It started with an invitation to lead some sessions for the church youth group on what it means to believe and belong. The youth group met each Sunday evening for pizza and chips followed by a study. At the end of the series some of the young people asked if we could continue doing some teaching, going deeper into God’s Word. Over time this expanded into all all age gathering, we introduced sung worship and regular communion, we had the privilege of baptising people and that gathering became a place where the homeless, single parents, prostitutes and asylum seekers encountered Jesus.
The question of evening services has been a live topic on the comment pages of Evangelicals Now. You will have picked up that I’m not opposed to evening services. However, our current church does not have one and I would not push for it here.
Why? Well because of an important principle. We should not insist on or make a priority things that Scripture does not insist on or make a priority. There is no scripture command, nor is there particular evidence of a pattern in the New Testament of morning and evening meetings on a Sunday. This is important because in Reformed circles, we often rely on something called the Regulative principle, the idea that Scripture should regulate our approach to worship. Yet making Sunday evening gatherings a prescriptive requirement goes beyond what Scripture does.
So, when we look at the case for Sunday evening meetings, the arguments tend to be pragmatic and as with all pragmatic arguments, they may not work in all contexts. Let’s have a look at a few such arguments.
First, there is the argument that if something is so good, we will want more of it. If we enjoy gathering as God’s people on a Sunday morning, we should want to come back in the evening.[1] The problem with that argument is two-fold. First, why stop at once? Why not three or four times on a Sunday and indeed, why stop there? Secondly, I am not convinced that the desire to come back for a repeat is the true measure of Sunday morning fruitfulness. Surely the true test is not “do we desire to come back for a repeat” but are we equipped and sustained for the week ahead as we worship God in the whole of our lives? This means that Sunday evening attendance is not really a true measure of spiritual appetite.[2] Instead, we measure such appetite by asking:
“Are we seeing a growing love for the Lord that is reflected in delight in his word so that we handle it correctly, a love for the lost so that we desire to reach them and a kindness to our brothers and sisters that does not judge them harshly?”
Secondly, do we need Sunday evenings to give us more time for fellowship together, to encourage one another? It is worth remembering that evening services were in they heyday at a time when the expectation was that you attended strictly for one hour before going home again, usually without refreshments. You might spend 2 hours together on a Sunday and actually spend little of that time in one another encouragement. On the other hand, a contemporary church with one Sunday morning meeting might see people either eating breakfast before or lunch after together, the meeting might last for 1.5 hours often with substantial Bible teaching time and there is usually plenty of time for fellowship over coffee and refreshments.
Thirdly, do Sunday evenings create more space for Bible teaching? Believers should certainly be delighting in God’s Word and meditating on it day and night. However, that does not mean that we should focus on cramming their minds with Bible knowledge. God’s Word is meant to shape and change our lives There can be a danger that we are so concerned with pushing Scripture knowledge into people that we end up with spiritual indigestion. We are meant to be both hearers and doers of God’s Word. I’d rather see Christians letting the one message disagree with them, change them and result in fruitful lives through the week than see them have their heads crammed with expository knowledge but without real change. So, if an evening service works and is helpful in your context, go ahead and hold one but do not feel under compulsion to hold one if it does not work. Instead think about what the body of Christ needs to be faithful an
[1] See Two Sunday services? Absolutely! Here’s why… | Evangelicals Now
[2] Why I believe Sunday evening services are important | Evangelicals Now
