What Happened to Evening Church Meetings?

Sunday evening and midweek meetings of the local church have fallen on hard times. In many places, they are comprised of a few people scattered in a mostly empty auditorium or huddled together in a small room. Dwindling congregations in the midst of an ever exploding world population. Where is everyone?

Modern Christianity has devolved into soothing our consciences for a few moments in the morning and treating the rest of the day like another Saturday. Read about how the ancient Jews built their sabbath around synagogue worship and time with family. The entire day was sacred: a day set aside for worship and rest. Should those who celebrate the risen Christ give less attention to their souls and His worship than believers did under the law? Surely Christ is worthy of more.

The Lord’s Day

Sunday is the Lord’s Day…all of it. Thomas missed a meeting with Jesus on Resurrection Day. You never know when the Lord is going to show up in a special way! Occasionally, someone will ask me what is so special about the midweek meeting or about days set aside as a revival meeting. They are times to “come apart” and focus our attention upon the eternal. In the rush of good things and inundation of so much evil, the church needs time to be built up and equipped for the ministry God has assigned us.

There is nothing innately spiritual about 7:00 over 6:00, and there is nothing scriptural about meeting on Wednesday night instead Tuesday night. These types of arguments, rooted in the tradition of some, miss the point. God’s people need one another, and we need to be together.

In an apostate age, on the verge of the coming of Christ, those who love truth do not need fewer opportunities to gather and exhort one another; they need more (Hebrews 10:25). Minimum Christianity never brings God’s great blessings. We need a revival of holy anticipation and prayerful expectation when we come to the meeting of the New Testament church.

Church History

Former generations would give attention to corporate worship and the preaching of the Word for weeks at a time, while modern church attenders seem to struggle with concentrated attention for more than an hour. Forget “extended meetings” – we have forgotten the blessing of evening meetings!

There are many reasons for such a change. Cultural shifts have subtly affected church culture. Mainline denominations and most evangelical churches have one service a week and encourage parishioners to give God one hour of their time. They may have multiple meetings, but they are a mirror of one another and members simply choose the service that best fits into their schedule and style preferences.

The New Testment Church

Forgive me, but New Testament Christians did more than give a nod to God for an hour a week. Some will think me far too radical, but if we were to return to the New Testament model we would be gathering together with fellow believers daily (Acts 2:46-47). While these meetings were not all formal gatherings, you can be very sure that when there was an organized meeting for the followers of Jesus those early Christians were present and accounted for!

On one occasion Paul even preached until midnight (Acts 20:7). I think I have been in a couple of those meetings! Of course, he also raised a young man from the dead who fell asleep and fell out of the balcony. I do not have the ability to raise the dead and therefore try to stop my sermon before people die in the middle of them. But, I digress…

Jesus’ followers didn’t meet to disperse as quickly as possible. They loved one another and wanted to be together. They didn’t slip in and slip out without being noticed. The world talks about needing “community” and Christ provided this through His body, the church. All Christians need encouragement, edification, and accountability. None of these happen from a distance.

American Christianity

On a practical note, most people today are exhausted and distracted. Sure we still have our evenings, but now they are filled – over filled – with athletic events, social gatherings, media consumption, extra work, and a host of other pursuits. The problem is not time; it is priorities.

We still have 168 hours in a week. And we can only give God one? The Lord graciously gives us 7 days each week. And we cannot even set one of those aside to honor Him? American Christianity has drifted a long way from Acts Christianity.

Revived churches and awakened saints want to be together to pray, worship, study the Word, observe the ordinances, and fellowship with one another. This is normal, but it is woefully scarce.

A Growing Challenge

Pastors frequently talk to me about the diminishing interest in evening meetings. Some have simply decided to cancel them all together. It is not my assignment to dictate to pastors what they should do in their churches. The meeting schedule of each congregation is a matter of church polity and I believe there is liberty there. What I am addressing is a principle – do not expect to raise the spiritual temperature of the church and the gospel impact in a community by lowering expectations.

I remember preaching in New York City many years ago in a fine church. Most of their members made long commutes on Sunday to come to the services and their structure was unique. They had morning Bible study, a morning preaching service, lunch together, and an afternoon service. Those dear people came and happily stayed all day! While they did not have a night service, I would not say they had given up the Lord’s day.

Yet I can tell you that I love evening meetings. They are like family gatherings of the church family. As a general rule, they draw the committed followers and those who are hungry for more than the obligatory church service. It is my conviction that we need a revived emphasis on these time together if we are going to see a spiritual awakening in our day.

3 Suggestions for Making the Most of Evening Meetings

1. Teach the people why we meet together.

If the why is answered the what will take care of itself. The answer should not be because “that’s the way we have always done it!” Are there Bible reasons to gather with the saints? Yes! After the COVID shutdown of 2020 there was a noticeable drop in evening meetings especially. It was indicative of the fact that even good people had grown accustomed to being at home and having more free time. In some ways, that season simply revealed the reality that was there all along. Those who never returned were already gone. For too long we took for granted that the people would just keep coming and assumed that they understood the vital necessity of the assembly. Not so. Identify the Scriptural benefits and blessings of the fellowship of believers and make much of them.

2. Let each meeting build on the one before it.

I love series preaching through books of the Bible and doctrinal themes. Most of the time, preachers tend to have a Sunday morning series, a Sunday evening series, or a Wednesday evening series. However, some people have the idea that they will come for one of those and not miss anything. It may be good to begin an emphasis in the morning meeting that continues in the evening. I have found personally in special meetings this is extremely helpful. When the hearts of people are touched they want to return for the rest of what God has to say to them from that passage. Pastor Sexton would very often begin an emphasis on Sunday morning and return to it in the evening, tying together the entire Lord’s Day with a great Bible theme.

3. Have a definite purpose for each meeting.

Most people do not know the purpose for evening meetings. Perhaps the preachers do not either! It is easy to go through our religious routines and simply have meetings because it was on the calendar. Instead, consider making each meeting unique. Charles Spurgeon used the Sunday evening meeting as the “Gospel Hour” or the evangelistic meeting of the Tabernacle in London in his day. Indeed, some meetings should be concentrated on bringing the lost and preaching the cross. An evening meeting could have a prayer emphasis or a specific Bible study theme for several weeks. Many people who commit for a period of time will find it so fruitful that they will continue.

The Account of Frank Boreham

Frank Boreham was a prolific author and fervant preacher of the Word. He was also the last student personally chosen by Spurgeon for the Pastor’s College. In the course of his pastoral work, Boreham noticed a decline in evening service attendance. He resolved to preach on “Texts That Made History.” He believed this would encourage the church family to return for those services. He announced that the next Sunday evening he would preach on “Martin Luther’s Text.” This was the first of these sermons – he preached many more! In fact, in total, Boreham preached on this series for 125 Sunday evenings and attract more interest and won more people to Christ than any other series he ever preached.

God did a great work though these Sunday evening meetings. He is always at work. We must prepare ourselves to hear from Him.