Sunday Worship Service - Non Catholics

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Barbkw

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A friend of mine belongs to a protestant denomination. She lives two hours from me and when she visited last, I made an attempt to locate a worship service for her.

She seemed offended that I would believe that worship services are mandatory. (She’s not 7th Day Adventist - Wednesday worship services.)

Could someone clue me in?

What does your denomination teach about the Commandment to “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”?

Is attendance at your weekend worship services required?
 
We certainly do not teach that the Sabbath is Sunday (neither does the Catholic Church) or that it is required to attend church services based upon what God did with the Jews. We state that there are a number of verses that are applicable to show that we should attend church and fellowship with one another.
We take it quite seriously but obviously we do not use the same terminology (mortal or venial sin). However, many people of every religion are rather lax about attendance at their place of worship.
 
There are plenty of Catholics out there that might be offended if you assumed they go to Mass every week. Many denominations are not as uniform as the Catholic Church and it’s Mass, so going to another like named service may be foreign to them.
 
Most Protestants don’t say lack of Sunday attendance is a mortal sin. That doesn’t mean they don’t take it seriously - depending on the circumstances, it could be an indication of a serious problem that an individual is not attending. There would be further questions - why is the person missing church? How often does the person miss? How much priority is given to God and his claims on us, and how much to the church community - not just on Sunday, but the rest of the week? All of these things are a factor in one’s relationship with God whether one misses church on Sunday or not. To make that one act the determiner of “mortal” sin seems a bit silly to most Protestants.

Statistically, Protestants are more likely to attend regularly on Sunday than Catholics are. Even Catholics who are told that missing is a mortal sin often don’t believe that or act upon it.
 
Barbkw said:
Is attendance at your weekend worship services required?
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The denomination I belonged to (United Church of Canada) didn’t have any concept of “mortal sin” but weekly attendance at Church was strongly encouraged. There weren’t any penalties for missing a week here or there, but if someone were absent for more than two years, it was assumed they no longer wanted to be a member of the congregation, and their name would be taken off the membership list.

The Official Board tracked attendance by volunteer work and donation envelopes, so if a person was not contributing in any way to the life of the congregation, and nobody remembered seeing them at the coffee hour, it was assumed that they were absent.
 
Barbkw said:
A friend of mine belongs to a protestant denomination. She lives two hours from me and when she visited last, I made an attempt to locate a worship service for her.

She seemed offended that I would believe that worship services are mandatory. (She’s not 7th Day Adventist - Wednesday worship services.)

Could someone clue me in?

What does your denomination teach about the Commandment to “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”?

Is attendance at your weekend worship services required?
Click to expand...
No, First Day Meeting for Worship is not madatory…but it is expected that once one casts their lots with the Society of Friends, they will support and attend Meeting and join the community of faith.

Christ is now our Sabbath Rest…we rest in Him from all our labor of this world…“Come to me and I will give you rest…” "Even now there is a sabbath rest prepared…

We live in the escatological First Day of the New Creation…we have been “translated into the kingdom of his dear son”…we live now in this world…and we are to work toward peace and bringing about the Kingdom in it’s fullness. Since we are now living within the escahtological “First Day”…the only Rest we have is found in Christ the Light.

First Day (Sunday) is not the “Christian sabbath”…it is the Lord’s Day…the ritual sabbath requirements were fulfilled in Christ.
 
Rightlydivide said:
We certainly do not teach that the Sabbath is Sunday (neither does the Catholic Church) or that it is required to attend church services based upon what God did with the Jews.
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I need to correct your error.

The Sabbath for Catholics begins at sundown at the Saturday vigil Mass and continues through Sunday.

(In the like way - Saturday Sabbath for Jews began at sundown on Friday.)

vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a3.htm

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2174-2195.

"2176 The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship "as a sign of his universal beneficence to all."109 Sunday worship fulfills the moral command of the Old Covenant, taking up its rhythm and spirit in the weekly celebration of the Creator and Redeemer of his people.

The Sunday Eucharist

2177 The Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life. "Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church.“110”
 
Why do you call Sunday the Sabbath when Sabbath means 7th and is talking about Saturday, and is part of Judaism, not Christianity?
 
Sunday is the eighth day, the day of the new creation.

Sunday is the day that Christ rose from the dead, the day He showed the Apostles that He had conquered death.

vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a3.htm

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"The day of the Resurrection: the new creation

2174 Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week."104 Because it is the “first day,” the day of Christ’s Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the “eighth day” following the sabbath,105 it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ’s Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord’s Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday:

"We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.106 " (St. Justin Marytr’s Apology to To the Emperor Titus Ælius Adrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Cæsar)

Information on St. Justin Martyr: Born:103 Died: 165

newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm
 
Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1-7; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).
Jesus appeared to the disciples on the first day of the week (John 20:19).
Jesus appeared inside the room to the eleven disciples eight days after the first day of the week. The Jewish way of measuring days meant that it was again Sunday
(John 20:26).
The Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, the first day of the week (Lev. 23:16; Acts 2:1).
The first sermon was preached by Peter on the first day of the week (Acts 2:14).
Three thousand converts joined the church on the first day of the week (Acts 2:41).
The three thousand were baptized on the first day of the week (Acts 2:41).
The Christians assembled broke bread on the first day of the week.
The Christians also heard a message from Paul on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Note: the reference is until midnight which is not the Jewish method of measuring days, but the Roman system.
Paul instructed the churches to put aside contributions on the first day of the week
(1 Cor. 16:2).
Jesus gave the apostle John the vision of Revelation on the first day of the week
(Rev. 1:10).
 
