Church Order Changes To Reflect Sunday Practices

According to survey data, only one third of Christian Reformed congregations hold a second service on Sundays. Delegates at Synod 2019 asked next year’s synod to revise some sections of Church Order to reflect this new reality.

“If a second worship service on the Lord’s Day no longer reflects a shared commitment as a congregation, and classes no longer expect [it of] congregations,” members of Classis Atlantic Northeast wrote in their overture to Synod 2019, “then perhaps it is time for the CRC to change Church Order to reflect our present expectations of one another.”

The CRCNA Church Order is a document that gives guidance and sets rules on how the denomination as well as individual congregations should conduct their business. If many churches are no longer keeping the practice of second Sunday services, then Church Order ought to be changed, the overture said.

It wasn’t the first time that this issue regarding the reference to second Sunday services in the Church Order had come up. Back in 1995, the Church Order had already been changed from saying that congregations should assemble “at least twice on the Lord’s day” to “ordinarily” twice on the Lord’s Day. 

The request before Synod 2019 was to remove even those words: ordinarily twice.  It was a change that sparked lively debate.  

Quoting from 2 Timothy 4, Brian Kornelis from Classis Minnkota read, “‘I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season.’ Sometimes the second service feels like out of season. But our charge is to be faithful.”

“I find it interesting that on this 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort that these same questions were being asked there,” added Cary Gephart from Classis Illiana. The pastors back then were wondering what to do because no one came to the evening service. “They were instructed, you should do the evening service even if the pastor and his family are the only ones in attendance.”

Other delegates agreed with this sentiment but shared stories about their own congregations where attendance is dwindling and holding a second service isn’t an option. And some delegates pointed out that not having a second service permitted congregations to gather on Sunday or other evenings for other purposes.

Sidney Couperus, Classis Niagara, for example, said his 700-member church used Sunday evenings for small group meetings. Others spoke of Wednesday night classes.

Rebecca Bokma, a young adult representative to Synod 2019, encouraged churches to think about a variety of options for when they bring people together for worship.  

“Speaking on behalf of youth, we had many discussions this week over dinner about how we wish there were more evening services offered in our denomination,” she said. She explained that students' schedules can be packed with classes, extra curricular activities and homework. This can make it difficult to get to a church on Sunday morning. Having an evening service allows students to adapt to the change of university while still be supported by their church through alternate times for services.

Allowing for greater creativity and options in providing a second service was also something that the advisory committee recommended. 

In addition to suggesting that Synod 2020 remove the word “ordinarily twice” from this part of Church Order, they also suggested that a new bullet be added to the document that affirmed the rich tradition of assembling a second time, and encouraged churches to explore other ways of providing worship, learning, prayer and fellowship.

“We should not simply dismiss the CRC's tradition of morning and evening worship as a quaint historic artifact,” the committee wrote in their report.  “We need to acknowledge that we live in a world that does not prioritize the worship of the triune God, and that we tend to rest in a selfish way that does not renew us in the finished work of Christ.”

After much debate, Synod 2019 approved the committee’s recommendations. As per CRCNA policy, these changes to church order will go before Synod 2020 for adoption before they are finally approved. 

For continuous coverage of Synod 2019 including the live webcast, news, video recordings, photos, liveblog, social media links, and more visit www.crcna.org/synod.