J
jusher7281
Guest
Why do Protestant churches have Wednesday night services? I don’t recall anything in the New Testament telling us to meet on Wednesdays, so this must be a man-made tradition, is it not?
JU
JU
- Status
C
Curious
Guest
Yep. Right along with Youth Groups, Ladies Auxillary, Bulletin Board Committee, Single’s Group, Couple’s Group, Men’s Group, Women’s Group, etc.
B
bengal_fan
Guest
i think you are confusing the tradition with Tradition. protestants (at least most of them) have no problem with traditions (such as: worshipping on sundays, celebrating Christmas and Easter, how their services are organized, etc.). they normally have a problem with Tradition (the church interpreting scripture and Christian practice through their apostolic sucession…infallibly). wednesday night services are a tradition and all such traditions can be beneficial (according to protestants) but are not necessary and can be done away with at any time if the church so chooses. nice try to protestant bash though. i am beginning to be slightly disgusted by some of the behavior i’ve seen on these forums recently. i am in the process of converting (and experiencing many family hurdles as well as professional since i am in ministry) and the (yes, i’ll say it) anti-protestantism i’ve seen on these boards makes me wonder if there is any hope for american catholicism. i hope i am more charitable than some i’ve seen on these boards. sorry for the rant, but there is such an undertone of pride and condescension in some of the recent threads and posts that it is really getting to me. i am debating whether i should support this forum or organization.
J
joshua1
Guest
If you think the bashing on this forum is bad, i wonder if you have ever visited unmoderated forums and chats. The anti-catholic bigotry is nothing but pure unadulterated hate. I do not say this mean spirited so dont think I am attacking. See, that is some of the problem with words on a screen. They have no inflection of voice, you can not see facial expressions and such. If you think some one is on a tear, ask person to clarify. Thank God for this forum which is moderated and you can express your opinion. This place is a paradise compared to other sites.
C
carol_marie
Guest
Bengal fan,
I have to agree with joshua 1, other sites are far worse.
If the forums are hitting a nerve though, maybe it is best if you back away for awhile. When I was in RCIA, I had to stop coming here because I was already dealing with the “am I making a mistake in becoming Catholic stress” and then I would read some wacky post and think… OH brother… is THIS what I’m leaving my Protestant faith for?? To join screwballs like this?? (no offense to my fellow posters) It’s just that I think that as we get closer & closer to the Catholic Faith - Satan pulls out all the stops and he’s going to throw all kinds of stuff in your way to make you second guess. He wants you to be discouraged.
That’s just my opinion - maybe you feel differently - ? I just want to encourage you to stay on the path you are on. And if that means leaving for a bit… so be it. You need to feel good about what you’re doing and if reading some of these posts really bug you, well then what’s the point?
God Bless you,
CM
And with reagards to Wednesday night services - they were always Bible class type stuff - a good thing if you ask me.
I have to agree with joshua 1, other sites are far worse.
If the forums are hitting a nerve though, maybe it is best if you back away for awhile. When I was in RCIA, I had to stop coming here because I was already dealing with the “am I making a mistake in becoming Catholic stress” and then I would read some wacky post and think… OH brother… is THIS what I’m leaving my Protestant faith for?? To join screwballs like this?? (no offense to my fellow posters) It’s just that I think that as we get closer & closer to the Catholic Faith - Satan pulls out all the stops and he’s going to throw all kinds of stuff in your way to make you second guess. He wants you to be discouraged.
That’s just my opinion - maybe you feel differently - ? I just want to encourage you to stay on the path you are on. And if that means leaving for a bit… so be it. You need to feel good about what you’re doing and if reading some of these posts really bug you, well then what’s the point?
God Bless you,
CM
And with reagards to Wednesday night services - they were always Bible class type stuff - a good thing if you ask me.
I
Ignatius
Guest
Nothing wrong with traditions of men, as long as they were started no earlier than the 20th century.Jusher7281:
Yep. Right along with Youth Groups, Ladies Auxillary, Bulletin Board Committee, Single’s Group, Couple’s Group, Men’s Group, Women’s Group, etc.
