Church Services

How Often and How Long?

At the Second Church of Odyssey you'll find different ways of expressing your beliefs, finding prayer support or being encouraged through regular devotionals.
User avatar
John Chrysostom
No way I broke the window
Posts: 3593
Joined: September 2007

Church Services

Post by John Chrysostom »

Top brought up an interesting point in another topic. He said that two services a day is too much. Agree or disagree? Also how long should a service be? An hour? Two hours? Is three hours too long? Also one service a week? Two a week?
User avatar
odysseyfan1
Classic
Posts: 625
Joined: May 2009
Contact:

Post by odysseyfan1 »

Why is two services too long? Were there to praise God. We have 3 a week, and they usually last an hour to an hour and a half.
User avatar
Lee
Totally Random
Totally Random
Posts: 7404
Joined: September 2010
Location: WV

Post by Lee »

Ours is just like odysseyfan1's, except every other Sunday evening we have an hour long youth service before the evening worship service. Our morning service is 1:45 long.
Image

\:D/
User avatar
The Top Crusader
Hammer Bro
Hammer Bro
Posts: 22629
Joined: April 2005
Location: A drawbridge over a lava pit with an axe conveniently off to the side

Post by The Top Crusader »

Woohoo my posts keep getting spun off into their own topics! \:D/

There is, of course, nothing WRONG with two services in one day, but if Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest and family togetherness, then having two church services kind of ruins the flow. By the time you get done with one service, get home, eat lunch, you practically are turning around again and returning to church. That seems overdoing it to me and would lead to burnout, not to mention its hardly a "day of rest".

This also doesn't take into account that many churches have Sunday school before or after the main Sunday morning service... so in that case you are getting three separate lessons in one day!

I'm more inclined to promote having one Sunday service and also a midweek service, so church services are broken up more and you are given more time to absorb what you have heard in a service before you return for another. Although I personally just attend one service a week, two spread out to two days makes more sense than two in one day, or two in one day plus another one or two throughout the week.

Lots of churches have multiple services and Bible studies and small groups throughout the week... but I don't think the point is to attend all of them, its to find the one or two that benefit your spiritual life the most. Of course smaller churches won't have all that.
User avatar
Jesus' Princess
Country Girl
Country Girl
Posts: 4973
Joined: April 2011
Location: on the farm

Post by Jesus' Princess »

Our church meets at 4:00 on Sunday afternoons, we sing for maybe 20 minutes, then there is the teaching time, as we call it, for about an hour, then we take prayer requests and people take turns praying, that usually lasts between 20 and 30 minutes. All in all, our church service is probably about two hours, but it varies from week to week. Then we have a meal and fellowship with each other, as I've mentioned before, and the children and young adults usually play soccer or something. We only have one service a week, being a small home church, but I don't think having multiple services is too much, sometimes we attend a separate church on Sunday mornings for a second service, but we mostly just go on Sunday nights.
Image
User avatar
odysseyfan1
Classic
Posts: 625
Joined: May 2009
Contact:

Post by odysseyfan1 »

The Top Crusader wrote:Woohoo my posts keep getting spun off into their own topics! \:D/

There is, of course, nothing WRONG with two services in one day, but if Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest and family togetherness, then having two church services kind of ruins the flow. By the time you get done with one service, get home, eat lunch, you practically are turning around again and returning to church. That seems overdoing it to me and would lead to burnout, not to mention its hardly a "day of rest".

This also doesn't take into account that many churches have Sunday school before or after the main Sunday morning service... so in that case you are getting three separate lessons in one day!

I'm more inclined to promote having one Sunday service and also a midweek service, so church services are broken up more and you are given more time to absorb what you have heard in a service before you return for another. Although I personally just attend one service a week, two spread out to two days makes more sense than two in one day, or two in one day plus another one or two throughout the week.

Lots of churches have multiple services and Bible studies and small groups throughout the week... but I don't think the point is to attend all of them, its to find the one or two that benefit your spiritual life the most. Of course smaller churches won't have all that.
We get home usually around 1:30 or so. We eat lunch, take a nap (which is usually 2-3 hours) and go back to Church. So there is a significant time gap in between. Oh, and I forgot about Sunday School, so I suppose you could say we have 4 services. :D
User avatar
jelly
A Truly Great Noob
A Truly Great Noob
Posts: 9278
Joined: May 2008
Location: Western Canada
Contact:

Post by jelly »

First of all, you shouldn't even go to church if it's an obligation. You're doing God a disservice by faithfully attending countless services merely because you think it's your Christian duty. If you're excited about getting as much church as possible, then that's great! If you're only really going to get anything out of one service and have to drag yourself to a second one, just don't go to the second one. The question isn't whether two church services is too much... the question is whether it's too much for you. A church can have as many services as they want, but you're not required to go to every single one of them.
Fallacy of false continuum. // bookworm
Any cupcake can be made holy through being baptized in the name of the Butter, the Vanilla and the Powdered Sugar. // Kait
User avatar
Amethystic
Random Rebel
Random Rebel
Posts: 13261
Joined: April 2008
Location: Somewhere between this world and the planet Xoltac.

