Does your church/faith celebrate daily services?

[Padres1969]

One thing I’ve always felt about the Catholic Church (at least in the Latin Rite) that is a strength, even long after I left the church, is that Catholics offer a daily mass (or at least more than just Saturday evening/Sunday). I know however that many other Christian denominations and near Christians don’t offer some kind of daily service. I also know that some are exceptions to the general rule, and do offer some form of daily service.

I was curious however for all that are willing to share, does your church offer some form of daily service.

From experience and talking to my own church’s leadership that within my own church it varies. Some Anglican churches only offer Sunday services, others like my own church offer one or more daily services. Specifically mine offers a morning prayer service and a daily Eucharist 6 days a week, and an evening prayer service on weekdays.

 

[Kliska]

Non-denominational protestant here; definitely (unfortunately) not, nor when I attended a Methodist church. One of the things I used to love was, in general, churches didn’t lock up at night and the church buildings were always open for anyone to go to. Not so any more.

The “set” days are usually Sundays, morning and night, and Wednesday nights. Other things may be done, such as home group Bible studies or various small group meeting on different days, but mainly Sundays and Wednesdays.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

Great question.

Never understood why the Catholic faith was the only one having daily services.

Not only that, you can worship God in Eucharistic adoration day and night.

A friend of mine and fellow convert from the protestant side said he was going through some stuff and wanted alone time with God in church, so he shows up to his Pentecostal church during the week with bible in hand. All the doors are locked of course, so he had to make several phone calls before they finally agreed to let him in…and they looked at him like he was crazy or something.

Isn’t the church a hospital for the broken hearted? Aren’t hospitals open all the time and not just a few hours on Sunday?

 

[Usige]

Just curious for those that have a midweek service (Wednesday seems popular for nondenominational communities around here). Is this considered to be something extra, above and beyond Sunday or just a different time for those who find Sunday worship inconvenient for whatever reason?

I ask because when I was Presbyterian we only had Sunday services and for Catholics you can’t just substitute a daily Mass for Sunday Mass. I am just curious if a midweek service is considered as no different than Sunday services.

 

[Kliska]

Just curious for those that have a midweek service (Wednesday seems popular for nondenominational communities around here). Is this considered to be something extra, above and beyond Sunday or just a different time for those who find Sunday worship inconvenient for whatever reason?

I ask because when I was Presbyterian we only had Sunday services and for Catholics you can’t just substitute a daily Mass for Sunday Mass. I am just curious if a midweek service is considered as no different than Sunday services.

Usually they are entirely different services/functions. So, Sunday was always the standard fare. Wednesday can be prayer meeting, Bible study, groups, a time for extended praise and worship, etc… What I observed was that Wed. was a lot more intimate than Sundays because there were usually far fewer people that showed up on Wed. than on Sunday. In more “strict” churches Sunday was a must do as well as any other night… the usual line is that the most involved people were at the church “any time the doors were open.” However, if you were only able to go one day a week it should be Sunday.

 

[Joelle_M]

I recently switched churches… my reasons were because my church was always locked outside of mass times. I went to a different church for confession one day and came nose to nose with a Bishop doing Saturday morning confessions… he taught me so much in that short time that I decided then and there to switch parishes. It’s a beautiful traditional church building- it’s truly awe inspiring.

Today- I switched my work hours to be able to attend weekday morning masses. Tomorrow will be my first one- I plan to go every day that I can. They have services every morning at 8:30 am for about a half hour. Then Thursday nights they have an evening mass at 7 in the chapel followed by adoration in the chapel for 24 hours until Friday the next night. They also have adoration a few other times throughout the week. The bonus- I’ve only ever been unlucky enough to go and find the doors locked ONCE. I can go and sit in the church anytime I want during the day… and anytime Thursday nights.

I’be decided to go every morning a half hour before mass to pray my rosary there.

 

[JurisPrudens]

Great question.

Never understood why the Catholic faith was the only one having daily services.

Not only that, you can worship God in Eucharistic adoration day and night.

A friend of mine and fellow convert from the protestant side said he was going through some stuff and wanted alone time with God in church, so he shows up to his Pentecostal church during the week with bible in hand. All the doors are locked of course, so he had to make several phone calls before they finally agreed to let him in…and they looked at him like he was crazy or something.

