Editorial April 29, 1905 Issue

Afternoon and Evening Services

Archibald McLellan

We have before us a letter asking whether the holding of the afternoon or evening services referred to in the "Explanatory Note" in The Christian Science Quarterly, is optional with the churches, also whether these services are to be considered simply in the nature of overflow meetings.

As there is no By-law or rule of The Mother Church which makes it obligatory for churches of our denomination to hold an afternoon or evening service, we may fairly assume that the intention is that branch churches shall be governed in this matter by local conditions and requirements. The experience of churches of our denomination, located in the larger cities, has been that many persons who cannot or do not attend the morning service are present in the evening, and quite a percentage of these attendants are strangers and persons whose regular church affiliations have taken them elsewhere in the forenoon. We believe that the afternoon or evening service, but rather as an additional opportunity for presenting the gospel of Christ to all who may wish to hear it.

The observation of Christian Scientists in the principal cities has led them to believe that it is profitable to hold a second service, even if the morning service is not over crowded, but whether the same holds good in small cities and towns where there is no floating population, we are unable to state.

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