Sunday Night Service

off topic about cutting services...

15 years ago (and another church)I spoke with our deacons about cancelling the Sunday night service on Super Bowl Sunday because of low attendance in past years. They said unanimously, that we should have the service. On that Sunday night, not one of the 4 deacons was in that Sunday night Service.

Back to your discussions...

 

Yep, the very ones who yell about the absolute necessity of having an evening service are the very ones who don't attend. Ok, where is Ann's smilie? :BangHead:

 

I served a church about 15 years ago that one snowy Sunday, we decided to cancel the PM Bible study because the icy roads were getting worse and after dark, everything would refreeze (what little thawed already). Anyway, a young man who had NEVER been to anything but more than a couple of Sun AM services per month just absolutely had a fit. He was just about to say the dumbest thing ever: "I was going to come tonight" when a deacon and I stopped him. Realizing how stupid he was about to sound, he backed off.

A friend's church had been in the habit of cancelling any Sunday evening service if on a holiday or preceeding a holiday. One lady carped about it and now they have the services. She has been to maybe a couple in the last five years.

 

We cancelled our Sunday evening services about 2 years ago. We were consistently having 3-4 people coming and 3 of those were staff members. Those that had the biggest problem with it were those that rarely darkened the doors for any evening service.

Several have wanted to start small groups, but the general concensus of the pastor and deacons is that's what big churches do. At least one small group has started without their blessing and seems to be thriving.

Our Wednesday evening services are heading down the same path.

 

I have never been to a Baptist church that didn't have Sunday P.M. services. I'm from Ohio and maybe that is just a "mid-west" thing. However, I do feel that our Sunday P.M. service is VITAL because we have probably 50 people who cannot attend Sunday morning because of work related issues. There is no way we would discontinue p.m. services and let those people have no Sunday worship time. We have about 350 on Sunday mornings and about 125 on Sunday nights. On Wednesday's we have AWANA, and youth group, so we average 225.


BTW, I LOVE being with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and having MORE services where we can get together and praise/worship/learn about God is only a good thing in my opinion!:thumbs:

 

Whassupwiddat???

We are a church of only about 150 or so. We have several small groups.

 

I'm with you my friend and Florida isn't in the mid-west. I've been a member or pastor of churches in Fl., Ga., SC, Mn.,Tx., Ar. and Va. and they all had Sunday A.M. and P.M. Wednesday P.M. and a couple had Thursday P.M. and one had Tuesday P.M. to go with the others. Most had Training Union Sunday P.M. and P.M. service too.

In most if not all of the churches I'm talking about the P,M, services week nights was to teach doctrine and/or how to live today for Christ and/or the need of mission at home and over seas.

Also their are some in each of these churches who can come only to a P.M. service on a Sunday or a week day due to work.

But I guess each church meets the needs of those that they can, so they have service when they can.

I love the teaching and preaching of a good service or training session, but the refill of being with brothers and sisters learning and asking and answering question among our selves is great fellowship.

 

We still have Sunday PM services (and will continue to do so) even though the majority of our members have canceled it long ago.

I do find it funny that most of those why whine and gripe about canceling services are those who cancel most of them on their own anyway.

 

One pastor says to another, “Last month I discontinued our Sunday night services..”, and the other pastor says, “Boy, I am sorry to hear about that; How did your Church react to the news?” And he said......”Well, I haven’t told them yet.”

 

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

Dear Friends:
A new Prayer Bulletin entitled "Update on Church Leaders" has been added.

On Nov. 25, five Linfen-Fushan church leaders from Shanxi Province were sentenced to criminal detention for three to seven years: Mr. Li Shuangping, Ms. Yang Hongzhen, Ms. Yang Caizhen, Ms. Gao Qin and Ms. Zhao Guoai, according to China Aid Association. Among the five, ChinaAid has confirmed through family members that Yang Caizhen, Yang Hongzhen and Li Shuangping received two-year, re-education through labor sentences. ...


And yet some still look for a place to worship anyway

 

Amen! We are so blessed!

 

"I miss such a large number of our friends on Sunday nights and I am delighted to miss them, for they have no business to be here, then!" ---Charles Spurgeon, Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

 

Okay - Off Topic but I think it applies as well...

Tonight (Wednesday) I was at the church about an hour and a half before the start of the service, setting things up, taking care of some church mail and the like.

A young man walked into the church in tears. He is a truck driver who was driving by the church, saw the lights on and pulled in to ask for prayer for a personal issue in his life.

He just needed someone to talk to and pray with him and The Lord put us together. :godisgood:

This is one of the reasons I like having evening services, people expect someone to be at the church on Wednesday & Sunday evenings and you never know who is going to stop by.

Again, I think this an issue for a local congregation and I have no problem with a church canceling a service, however I personally prefer to have an evening service.

 

An exchange that recently aired on prime-time network television:

 

Very cool, Johnathon! Those type of opportunities are one of many great parts about being in the ministry!

 

Hi Johnathon E

You said........
"Okay - Off Topic but I think it applies as well.."

Actually, this is right on topic and applies well.

 

I believe that most people (Christians) here in the States have no Idea what it means to suffer for Christ, We think it is a sacrifice if we give up a Sunday or Wednesday night to go to church. I get e-mail from friends who are serving in places where they cant even tell were they are for fear of losing there life, I get regular updates from Voice of the Martyrs, the post I made earlier was from a Church in China these people were sentences to 2 years at hard labor without trial for re-education. when all they wanted to do was worship Christ. I read a story not long ago about a man in Vietnam who was beheaded in front of his family for preaching Christ, His wife is now leading an under ground Church. try standing in there shoes for just a few hours then tell me how you fell about an evening services.