Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

Did your coc start each service on time? At all of the coc’s that I have attended and visited I don’t believe I can remember any that started services on time. Most consistently started ~5-10 minutes late. Today, I attend a mega-church that always starts on time. They start with info video’s about 10 minutes prior to service and then show a 1 minute countdown timer before they start. All of the churches that I have visited recently start on time. I even visited a church in Maui last year that started promptly on time (and they have a super laid back culture).

When I was a kid, I remember the Elders calling a meeting with the members of the church to discuss people showing up late each week. The held Elder really let people have it. To me, starting late is just another example of their lack of professionalism and lack of concern for people’s time.

I've experienced both within the coc. The one that never started on time was due to the brothers meeting in the back office to determine who would do what for the service. But we wouldn't talk about that, it was usually a debate over something going on within the church.Once they realized we we're running 15 minutes late (happened all the time), they would quickly dish out duties and say a prayer before going out. The church I went to after that started on time, and ended on time. Period.

Every Anti group I ever saw was pretty regular about "starting" on time, but then it was hit or miss. Some had dreadfully long announcements. Some had preachers that always went long. End on time was rare. The institutional places I have been to always seem to start a bit late, and often end on time if not a bit early. But that is because they don't teach all of the Bible since they have to skip all that authority CENI stuff. LOL

The mega churches (Christian or community) tend to have multiple services back to back are therefore very schedule aware.

The ones that I am familiar with were pretty dogmatic about starting on time.

Beats me. My mother always made darned sure we were there extra early, every single time, whatever the official start time was. I guess they started on time. There was at least an official time TO start. There was no official time to END, and every time the preacher went on extra-long, or there was someone who 'answered the invitation' and started the baptizing process going, mother and many of 'the ladies of the congregation' would get a bit pissed, because it meant the roast they had cooking in a low oven for lunch would be sitting there getting overdone, then way past overdone, then really really really overdone....


Do you know, I was actually nearly TWENTY before I ever even SAW a roast beef that wasn't black on the outside and brown/gray all the way through? The first time I saw a medium-rare roast beef, I didn't know what it was. Really. I had to ask somebody. I thought maybe it was 'veal' or some other mead I'd never had before.

agricola wrote:Beats me. My mother always made darned sure we were there extra early, every single time, whatever the official start time was. I guess they started on time. There was at least an official time TO start. There was no official time to END, and every time the preacher went on extra-long, or there was someone who 'answered the invitation' and started the baptizing process going, mother and many of 'the ladies of the congregation' would get a bit pissed, because it meant the roast they had cooking in a low oven for lunch would be sitting there getting overdone, then way past overdone, then really really really overdone....

I remember those days. I always looked forward to my mothers roasts. I used to suck the marrow out the O bone. I have not had one of those since the 1960"s. I'll have rectify that. Baptisms were a mixture of happiness and sadness. Knowing you would have to wait until its over. Most other Churches have a baptismal service. It is not immediate. Maybe once a quarter or once a month. Definitely not CoC. Enjoyed the memories.

I want to create the gunslinger Bible. Remember those that would notch their Bible every time there was a baptism? It has a wood slat on the binding to notch. More advanced models come with a scabbard for your knife. The knife can be used on the unbelievers after all they are seeing God so to speak. The first one goes to BH. It has a scimitar.

Most of the churches I attended definitely started on time. Once or twice there was a late start, but usually somebody in the front row jumped up to fill in the gap by leading a song or talking about some tidbit he learned in the adult class prior to services.

Always on time. Otherwise, it would not have been done "decently and in order."

NeverAgain wrote:Always on time. Otherwise, it would not have been done "decently and in order."

This is what I was thinking about on my walk last night. That the Decent and In Order would be used to enforce a start time...but never the end time. If it was the end time then it could just happen any way it happened.

But man these mega community places where they have children's church and Sunday school for all ages and you have to get an ID number and wrist band when you drop off the kids, and they have a second service starting, and the adults in the children wings are about to explode with the crazy misbehaving kids of today...man those places are like a Swiss/German train as far as schedules. That thing ends exactly on time and swiftly the exchange is made with the kids.

My old hometown CofC was very big on getting started on time and finishing on time ("decently and in order" applied not to just being the frozen chosen, but doing things in a timely way). The preacher who was inclined to carry on past his time was strongly discouraged from repeating the performance, whether said preacher was the regular gig or a gospel meeting hired gun. I suppose that's one way of controlling the situation - if you've gotta be there 3x a week or more, better make sure you don't have to spend any more time than is absolutely required doing it. Gotta beat the Baptists to the Ryan's buffet anyway, doncha know.