Isn’t the church a hospital for the broken hearted? Aren’t hospitals open all the time and not just a few hours on Sunday?

The Catholics and the Orthodox are the only ones having the daily services because only they (us!) believe that the humanities is saved by faith and works together. We offer service every day essentially because we believe that these services as a type of good works make the world better for everyone.

 

[jane_doe]

I think another factor that plays in here is the average congregation size.

If a Catholic parish has 3000 people on the rolls, they probably can get enough people there each day to have an audience (naturally only a small portion of people can make it any given day).

A Baptist congregation may only have 200 people on the rolls, there’s probably only like 2 people who could make it to mass each day.

 

[Tommy999]

Usually they are entirely different services/functions. So, Sunday was always the standard fare. Wednesday can be prayer meeting, Bible study, groups, a time for extended praise and worship, etc… What I observed was that Wed. was a lot more intimate than Sundays because there were usually far fewer people that showed up on Wed. than on Sunday. In more “strict” churches Sunday was a must do as well as any other night… the usual line is that the most involved people were at the church “any time the doors were open.” However, if you were only able to go one day a week it should be Sunday.

This was my experience, also. Wednesdays and Sundays were kind of like apples and oranges. Sunday is the prime worship service for everyone. Wednesday nights are split out into different things, such as a prayer service for some, Bible study for others, a Dave Ramsey course for others, etc.

And of course, there are age-appropriate activities for the children – stuff that reminded me of Boy and Girl Scout programs, only with a more Christian emphasis. For example, a child might get a badge for memorizing a certain set of scripture verses.

Wednesday nights were also when the youth group met together under the leadership of the youth pastor and a few volunteer parents.

 

[Padres1969]

The Catholics and the Orthodox are the only ones having the daily services because only they (us!) believe that the humanities is saved by faith and works together. We offer service every day essentially because we believe that these services as a type of good works make the world better for everyone.

That’s actually not entirely accurate. As I indicated in the OP, many Anglican/Episcopal Churches offer daily services. My own Episcopal Church offers 3 services daily, morning and evening prayer services and a noon time mass/Eucharist.

 

[GKC]

That’s actually not entirely accurate. As I indicated in the OP, many Anglican/Episcopal Churches offer daily services. My own Episcopal Church offers 3 services daily, morning and evening prayer services and a noon time mass/Eucharist.

Yep. Though my Anglican parish offers Sunday Mass (2), Morning and Evening Prayer daily, Mass Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus Tuesday Mass and Sunday Even Song at the chapel we support on the local college campus.

And a monthly Requiem Mass.

Over generalizing is an imprudent practice.

 

[cmodrmac]

I am not sure what the point is of the OP -does having daily services reflect anything in particular-? I agree that RC Parishes are quite large and could have attendance on a daily basis=it is a little harder with a Congregation of 400 to 600

a number of Episcopal Churches in New York have daily services

 

[Usige]

I think another factor that plays in here is the average congregation size.

If a Catholic parish has 3000 people on the rolls, they probably can get enough people there each day to have an audience (naturally only a small portion of people can make it any given day).

A Baptist congregation may only have 200 people on the rolls, there’s probably only like 2 people who could make it to mass each day.

I am not sure what the point is of the OP -does having daily services reflect anything in particular-? I agree that RC Parishes are quite large and could have attendance on a daily basis=it is a little harder with a Congregation of 400 to 600

a number of Episcopal Churches in New York have daily services

While that might be the case in some areas, we have a number of small parishes (100 - 400 people) that have Mass 2 or 3 times during the week. In some cases the reason for only 2 days a week are because the priest actually covers 2 or 3 parishes so might say Mass on Tuesday and Thursday at parish A and Wednesday and Friday at parish B.

One difference is that Catholic priests are required to offer the Mass everyday. While some might only offer a private Mass, many figure if the are offering the Mass then offering it with one or 100 people is still beneficial enough to say a public Mass.

 

[Usige]

Usually they are entirely different services/functions. So, Sunday was always the standard fare. Wednesday can be prayer meeting, Bible study, groups, a time for extended praise and worship, etc… What I observed was that Wed. was a lot more intimate than Sundays because there were usually far fewer people that showed up on Wed. than on Sunday. In more “strict” churches Sunday was a must do as well as any other night… the usual line is that the most involved people were at the church “any time the doors were open.” However, if you were only able to go one day a week it should be Sunday.

