CHURCH SERVICE

In Christianity, a 'church service' is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing Sabbatarianism. The church service and its conduct is seen as being a primary, although not the sole, purpose for the existence of the church. Technically, the "church" in "church service" refers to the gathering of the faithful rather than to the building in which it takes place.
Styles of service vary greatly, from the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican traditions of liturgical worship to the evangelical Protestant style, which often combines worship with an outreach to non-Christians and/or non-practicing Christians in the audience. Quakers and some other groups have no formal outline to their services, but allow the worship to develop as the participants present feel moved.

Contents

Origins in Jewish worship

Jewish daily services

Jewish holy day services

From Jewish to Christian services

Church services today

Notes

See also

External links

Origins in Jewish worship

The historical analysis of the worship of God in Christian circles must begin with the worship offered by the Jews as recorded in the Bible. Worship was originally conducted by the head of the household (, ). Later, the Law of Moses regulated the time, the place, the ministers, and the manner of the worship of God by the Children of Israel. The Jews were only allowed to have full services of worship at the Tabernacle, and later, the Temple in Jerusalem, according to the order described in Exodus and Leviticus. These biblical principles in turn influenced the development of the Jewish services in the synagogue, both during the Babylonian exile and later, after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.
While Christian liturgical services are now not limited to one single place, they are based on the same principles of priesthood, sacrifice, and formality of worship. This is to say that those parts of the Christian community that accept no priesthood, or reject any idea of sacrifice, or flee formalities of worship, do not invalidate the argument, since they do so as a reaction to the traditions that have been in use for many centuries.

Jewish daily services

In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelite priests to offer sacrifices of animals in the morning and evening (), defined as the first hour of the day (the day being divided into twelve hours and running conventionally from 0600 to 1800), or six o'clock in the morning, and the last hour of the day, or five o'clock in the evening. On the Sabbath the services involved twice as many sacrifices as at other times.
All Israelites were expected, as far as their other duties permitted, to attend these services.

Jewish holy day services

On holy days (like Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, the day of Atonement) special services were held requiring the intervention over one or more days of the priests and people, with sacrificial animals being offered by or on behalf of them. The Jewish liturgical calendar as represented in the Mosaic law was split into five months from the Day of Atonement to the Feast of Tabernacles, in which all of the major feasts took place, and seven months which were barren of special services.
Eventually, these sacrifices soon moved from the Tabernacle to the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem. During the Babylonian Exile, when the Temple was no longer in use, the first synagogues were established, and the services (at fixed hours of the day) of Torah readings, psalms, and hymns began to evolve. This "sacrifice of praise" began to be substituted for the sacrifices of animals.

From Jewish to Christian services

The first miracle of the apostles, the healing of the crippled man on the temple steps, occurred because Peter and John went to the Temple to pray (). Since the Apostles were originally Jews, the concept of fixed hours for services, and services therefore which differed from weekday to Sabbath to holy day, were familiar to them. Pliny the Younger (63 - ca. 113), who was not a Christian himself, mentions not only fixed times of prayer by believers, but also specific services—other than the Eucharist—assigned to those times: “they met on a stated day before it was light, and addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity ... after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble, to eat in common a harmless meal. .”^[1]
The real evolution of the Christian service in the first century is shrouded in mystery. By the second and third centuries, such Church Fathers as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Tertullian wrote of formalised, regular services: the practice of Morning and Evening Prayer, and prayers at the third hour of the day (terce), the sixth hour of the day (sext), and the ninth hour of the day (none). With reference to the Jewish practices, it is surely no coincidence that these major hours of prayer correspond to the first and last hour of the conventional day, and that on Sundays (corresponding to the Sabbath), the services are more complex and longer (involving twice as many services if one counts the Eucharist and the afternoon service). Similarly, the liturgical year from Christmas via Easter to Pentecost covers roughly five months, the other seven having no major services linked to the work of Christ. However, this is not to say that the Jewish services were copied or deliberately substituted.

Church services today

Today a wide variety of church services exist, from the long and elaborate services of Eastern Christianity to the very basic Evangelical sermon. Though the vast majority of services are still conducted in church buildings designed specifically for that purpose, some services take place in "store front" or temporary settings. For those unable to attend a service in a church building a burgeoning televangelism and radio ministry provides broadcasts of services. A number of Websites have been set up as "cyber-churches" to provide a virtual worship space free to anyone on the Internet.
Most church services begin with the ringing of a bell (or a number of bells). The service usually involves the singing of hymns, reading of scripture verses and possibly a psalm, and a sermon. If the church follows a lectionary, the sermon will often be about the scripture lections assigned to that day. Eucharistic churches which usually have Holy Communion either every Sunday or several Sundays a month. Less liturgical congregations tend to place a greater emphasis on the sermon.
Vocal music is traditionally sung by a choir or the congregation (or a mixture of the two), usually accompanied by an organ. Sometimes other instruments such as piano, classical instruments, or modern band instruments may be part of the service. Some churches are equipped with state-of-the-art multi-media equipment to add to the worship experience. The congregation may sing along in hymnals or words to hymns and worship songs may be displayed on a screen. More liturgical denominations may have the words to specific prayers written in a missalette, prayer book or pew bulletin which the congregation follows.
Many churches will take up a collection during the service. The rationale for this is taken from , and . But some churches eschew this practice in favor of voluntary anonymous donations for which a box or plate may be set up by the entrance, or return-address envelopes may be provided that worshippers may take with them.
Some churches offer Sunday school classes. 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 church hall or other convenient place. This provides the members of the congregation a chance to socialize with each other and to greet visitors or new members. Coffee or other refreshments may be served.

Notes

1. Pliny the Younger, ''Epistulae'', Book X, Letter xcvii.

See also

★ Christian liturgy

★ Service of worship

★ Canonical hours

★ Morning Prayer

★ Evensong

★ Mass (liturgy)

★ Divine Liturgy

★ Easter Vigil

★ First Communion

★ Garter service

★ Compline

★ Prayer Book

External links

★ Cyber-Church