K
koda
Guest
I’m from Nashville, TN, the “buckle of the Bible Belt”. I converted when I was 29 and I admit that I can be really defensive when it comes to my Faith - this as a result of being surround by anti-Catholic folks all of my life-some in my own family (thank God they grew out of it!). I’m not making excuses, just offering an explanation.
Also, Satan definitely tries to pull us away. It happened to me and my husband. And it can happen at any time. The day before yesterday I had a wonderful experience of God’s grace - today I’m leaning toward depression (I have a history of depression and am being treated for it).
Also, Satan definitely tries to pull us away. It happened to me and my husband. And it can happen at any time. The day before yesterday I had a wonderful experience of God’s grace - today I’m leaning toward depression (I have a history of depression and am being treated for it).
K
koda
Guest
I’m from Nashville, TN, the “buckle of the Bible Belt”. I converted when I was 29 and I admit that I can be really defensive when it comes to my Faith - this as a result of being surround by anti-Catholic folks all of my life-some in my own family (thank God they grew out of it!). I’m not making excuses, just offering an explanation.
Also, Satan definitely tries to pull us away. It happened to me and my husband. And it can happen at any time. The day before yesterday I had a wonderful experience of God’s grace - today I’m leaning toward depression (I have a history of depression and am being treated for it).
Also, Satan definitely tries to pull us away. It happened to me and my husband. And it can happen at any time. The day before yesterday I had a wonderful experience of God’s grace - today I’m leaning toward depression (I have a history of depression and am being treated for it).
P
Philthy
Guest
Thank you for speaking up. I think one of the big problems with online communication is the absense of the human being in view.
It’s easy to be rude when you are not confronted with the person you have hurt. We all, at times, lose respect for the dignity that everyone deserves at all times. This particular subforum is the most difficult to explore with complete charity - it is combative by nature. My gut feeling, though, from what I have read is that other sites are much worse.
In addition, I understand your inclination to reconsider changes that you are going through as a result of your experience here. I do believe, however, that you should not be swayed by your experiences here. You should be pursuing Catholicism out of your search for the Truth. If you believe that that Truth is in the Catholic Church, then you should be all the more committed to joining the Church and changing things you find broken, not running from those problems.
Phil
V
vegpotter
Guest
Um…I’m wondering if anyone can answer the original question. I’ve also wondered why services on Wednesday night?
F
flameburns623
Guest
It is an American phenomenom, IMHO. Many Protestant churches had evening Vesper (evening) services several times per week, but these were often poorly attended. It became common to have only one or two Vesper services per week, simply to shore up attendance. Revivalist churches often held ‘prayer services’ for days or weeks on end, or even nightly in some churches. These also had problems maintaining attendance over time.
Public education routines also played a large role. As public school schedules became more demanding, with more after-school events, there began to be conflicts between school functions and church functions. A gentleman’s truce was arrived at (now largely ignored) which designated Wednesday night as the primary night for Church events. There is nothing special or sacred about Wedenesdays, it was simply the day settled upon and popularised as the most convenient for a mid-week service. Few if any school activities were scheduled on Wednesdays.
Church revivals, you will note, used to take place in late August, which is why so many tent revivalists looked so sweaty–it was still very HOT at that time of year, and it is difficult to air-condition a tent. The revivals were scheduled to coincide with the conclusion of most people’s vacations and prior to the start of public school–which used to never commence sooner than the the day following Labor Day. Likewise, until the advent of cable television, Sunday mormings were always dedicated to religious services or–towards the middle of the 1980’s–talking-head news programs. Obvously many Protestant denominations worldwide have been impacted by practicies of the American Protestant church so that such things have become common in non-American Protestant churches as well.
J
jusher7281
Guest
Bengal_fan,
No, I wasn’t confusing tradition with Tradition, and you don’t know my Protestant friends. They make no distinction between Tradition and tradition. To them, ALL tradition is man-made and is condemned.
I agree. I wasn’t saying that Wednesday night services are bad in any way, I was just making the point that it IS a man-made tradition and there is no reason for Protestants to condemn all tradition, as many do.
If you felt “bashed” by that, I apologize, it was not my intent. Maybe you should take some time away from here if you feel that way.
If you look at the more uncharitable posts in this forum, I’m sure you’ll find that they are from both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. I’m sorry if you were disgusted by this one, but it was not meant to bash or disgust anyone, and it was far from anti-Protestantism.
