Church service
A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal
The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be taught the "Word of God" (the
History
The worship service is a practice of Christian life that has its origins in the
The
The first miracle of the
The real evolution of the Christian service in the
Contemporary church services
Quaker meeting for worship
Quakers (the Religious Society of Friends), like other Nonconformist Protestant denominations, distinguish between a church, which is a body of people who believe in Christ, and a 'meeting house' or 'chapel', which is a building where the church meets.[37][38] Quakers have both unprogrammed and programmed meetings for worship. Unprogrammed worship is based on waiting in silence and inward listening to the Spirit, from which any participant may share a message. In unprogrammed meetings for worship, someone speaks when that person feels that God/Spirit/the universe has given them a message for others. Programmed worship includes many elements similar to Protestant services, such as a sermon and hymns. Many programmed meetings also include a time during the service for silent, expectant waiting and messages from the participants.
Common features
Vocal music is traditionally sung by a
For those unable to attend a service in a church building a burgeoning televangelism and radio ministry provides broadcasts of services.[43] A number of websites have been set up as "cyber-churches" to provide a virtual worship space free to anyone on the internet. Church services are often planned and led by a single minister (pastor) or a small group of elders or may follow a format laid out by the dictates of the denomination.
Some churches are "
Some churches offer Sunday school classes.[45][24][23] These will often be for younger children, and may take place during the whole of the service (while the adults are in church), or the children may be present for the beginning of the service and at a prearranged point leave the service to go to Sunday school. Some churches have adult Sunday school either before or after the main worship service.
Following the service, there will often be an opportunity for fellowship in the
Types of church service
Church services take many forms, and set liturgies may have different names. Services typically include:
- Regular Sunday services. These are a part of most traditions. Holy Communionmay be celebrated at some or all of these; often it is included either once a month or once a quarter. A few denominations have their main weekly services on Saturday rather than Sunday. Larger churches often tend to have several services each Sunday; often two or three in the morning and one or two in the late afternoon or evening, as well as on Saturdays. Some churches have begun to provide religious services conducted through internet technology, for benefit of those who cannot attend for health or other reasons, or who may want to preview the church before attending in person.
- Midweek services. Again, Holy Communion can be part of these, either on every occasion or on a regular basis.
- Holiday services. Treated like a regular Sunday service, but made more specific for the day.
- Weddings. These are normally separate services, rather than being incorporated into a regular service, but may be either.
- Funerals. These are always separate services.
- Baptisms. These may be incorporated into a regular service, or separate.
- Confirmation. This is normally incorporated into a regular Sunday service, which will also include communion. It was traditionally the first Communion of the confirmee, but more recently, children are invited to communion in some denominations, whether confirmed or not.
- Ordination of clergy. New bishops, elders, priests and deacons are usually ordained or installed generally in a solemn but celebratory ceremony on Saturday or Sunday generally open to the public either by their own superior or another approved senior minister with ordination powers either at the area headquarters church or the cathedral or another church agreed upon by those to be ordained and the ordaining ministers. Ordination of bishops or elders may require consecration by more than one individual and have a more limited audience.
- First Communion. Children may celebrate Communion for the first time.
- Opening of new churches or church buildings.
- Dedication of new missionaries or those about to be sent on new missions.
Places of worship
Places of worship are usually called "churches" or "chapels".[47][48][49] Some services take place in theaters, schools or multipurpose rooms, rented for Sunday only.[50][41][42]
Attire
With respect to attire worn at church services, Christians have historically tended to wear
See also
- Cafe church
- Canonical hours
- Carol service
- Christian liturgy
- Christian worship
- Church attendance
- Church membership
- Evening Prayer (Anglican)
- Morning Prayer (Anglican)
- Divine Liturgy
- Divine Service (Lutheran)
- Easter Vigil
- Mass (liturgy)
References
Notes
- seventh-day Sabbatarianism organize worship on Saturdays.[1]
Citations
- ^ Hughes, James R. (2006). "The Sabbath: A Universal and Enduring Ordinance of God". Reformed Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ The Korean Repository, Volume 3. Trilingual Press. 21 August 1896. p. 361.
The Sunday morning service has been well attended, as have also the Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services.
- ^ "Times of Worship". Saint Paul's Free Methodist Church. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-2280-0028-0.
