she agrees with me even though she is only 5! :-)
ReplyDeleteCindy Zientak
One of the things I value about Spring Meadows is the willingness to try new things.
ReplyDeleteIf an attempt fails to yield positive results, don't be afraid to continue trying new things. Good things come from failing. God blesses our efforts.