O
O.S.Luke
Guest
Not all Protestant churches have Wednesday night services.
O+
G
genealogist
Guest
Benegal fan welcome aboard. Don’t let the kooks bother you. As far as the other sights are worse so deal with us on this one defense; that’s like telling my wife that my neighbor committed adultery with two women I only had one affair! These boards often have an air of arrogance(excessively exaggerating one’s own importance) about them.
E
EA_Man
Guest
Why not Wednesday night? Why not every night? I heard a priest on Cape Cod telling the older parishioners, as part of his homliy, that because they were retired they had plenty of time to attend Mass every day. He essentially told them they didn’t really have any excuse not to attend every day.
Acts 2:46-47
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”
Peace
V
vegpotter
Guest
You miss my point–I was just curious about why Wednesday night for special services, why not Tuesday or whatever. If it gets 'em to church, it’s a good thing!
Thanks, flameburns, I grew up in a protestant area and there was
NOTHING scheduled on Wednesdays ever. No school events, no city events. I’d wondered where the Wed. thing came from.
Z
Zooey
Guest
Around here, churches have midweek services on any of Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.
However, one thing that comes to mind is that most of the churches who have choirs, the practice is on Thursdays. So that would be one evening taken. Most business/women’s group/etc, etc meetings seem to be on Tuesdays.
I suspect this pattern may be what is left of scheduling various church meetings in the middle of the week (away from Sunday). Because we do have Bible study on Wednesday afternoons.
However, one thing that comes to mind is that most of the churches who have choirs, the practice is on Thursdays. So that would be one evening taken. Most business/women’s group/etc, etc meetings seem to be on Tuesdays.
I suspect this pattern may be what is left of scheduling various church meetings in the middle of the week (away from Sunday). Because we do have Bible study on Wednesday afternoons.
C
Curious
Guest
I’ve been to Wednesay night services in a couple of different churches where they actually talk a bit about why they have Wed night services. It’s explained as a sort of “pick-me-up” if you will. It’s the middle of the week when people have worked or went to school and it was explained to be a sort of spiritual refresher, so you wouldn’t have to go a whole week without church.
D
DJgang
Guest
Hump day…need a pick up during the week…when I did go to a Baptist church, the Wednesday night service was only about 30 -45 minutes and usually Bible Study only…no preaching.
I don’t think that it is “etched in stone” that protestants have to have a service on Wednesday nights, but my guess would be just because it’s the middle of the week!
I don’t think that it is “etched in stone” that protestants have to have a service on Wednesday nights, but my guess would be just because it’s the middle of the week!
W
whitake
Guest
I’ve lived places where the Protestants had their mid-week services on Thursday nights. I’m not sure why. It might have had something to do with high school athletics in the area. (btw, I’m a Southern convert, too. I did my undergrad – and my first two attempts at RCIA – at UT-Knoxville.)
My parish (St. Mary’s, Greenville, SC) has a lot of converts – including our pastor! We have religious education for all age groups on Wednesday night.
The way my dad explained it to me – church on Wednesday nights was one of the few outlets Southern women had when most of us Southerners lived in rural areas. (We tended to live on isolated or dispersed homesteads, instead of in villages. A woman might not see anyone outside the household for days at a time, longer if she didn’t have a church nearby.)
I got the idea my mom viewed the Wednesday night thing as being hopelessly low class. (She’s a bit of a snob. I’m just being honest.) Her mother was sort of like an American Hyacinth on Keeping Up Appearances.
Elizabeth
My parish (St. Mary’s, Greenville, SC) has a lot of converts – including our pastor! We have religious education for all age groups on Wednesday night.
The way my dad explained it to me – church on Wednesday nights was one of the few outlets Southern women had when most of us Southerners lived in rural areas. (We tended to live on isolated or dispersed homesteads, instead of in villages. A woman might not see anyone outside the household for days at a time, longer if she didn’t have a church nearby.)
I got the idea my mom viewed the Wednesday night thing as being hopelessly low class. (She’s a bit of a snob. I’m just being honest.) Her mother was sort of like an American Hyacinth on Keeping Up Appearances.
Elizabeth
- Status