Starting with Shroe Tuesday (locall known as Pancake Day), and proceeding through Ash Wednesday to Good Friday, families increased their church attendance and, especially, engaged in the embodies practices of fasting and/or "giving up something for Lent."
- ^ BBC, Christian worship, bbc.co.uk, UK, June 23, 2009
- ^ Harry Klassens, "The Reformed Tradition in the Netherlands". In Geoffrey Wainwright & Karen B. Westerfield Tucker (eds.), [[The Oxford History of Christian Worship, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 465
- ^ Amy-Jill Levine, Dale C. Allison Jr., John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus in Context, Princeton University Press, USA, 2009, p. 2
- ^ Mark 14.26, Matthew 26.30; see John J. Pilch, "A Cultural Handbook to the Bible", Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, USA, 2012, p. 263
- ^ a b c d e "Why an Evening Worship Service?". Christ United Reformed Church. 8 December 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, Book X, Letter xcvii.
- ^ Don Cusic, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music: Pop, Rock, and Worship: Pop, Rock, and Worship, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2009, p. 79
- ^ a b Suzel Ana Reily, Jonathan M. Dueck, The Oxford Handbook of Music and World Christianities, Oxford University Press, USA, 2016, p. 443
- ^ a b Mathew Guest, Evangelical Identity and Contemporary Culture: A Congregational Study in Innovation, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2007, p. 42
- ^ a b Don Cusic, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music: Pop, Rock, and Worship: Pop, Rock, and Worship, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2009, p. 85–86
- ^ Monique M. Ingalls, Singing the Congregation: How Contemporary Worship Music Forms Evangelical Community, Oxford University Press, USA, 2018, p. 7
- ^ William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 403
- ^ Gerald R. McDermott, The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology, Oxford University Press, UK, 2013, p. 311
- ^ Roger E. Olson, The Westminster Handbook to Evangelical Theology, Westminster John Knox Press, UK, 2004, p. 284
- ^ Bruce E. Shields, David Alan Butzu, Generations of Praise: The History of Worship, College Press, USA, 2006, p. 307–308
- ^ Robert Dusek, Facing the Music, Xulon Press, USA, 2008, p. 65
- ^ Gaspard Dhellemmes, Spectaculaire poussée des évangéliques en Île-de-France, lejdd.fr, France, June 7, 2015
- ^ Michael Lee, The Diffusion and Influence of Contemporary Worship, christianitytoday.com, USA, March 18, 2017
- ^ a b Greg Dickinson, Suburban Dreams: Imagining and Building the Good Life, University of Alabama Press, USA, 2015, p. 144
- ^ a b Jeanne Halgren Kilde, When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-century America, Oxford University Press, USA, 2005, p. 159, 170, 188
- ^ Robert H. Krapohl, Charles H. Lippy, The Evangelicals: A Historical, Thematic, and Biographical Guide, Greenwood Publishing Group, USA, 1999, p. 171
- ^ Christina L. Baade, James Andrew Deaville, Music and the Broadcast Experience: Performance, Production, and Audience, Oxford University Press, USA, 2016, p. 300
- ^ AARON RANDLE, Bucking a trend, these churches figured out how to bring millennials back to worship, kansascity.com, USA, December 10, 2017
- ^ Mark Ward Sr., The Electronic Church in the Digital Age: Cultural Impacts of Evangelical Mass, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2015, p. 78
- ^ a b Michael Gryboski, Millennial-Majority Churches Detail Challenges, Success Stories in Growth and Finances, christianpost.com, USA, June 18, 2018
- ^ a b Ghana News Agency, Asoriba launches church management software, businessghana.com, Ghana, February 3, 2017
- ^ Cecil M. Robeck, Jr, Amos Yong, The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2014, p. 138
- ^ Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition, Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 212
- ^ "Are 'Offerings' Above and Beyond My Tithe?". Saint Peter Lutheran Church. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
Historically, at least in our country, tithing is the practice of giving 10% of one's income to one's church. Offerings are gifts given above and beyond the tithe, either to the church or to other Christian ministries.