Post by Amethystic »

My church schedule is really weird. Other than when I go to church with friends or attend a special event or something, the only services I attend faithfully are the bi-annual conferences put on by the ministry my family is with. (Which I absolutely love attending, btw.) I also have a semi-regular youth group that meets at my friends' house, and I hang out with my Christian friends on a fairly regular basis. Add to the mix the fact that my parents talk about God and the Bible all the time with us, and I'd say I'm not spiritually deprived, for the most part.

I mean, my family's attended churches over the years, (the one I remember best is the Pentecostal one I attended for several years in elementary school) but I guess at some point we ended up in between churches and never really found another one to go to. :-k The last church I attended regularly for a few months (with a friend) was a Church of Christ congregation; a little legalistic and cliquish at times, but not too bad. Unfortunately, I was forced to quit attending after one of the boys at that church started following me, so that when we were in the same building I couldn't get further than three feet away from him. O_o

*sigh* Sometimes it would be nice to find a church that fit, (as much as I could ever fit at church, anyways) but I do also like the advantages of having an unscheduled Sunday morning. :-
Image
User avatar
odysseyfan1
Classic
Posts: 625
Joined: May 2009
Contact:

Post by odysseyfan1 »

Unfortunately, I was forced to quit attending after one of the boys at that church started following me, so that when we were in the same building I couldn't get further than three feet away from him. O_o
Oh my, that's really...creepy.
User avatar
Amethystic
Random Rebel
Random Rebel
Posts: 13261
Joined: April 2008
Location: Somewhere between this world and the planet Xoltac.

Post by Amethystic »

odysseyfan1 wrote:
Unfortunately, I was forced to quit attending after one of the boys at that church started following me, so that when we were in the same building I couldn't get further than three feet away from him. O_o
Oh my, that's really...creepy.
I know, right? I always seem to attract the weird ones.
Image
User avatar
minichef
Pink forever!
Pink forever!
Posts: 378
Joined: February 2011
Location: School, friends house, my house or mall

Post by minichef »

I don't attend Sunday services. Just wednsday nights, we have youth group, so a friend picks me up and we go. It's alot of fun, and I am growing more in my walk with God each week I go. I used to go to church on a regular basis, then we eventually stopped going when I was about 12. We never really found another church that we all liked.
Image
User avatar
American Eagle
Chief of Police
Posts: 11977
Joined: September 2008
Gender:

Post by American Eagle »

If I were in charge of Christianity, I would do away with "services" altogether. :-

I love spontaneity. When on camping trips with my close Christians friends, we'll just randomly get together and sing songs around the campfire. Later we'll talk for hours about life, God and His ways, and it is in these times that I've grown as a Christian. I can't grow when I already know the four sings we're going to sing and the six different "P" words that the sermon will include (patience, perseverence, passion, purity, perfection, power - look, I just outlined an entire sermon in 10 seconds!). :P

Anyway, I'm cool with having set services and a few have actually impacted me a lot, but I'd love to be part of a church someday that isn't excessively formal.
he/him | attorney | spartan | christian | bleeding heart type

Note: My past posts do not necessarily reflect my values. Many of them were made when I was young and (in retrospect) misguided. If you identify a post that expresses misinformation, prejudice, or anything harmful, please let me know.
User avatar
The Top Crusader
Hammer Bro
Hammer Bro
Posts: 22629
Joined: April 2005
Location: A drawbridge over a lava pit with an axe conveniently off to the side

Post by The Top Crusader »

American Eagle wrote:If I were in charge of Christianity, I would do away with "services" altogether. :-

I love spontaneity. When on camping trips with my close Christians friends, we'll just randomly get together and sing songs around the campfire. Later we'll talk for hours about life, God and His ways, and it is in these times that I've grown as a Christian. I can't grow when I already know the four sings we're going to sing and the six different "P" words that the sermon will include (patience, perseverence, passion, purity, perfection, power - look, I just outlined an entire sermon in 10 seconds!). :P

Anyway, I'm cool with having set services and a few have actually impacted me a lot, but I'd love to be part of a church someday that isn't excessively formal.
<3 AE.