Thanks, that was really interesting!

So why do you still call it the Sabbath? When it’s not? It’s the 1st, not the 7th, and you don’t do the Sabbathy things on it either? 🙂
 
See Stephe’s post again…

Christ is the fulfillment of Judaism. He broke the power of sin and death over mankind. He broke the power of linear time, in that His forgiveness, freely given, is what we draw our life from every day. Subsequently every day is a new day of Christ’s life, hope and love.

Thus a Christian, in particular the Catholic sense, is a fulfilled Jew.

And the greatest feast day in the Church is not Christmas or Easter, but Resurrection Sunday.

Every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday because we experience the same presence of Christ, His new life, as those who experienced Him on Easter Sunday 2000 years ago.
 
Okay, I think my question’s kind of falling on deaf ears.

But thanks anyway. 🙂
 
jmcrae said:
The denomination I belonged to (United Church of Canada) didn’t have any concept of “mortal sin” but weekly attendance at Church was strongly encouraged. There weren’t any penalties for missing a week here or there, but if someone were absent for more than two years, it was assumed they no longer wanted to be a member of the congregation, and their name would be taken off the membership list.

The Official Board tracked attendance by volunteer work and donation envelopes, so if a person was not contributing in any way to the life of the congregation, and nobody remembered seeing them at the coffee hour, it was assumed that they were absent.
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For church, that’s quite stringent policing and it’s scary. Should be an eye opener for Catholic though, fortunately or unfortunately.

Is donation envelopes equals personal donation / offering? We are not encouraged to write our names on such as it’s not very scriptural.
 
Sister_Amy said:
Okay, I think my question’s kind of falling on deaf ears.

But thanks anyway. 🙂
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“Sabbath” just means “a time of rest” - it has nothing to do with any particular day of the week. We celebrate our Sabbath on Sunday, because it is the Lord’s Day, and Resurrection Day. We rest from all servile labour, and take time for family, as well as going to Mass on that day.

As I understand it, Muslims celebrate the Sabbath on Fridays, do they not? And Jews celebrate it on Saturdays, for the seventh day of Creation.

There are also seventh-year Sabbaths that last all year, and 50th year Sabbaths, which are also called Jubilee Years.
 
Reuben_J said:
For church, that’s quite stringent policing and it’s scary. Should be an eye opener for Catholic though, fortunately or unfortunately.
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It’s just different. The United Church of Canada takes a much more casual view of membership than Catholics do. There are no eternal consequences to not being a mamber of the United Church of Canada - the person would still be allowed to receive Holy Communion, and even be buried there, if the family requested it. The only thing they would lose would be the right to vote in a general meeting, and the right to become a member of the Official Board - and if they aren’t attending Church anyway, it’s not likely that they’d be interested in either of those. If the person became active in the Church again and requested to be a member again, their name would be restored to the membership list.
Is donation envelopes equals personal donation / offering? We are not encouraged to write our names on such as it’s not very scriptural.
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:confused: That’s not my personal experience in the Catholic Church, but maybe things are different here in Canada. Here in Canada, a percentage of the money you donate to the Church is taken off your taxes (less money going to abortion, etc.) so the Church keeps track of it and sends you a statement at the end of the year, which you then send to the government when it comes time for you to pay your taxes, and the deduction from your tax bill is then calculated.
 
Barbkw said:
A friend of mine belongs to a protestant denomination. She lives two hours from me and when she visited last, I made an attempt to locate a worship service for her.

She seemed offended that I would believe that worship services are mandatory. (She’s not 7th Day Adventist - Wednesday worship services.)

Could someone clue me in?

What does your denomination teach about the Commandment to “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”?

Is attendance at your weekend worship services required?
Click to expand...
Required? No. For Lutherans, the way I was taught, it isn’t so much a sin for not attending worship, but instead the concern that by not attending, one cuts oneself off from the means of grace, Communion, confession/Absolution, and hearing the word. It can become a slippery slope toward infrequent attendance, and a continuing cycle away from grace.

Jon
 
jmcrae said:
“Sabbath” just means “a time of rest” - it has nothing to do with any particular day of the week. We celebrate our Sabbath on Sunday, because it is the Lord’s Day, and Resurrection Day. We rest from all servile labour, and take time for family, as well as going to Mass on that day.

As I understand it, Muslims celebrate the Sabbath on Fridays, do they not? And Jews celebrate it on Saturdays, for the seventh day of Creation.

There are also seventh-year Sabbaths that last all year, and 50th year Sabbaths, which are also called Jubilee Years.
Click to expand...
Thanks for correcting me! 🙂

Muslims don’t celebrate the Sabbath, a Sabbath, or anything like a Sabbath.

Friday is the day of jumu’ah, the day of congregational prayer. It is obligatory to attend the congregational mid-day prayer, which consists of listening to a sermon followed by a 2-rak’ah prayer aloud in congregation, and this is in place of the normal daily mid-day prayer, which has 4-rak’ah silent prayer.

But it is not a day of rest. The Qur’an says about Jumu’ah: (In Surah Jumu’ah, 62:9-10)

O you who believe (Muslims)! **When the call is proclaimed for the Salat (prayer) on the day of Friday (Jumu’ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allah **[Jumu’ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salat (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing), that is better for you if you did but know!

And** when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah** , and remember Allah often that you may succeed.

Basically you can go about your business and work until the adhan (call to prayer) is made for that prayer on Fridays, then stop working, go listen to the reminder and pray, and then you can return to your business.
 
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