- ^ William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 402
- ^ Daniel E. Albrecht, Rites in the Spirit: A Ritual Approach to Pentecostal/Charismatic Spirituality, Sheffield Academic Press, UK, 1999, p. 124
- ^ Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Academic, USA, 2001, p. 236–239
- ^ Wakeling, Christopher (August 2016). "Nonconformist Places of Worship: Introductions to Heritage Assets". Historic England. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ISBN 9780750911627. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ William J. Collinge, Historical Dictionary of Catholicism, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2012, p. 280
- ^ J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Infobase Publishing, USA, 2005, p. 345
- ^ a b Helmuth Berking, Silke Steets, Jochen Schwenk, Religious Pluralism and the City: Inquiries into Postsecular Urbanism, Bloomsbury Publishing, UK, 2018, p. 78
- ^ a b George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 1359
- ^ George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 2275–2276
- ^ Zech, C., The Problem of the Second Collection, America Magazine, published 5 November 2001, accessed 29 May 2021
- ^ George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christian Education, Volume 3, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2015, p. 229
- ^ United Parish in Brookline, After worship we offer coffee, tea and some kind of snacks in the Chapel, unitedparishbrookline.org MA, USA, Dec 3, 2023
- ^ D. A. Carson, Worship: Adoration and Action: Adoration and Action, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2002, p. 161
- ^ Jeanne Halgren Kilde, Sacred Power, Sacred Space: An Introduction to Christian Architecture and Worship, Oxford University Press, USA, 2008, p. 193
- ^ Harold W. Turner, From Temple to Meeting House: The Phenomenology and Theology of Places of Worship, Walter de Gruyter, Germany, 1979, p. 258
- ^ Annabelle Caillou, Vivre grâce aux dons et au bénévolat, ledevoir.com, Canada, November 10, 2018
- ^ a b c Yegorov, Oleg (11 December 2019). "Why do women cover their heads in Orthodox churches?". Russia Beyond.
In the Orthodox tradition, this is a big no-no. Of course, no one would kick a bareheaded woman out of an Orthodox church, should she walk in, but she is very likely to face some disapproving and judging looks, especially from the local babushkas (you'll always find a few babushkas inside an Orthodox church in Russia). The reason is simple: in an Orthodox church, a woman should wear a headscarf.
- ISBN 978-1-4267-2788-7.
- ^ Gordon, Greg (31 August 2015). "Are Head Coverings Really for Today?". Evangelical Focus. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
Hippolytus an early Church Father wrote, "Let all the women have their heads covered." Others who taught this practice in the Church were, John Calvin [father of the Reformed tradition], Martin Luther [father of the Lutheran tradition], Early Church Fathers, John Wesley [father of the Methodist tradition], Matthew Henry [Presbyterian theologian] to name just a few. We must remind ourselves that until the twentieth century, virtually all Christian women wore head coverings.
- ^ a b Anderson, Cory; Anderson, Jennifer (2019). Fitted to Holiness: How Modesty is Achieved and Compromised among the Plain People. Millersburg: Acorn Publishing. p. 129.
- ^ Gordon, Greg (31 August 2015). "Are Head Coverings Really for Today?". Evangelical Focus. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
One of the most questioned practices in the New Testament in the modern day Western Church is the practice of Head Coverings for women. Yet to get perspective we need to look over the panoply of God's Church for 2000 years and see that this is not something new but old—and has been practiced diligently over the ages. It is hard to imagine but since the 1960s the Church almost entirely practiced this tradition. The influence of secular reasoning, feminism and liberal theology have led to the questioning and, ultimately, the casting aside of this practice in the Church at large in the evangelical world.
- ^ Gorny, Nicki (30 January 2022). "Sunday style: Churches go for a more relaxed dress code". The Blade. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
At Five Lakes Church in Sylvania, where a non-denominational and multi-generational congregation sports everything from that suit and tie to summertime shorts and flip-flops, Pastor Micah Sutton offered a similar take. He hopes the casual-to-formal range signals to visitors that they're welcome in the congregation, and that they belong there, regardless of how they style themselves.
External links
- Justin Taylor (29 August 2010). "What Was a Church Service Like in the Second Century?". TGC. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
- "Liturgy Archive". Archived from the original on April 10, 2004. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- "Liturgy, in the "Catholic Encyclopedia"". Archived from the original on August 16, 2000.
- "Orthodox Tradition and the Liturgy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-19.
- Church Service: Nowadays Practice vs. First Century's Practice