On Motion: Attendance at Sunday Evening Worship...

...is not a barrier to officer  training

    Explanation

    Officer candidates shall be taught to become confident in the Biblical warrant of holy rest on the Lord's Day, so that they may be equipped to lead others into this rest also, with a clear conscience and sincere faith; however, it shall not be required of the men seeking to be taught what is required of leaders in an Orthodox Presbyterian Church to hold these convictions as a prerequisite.

The Fourth Commandment is a wall of defense for Christians: whomever is conformed to its pattern, the world is hindered against pressing into its mold. Remembering Christ throughout the entire Sabbath day, the first day of the week, which God gave to Christians for rest from all their work and recreation by raising Christ from the dead, pouring out his Spirit upon them, and calling them to gather together in Remembrance of Him, is integral to the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures.

Providence may hinder a Christian from enjoying the rest into which he is called, and the Sabbath is not an occasion to pile burdens on the weary or to heap condemnation on the heavy-laden but for peace and rest and mercy. Nevertheless,  the whole Day is given over to the Lord, and therefore attendance at evening worship by the leadership of the church is not only expedient for providing another opportunity to others to enjoy the rest God has given, by establishing another time and place for the church to gather together, it is also obedient to the command of God whose Holy and inspired Word is the only rule for officers as well as for all members in the church .

Encouragement to Evening Worship

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near .

Hebrews 10:24-25 teaches us that assembling together is a Christian's defense against conformity to the world, it is step one of learning how to stir up one another to love and good works, and it is a preparation for seeing Jesus face to face.

And yet the nearer the Day of Judgment comes, the less often Christians gather together, as though we needed less encouragement in trying times instead of more.

Very few Christians these days use the Lord's Day as a whole day set aside to stop thinking that everything is about us, and dependent upon us. We spend most of our life working hard, caring for our families, or  enjoying ourselves . And, without being legalistic about it, the fact is that when people stop going to church, they stop remembering why they went at all. The Lord recedes from their thoughts and plans, and they no longer rest in him.

People in OPC churches tend to be frequent church-goers. If you're keeping score, that counts in our favor. It's something we have going for us, that we like to meet together. But what is it, that we're doing? Are we doing something special for God? Of course not. It's something that God has done for us. We need this, once every week. And, we can benefit from even more of it because the world is very insistent that we must conform to its mold. And it will become more insistent in its demands, if Christians resist. New guy shift? Neighborhood esmeetings? Time with friends? Sports? They will make their demands - do not rest in Christ, you're going to miss out, be anxious for everything - and all the more as time has gone by. The reasons multiply for Christians not to come together.

And as a result, more and more Christians have nowhere to go on the Lord's Day. Work, or family, or entertainment, or idle escape have become a week-round rut except for one hour on Funday morning. And that's why evening services are a rarity.

But we can help. Rather, God has helped us, by forming the conviction in us that Rest  is a blessing. By giving us a whole day for Rest, he has equipped us to enjoy  rest and to offer rest and encouragement to the increasing number of people who cannot find it anywhere.

We hope that an evening service can be sustained for these encouraging reasons. Scattered as we are by providence, that might be hard to do, and then it would become a cause of discouragement - a mere, empty formality, and a burdensome obligation, and that is not the Sabbath.  Only,  don't neglect the chance to scheme together in how to obtain freedom from the world's demands!  Strive to rest in the Lord,and to bring others into that rest.

Offering a different time when people can gather with us provides an opportunity for different people to gather for encouragement. And it will be another reminder that because we are not our own but belong to Christ in soul and body, we have rest, both in death and in life.

The elders encourage you to read the following nuanced statement from our 1973 GA Report of the Committee on Sabbath Matters. https://www.opc.org/GA/sabbath.html