Basically that, I've had deep philosophical and theological conversations and prayer late into the night with friends that go far beyond anything I've learned in the average church service. It's more out of the box and more beneficial, I think.

And LOL at the six P's! Current pastor doesn't do that but the one we had a few years ago always had outlines with the same letter or rhyming words or something. \:D/ Not that that makes the sermons BAD but he did it all the time and it was kind of annoying after a while. ;)
User avatar
John Chrysostom
No way I broke the window
Posts: 3593
Joined: September 2007

Post by John Chrysostom »

Are Church services really about learning though? Aren't they about worship and the Sacraments?
User avatar
American Eagle
Chief of Police
Posts: 11977
Joined: September 2008
Gender:

Post by American Eagle »

Ayn Rand wrote:Are Church services really about learning though? Aren't they about worship and the Sacraments?
Forgetting denominational lines for a second, I don't think the New Testament Christians got together for "services", per se. When the church would meet back then, I'm sure it was crazy worship, revival, spreading the gospel, etc., not just "okay now we will have a baptism and then communion and finally three songs."

I do agree that a major part of meeting together should be worship, but singing in our church is mostly just "preparing your heart for the sermon". Eh, well, I guess maybe a little bit of it is worshipping God, but like I was saying, I've truly worshiped God moreso in times when we're just singing praise songs around a campfire.
The Top Crusader wrote:And LOL at the six P's! Current pastor doesn't do that but the one we had a few years ago always had outlines with the same letter or rhyming words or something. \:D/ Not that that makes the sermons BAD but he did it all the time and it was kind of annoying after a while. ;)
Ha, yeah. My brother-in-law said, "if he preaches one more acronym, I'm going to spit!" :P Fun times.
he/him | attorney | spartan | christian | bleeding heart type

Note: My past posts do not necessarily reflect my values. Many of them were made when I was young and (in retrospect) misguided. If you identify a post that expresses misinformation, prejudice, or anything harmful, please let me know.
User avatar
Jesus' Princess
Country Girl
Country Girl
Posts: 4973
Joined: April 2011
Location: on the farm

Post by Jesus' Princess »

At our church, we don't ever have a set program, we just take song requests usually 5 or 6, usually people just call out "57" or "423" (we all have hymn books and someone usually plays the piano) Then we take a chapter or two out of the Bible and read it aloud (each person reads one verse and we go around the room like that) and discuss it, then we take prayer requests and people volunteer to pray then we have announcements and a potluck. It's definitely not a "traditional" format, but it seems to work well, and it's always a great meeting.
Image
User avatar
John Chrysostom
No way I broke the window
Posts: 3593
Joined: September 2007

Post by John Chrysostom »

I would disagree with the description of the Early Church as "crazy worship, revival, spreading the gospel" if we look to the very first example of the Early Church in Acts 2 the focus is on prayer and on taking Communion
Acts 2:41-47 wrote:Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
St. Paul in 1st Corinthians 11 places the focus of Church on Communion and in chapter 14 he lays out the order of service as being orderly not "crazy".

This is the description of a Church service from 147; http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.v ... lxvii.html
User avatar
American Eagle
Chief of Police
Posts: 11977
Joined: September 2008
Gender:

Post by American Eagle »

Hmm, okay. "Crazy" was a poor word choice... I guess "Spirit-led" would've been a better term.
he/him | attorney | spartan | christian | bleeding heart type

Note: My past posts do not necessarily reflect my values. Many of them were made when I was young and (in retrospect) misguided. If you identify a post that expresses misinformation, prejudice, or anything harmful, please let me know.
User avatar
Mimi
Animatronic
Posts: 1062
Joined: January 2011
Location: the edge of the world

Post by Mimi »

Jesus' Princess wrote:At our church, we don't ever have a set program, we just take song requests usually 5 or 6, usually people just call out "57" or "423" (we all have hymn books and someone usually plays the piano) Then we take a chapter or two out of the Bible and read it aloud (each person reads one verse and we go around the room like that) and discuss it, then we take prayer requests and people volunteer to pray then we have announcements and a potluck. It's definitely not a "traditional" format, but it seems to work well, and it's always a great meeting.
Sounds Lovely! I'm not sure I'd prefer that every Sunday, but it definitely sounds really nice!!
Image
User avatar
John Chrysostom
No way I broke the window
Posts: 3593
Joined: September 2007

Post by John Chrysostom »

American Eagle wrote:Hmm, okay. "Crazy" was a poor word choice... I guess "Spirit-led" would've been a better term.
I always hope that the Church is Spirit led but it also appears that, according to 1 Corinthians that order is important too and in chapter 14 St. Paul talks about the proper ways to be guided by the Spirit individually in service so that Church will be orderly.
Post Reply