This was my experience, also. Wednesdays and Sundays were kind of like apples and oranges. Sunday is the prime worship service for everyone. Wednesday nights are split out into different things, such as a prayer service for some, Bible study for others, a Dave Ramsey course for others, etc.

And of course, there are age-appropriate activities for the children – stuff that reminded me of Boy and Girl Scout programs, only with a more Christian emphasis. For example, a child might get a badge for memorizing a certain set of scripture verses.

Wednesday nights were also when the youth group met together under the leadership of the youth pastor and a few volunteer parents.

Thanks, Tommy and Kliska. Do they consider Wednesday to be worship services though? My apologies for my ignorance, but liturgical Churches normally consider Mass/services to be distinct to Bibles studies, pray meetings, etc.

I guess I’m trying to figure out what “services” mean in the above context. My wife’s aunt talks about Wednesday services in her faith community, but it seems like it encompasses things that would be considered outside of worship in liturgical communities. Do many nondenominational and evangelical communities consider things like Bible studies to be a type of worship service as opposed to more a way to learn about the faith. Sorry if I’m not explaining that very well.

 

[drac16]

Yeah, mosques are open every day and their purpose is to offer a place to hold congregational prayers, but you can also go there to chill out and read some books, make dhikr, meditate, etc. The mosque that I go to has a full time school for kids and university courses (for those who want to study Shariah).

 

[jane_doe]

I forgot to answer the OP!

Mormon congregations only hold Sabbath Day services on the Sabbath. There are other activities which do occur on frequent basis though–

For high schoolers, there are religion classes every school morning that students are generally excepted to attend. This, one top of 3 hour Sunday Services, and mid-week youth activities results in busy schedules.

For many universities, there is a church right off-campus in which free religion classes are offered throughout the week (during the day and evenings). Generally it is the young adults which attend, but they are open any age. This church building is also always open, with prayer rooms, hang out rooms, kitchen, etc.

Mormon temples are opened throughout the weekdays and Saturday for performing religious rites, study, and contemplation. Participating in such services is prized.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Catholics celebrate the Mass daily.

 

[Padres1969]

I am not sure what the point is of the OP -does having daily services reflect anything in particular-? I agree that RC Parishes are quite large and could have attendance on a daily basis=it is a little harder with a Congregation of 400 to 600

a number of Episcopal Churches in New York have daily services

Just curiosity, nothing more.

 

[IdiNaPut]

I dont think I know of a single church round here that offers services outside of Sunday/Saturday nights. The Anglican Church near to me does do things like dance classes, youth group and the like on various days and times but as far as I know, they’re not religiously based.

 

[Kliska]

Thanks, Tommy and Kliska. Do they consider Wednesday to be worship services though? My apologies for my ignorance, but liturgical Churches normally consider Mass/services to be distinct to Bibles studies, pray meetings, etc.

I hate not being able to be really precise here, but the answer is “it depends.” One large non-denominational church I attended did indeed have a “mini-service” on Wed. It had singing, a short sermon, prayers and prayer requests… in short everything that Sunday has only a different message, and fewer people.

I guess I’m trying to figure out what “services” mean in the above context. My wife’s aunt talks about Wednesday services in her faith community, but it seems like it encompasses things that would be considered outside of worship in liturgical communities. Do many nondenominational and evangelical communities consider things like Bible studies to be a type of worship service as opposed to more a way to learn about the faith. Sorry if I’m not explaining that very well.

This is probably a more confusing issue in non-liturgical churches, as the words can mean different things. So, for example, we have a church near us that has “worship service” on Wed. night. It is literally “just” a worship service with singing and prayer, not like a full sermon on Sunday. However, as I mentioned above there are churches that have similar services on Wed. as they do on Sun. For some of the “Christian churches” (that is a denominational name) around us they too have communion only on Sundays, so that would be a big difference for them; any other day of the week it is just a meeting without communion.

I’m sorry I can’t be more specific, it just varies so much from denomination to denomination. Sunday is always seen to be the main day (unless it is a denomination like Seventh Day Adventists who are Saturday Sabbath folks). If there are services on Wed. night they are different in some respect, maybe only in number attending and in length of time, and the mini-sermon won’t be the same as on Sunday…