I would like to respond to Tom Ehrich’s “2nd Opinion” piece, “Saying no to Sunday church,” that appeared in the April 9 edition of the Religious Herald.

I was initially intrigued by his thesis that people are saying no to Sunday church. I think the reasons go beyond Rev. Ehrich's article. Most homes now have two working parents, or a single parent with two or more jobs. Some work on Saturday. If not work, then they are doing the work of their home, i.e. cleaning, laundry, lawn care, grocery shopping, sports for the kids and so on. It is Sunday when the family can slow down and relax and come together. I agree with Rev. Ehrich that this issue must be adressed by the church.

However, the answer is not skipping out on the physicality of church. It is easy to give hard-working people a pass here, but that is not what Jesus taught us. Rev. Ehrich correctly points out that Jesus ministered outside the synagogue. What he left out is the fact that the Bible also tells us Jesus worshipped in the synagogue as was his habit or practice.

I think one answer is to adjust the schedule. Christians must make God their priority. We should plan for church first and everything else after. Maybe we need to reexamine our hectic lives and see what can be trimmed out. Fellowship does not happen in absentia via the Internet. True fellowship happens when we make a commitment to get to know our brothers and sisters on a more heartfelt level. If all we do is sit in the pew and disregard those who are with us, then we are not experiencing true fellowship. As Rick Warren rightly points out:  “Community requires commitment.” Jesus said we are a community of believers, not a group on the Internet.

All this said, I do think this situation requires us to rethink “church.” Maybe we move worship to
another day of the week. A strong biblical argument can be made for Saturday, as our Catholic
brothers and sisters have been doing for a long time. Maybe it is an adjustment to the Sunday
time, perhaps in the evening. I also think a strong argument can be made for the elimination of
denominations. I don't think we can get away from telling people what to believe, as we must preach the biblical truths. I do not care what time we attend church, and I don't care about denominational titles, but I do care that we attend a Christian church wherever it is and at whatever time of day we worship. And, we must be involved in it. We must get rid of our excuses. That cannot be done at home, through networking groups online, or via a webcam. We must relate to one another face to face. We must get to know one another beyond name, job and where we live. We must share in the intimate knowledge of the joy and the pain of each other’s lives. That is what a Christian community is all about! I do not think that happens effectively over the Internet.

“We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers” (1 John 3:16 GWT).

Mark DeAngelis is pastor of Forest Grove Baptist Church in Amissville.

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