New Year; Old Plans

Happy New Year! Okay. Enough celebrating. Now let's get back to work. Recently, it was made known that an eldership was going to re-evaluate resuming Sunday evening worship assemblies again. Apparently, they stopped during the pandemic, which began almost two years ago. Why it was safer to meet on Sunday morning but a risk on Sunday evenings is anybody's guess, but it is surely time to restore that which has been lacking for a long time. Following are some reasons for doing so.

Some congregations have, as a practice, meeting for Sunday morning Bible study, then worship, followed by a potluck, after which is another period of worship. Nothing else is scheduled for the day. Some locales can do this, and everyone is satisfied. Of course, it is Scriptural. But it would not work for many other congregations, who have one or more members who cannot attend on Sunday mornings because of their job. So, they come the only time they can for worship—on Sunday evenings.

Also, it should be taken into consideration that some people are ill in the morning but have recovered enough to attend in the evening. (This writer once spent the early hours of Sunday morning ill; he was in no shape to meet with brethren that morning. But about 3:00 p.m., the stomach returned to normal, and it was a pleasure to be able to attend worship that night.) Without evening worship, those who have been indisposed or at work often have no recourse but to miss worship altogether that Lord's day.

Another thing that churches ought to consider is that those traveling may be looking forward to Sunday evening worship only to be disappointed. On those few occasions when travel was necessary on a Sunday, there was always an anticipation of hearing an interesting gospel message, but then, the congregation had changed its time or they were meeting at someone's home that evening or they just were not meeting at all (yes, all of those have occurred). It is, to say the least, a letdown not to have the encouragement of brethren.

But here is a further consideration: If it was profitable for congregations to meet on Sunday evenings for decades, why is it suddenly either unnecessary or unprofitable? What is the new thinking that brethren have on this matter? How is it that the Lord's day now ends at noon instead of being 24-hours long? Some who are not meeting are devoting themselves to entertainment opportunities instead of spiritual pursuits in the evening. Are we becoming spiritually lazy? Let's not allow our spiritual lives to deteriorate; let's return to what we have effectively done in the past.