How We Transitioned To No Sunday Evening Services

Question

Why exercise some churches accept a Wednesday nighttime service?

Wednesday night service

Answer

Wednesday evening prayer meetings were a staple in many Protestant congregations during the first half of the twentieth century, just the origins of Wednesday evening services are unclear. Some trace the beginnings of the Wednesday dark service to the practice of slaves in the U.South. who met together for encouragement and prayer. Some mention the influence of D. 50. Moody, who held noon prayer meetings during the weeks of a revival. Other historians point out the connection between increased leisure fourth dimension and the addition of a wednesday service. With the advance of modern conveniences, people had their evenings gratuitous, and Christians wanted to utilise that time for fellowship.

Wed nighttime services started out equally a simple prayer meeting but gradually morphed into a church service like to that of Lord's day mornings, sometimes including a sermon, music, and an offering. Wednesday night services are a manner to become "refueled" betwixt Sunday services and, being less well-attended, usually provide a more intimate temper than Sunday morn worship. Personal prayer requests tin be shared, Bible study can exist pursued in depth, and private questions tin can exist addressed freely. For many, the Midweek dark service is a necessary role of staying spiritually on track.

Today, Wed night services are becoming extinct forth with the traditional Sunday evening service. Lack of commitment and extreme busyness are considered the culprits that take all simply ended Wednesday nighttime services for nigh congregations. On the other paw, many churches have exchanged traditional Sun schoolhouse for small-scale groups that come across in homes throughout the week. These small groups function in much the same way as the Wed evening services only on a smaller scale and incorporating more than individual involvement. So, even though the formal Wednesday nighttime church services are no longer common, they have been replaced and updated rather than eradicated.

Charles Spurgeon identified three reasons for a church building to have a regular prayer coming together: 1) it unifies and encourages God's people; two) it generates devotion to God; and 3) it brings God's promised approval (Matthew 18:19–xx). In a sermon preached August xxx, 1868, Spurgeon spoke of the value of prayer meetings in full general: "The prayer-coming together is an institution which ought to be very precious to united states, and to be cherished past united states as a Church, for to it we owe everything. . . . It is in the spirit of prayer that our strength lies; and if nosotros lose this, the hair volition be cut off from Samson's head, and God's Holy Church will become weak equally water and though nosotros, as Samson did, go and try to shake ourselves every bit at other times, we shall hear the cry, 'The Philistines are upon you,' and our eyes will be put out, and our glory volition depart, unless we continue mightily and earnestly in prayer."

Although there is no scriptural mandate for the Wednesday night prayer meeting, its demise could be a reflection on the spiritual temperature of this generation. When the church began, believers met together daily to pray, worship, and study Scripture (Acts ii:46). Today, most believers barely encounter once a calendar week. Information technology could exist that, every bit persecution increases and nominal Christianity falls out of favor, the true church volition once again run across the demand for more frequent meetings in order to remain strong in the face of opposition.

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Questions about the Church building

Why do some churches have a Wed night service?

This page concluding updated: Jan iv, 2022