{"id":33438,"date":"2012-06-25T21:46:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-26T02:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=33438"},"modified":"2021-03-19T21:50:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T02:50:44","slug":"can-a-short-service-be-held-in-a-shut-ins-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-short-service-be-held-in-a-shut-ins-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a short service be held in a shut-in&#8217;s home?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I have a dilemma. Our elders have recently approved of an &#8220;abbreviated service&#8221; on Sunday afternoons at the home of one of our members who is home-bound and dying. This includes singing, prayer, and the Lord&#8217;s Supper. They are encouraging other members to join them for this service. We have other members who are not able to attend for various reasons. Can we hold services for each in their own home?<\/p>\n<p>I cannot see how this is scriptural since we are commanded to partake of the supper together. Is it? My dilemma is whether to say anything to the elders about it or just let them do what they think is best.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you so much for your help.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>My difficulty is that I have yet to find adequate justification for offering the Lord&#8217;s Supper multiple times on Sunday (see\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-lords-supper\/\">The Lord&#8217;s Supper<\/a>). It appears that some in your congregation are also uncomfortable with at least some aspects of this. They don&#8217;t think it is right just to bring the Lord&#8217;s Supper to those who cannot assemble with the saints, so they decided to hold an assembly where the shut-ins are.<\/p>\n<p>Where a church decides to meet is up to the local group. There is nothing wrong with holding a service at a member&#8217;s home, especially since we find examples of that being done in the New Testament. We have had members dying of cancer and we have gathered periodically during their last days to sing songs and pray with them. I think it is wonderfully thoughtful of brethren to help others focus on the good things in life just before their final journey.<\/p>\n<p>You are correct that this will eventually cause additional problems as other shut-ins are being excluded since everyone cannot get to every place.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Thank you for your help. Sometimes I think I must be wrong because no one else seems to have a problem with what is going on. After all, both elders approve, and a former elder is the one who had the idea for the home service.<\/p>\n<p>In general, what is an individual Christian to do (especially a woman) when she believes the eldership is drifting into error? Apostasy does not come all at once, but gradually, and our elders are introducing things that I do not believe are scriptural. They were perfectly willing to discuss these things with me, but I was not able to convince them and they still believe what they are doing is authorized. I find that I am not able to participate in more and more activities that are being practiced as a congregation. These are voluntary, of course, so I&#8217;m excluding myself, but it feels very strange to be a part of the Lord&#8217;s church and not be able to fully participate.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have any advice?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>First, understand that your salvation isn&#8217;t dependent on the faithfulness of the congregation. The church at Sardis was way off track, but Jesus said there were a few there who had not soiled their robes. It is harder to remain faithful at an unfaithful congregation, but not impossible.<\/p>\n<p>That said, if there is another congregation in your area that is staying with the word of God, it might be time to consider a move.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I have a dilemma. Our elders have recently approved of an &#8220;abbreviated service&#8221; on Sunday afternoons at the home of one of our members who is home-bound and dying. This includes singing, prayer, and the Lord&#8217;s Supper. They are encouraging other members to join them for this service. We have other members who are&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-33438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8996,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-acceptable-to-take-the-lords-supper-at-the-evening-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":33438,"position":0},"title":"Is it acceptable to take the Lord&#8217;s Supper at the evening service?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I work shift days and nights. I go home on Sunday morning, sleep, and then get up and go to church on Sunday night to take the Lord's Supper. I hope this is good in God's eyes. Answer: This particular question has been the subject of intense discussion. Up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-setting-for-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":33438,"position":1},"title":"The Setting for the Lord&#8217;s Supper","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary P. Eubanks A Practical and Critical Question If a Christian is too sick to attend the Sunday assemblies of a church but is not too sick to eat the Lord's Supper at home, may, or should, he do so? It is difficult to imagine a more realistic question\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Communion-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24070,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-believe-it-scriptural-to-offer-the-lords-supper-at-an-evening-service-in-a-separate-room-from-the-remainder-of-the-congregation-after-the-invitation-but-before-a-closing-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":33438,"position":2},"title":"Do you believe it scriptural to offer the Lord&#8217;s Supper at an evening service in a separate room from the remainder of the congregation after the invitation but before a closing prayer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: While researching this question, I stumbled across your web site. \u00a0What a wonderful amount of information! Do you believe it scriptural to offer the Lord's Supper at an evening service in a separate room from the remainder of the congregation after the invitation but before a closing prayer? \u00a0My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10444,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-my-statement-of-belief-regarding-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":33438,"position":3},"title":"What do you think about my statement of belief regarding the Lord&#8217;s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was surfing the net doing some research and discovered your teaching regarding the Lord's Supper. We are currently dealing with this issue and thought I would pass on our statement of belief for authority to make the Lord's Supper available in subsequent assemblies. [The document is not copied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23267,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-is-the-justification-for-taking-the-lords-supper-at-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":33438,"position":4},"title":"Where is the justification for taking the Lord&#8217;s Supper at home?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Brother, In these times of pandemic and gathering restrictions, I have seen many different takes on gathering for the Lord\u2019s table and virtual worship. It is good to see autonomy alive and well within the Lord\u2019s church. My question is the acceptance of virtual worship and the taking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82678,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-congregations-practice-closed-communion\/","url_meta":{"origin":33438,"position":5},"title":"Should congregations practice closed communion?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My family and I are members of the Lord's church, and we visited a congregation this morning. During the Lord's Supper, we were bypassed and not given the opportunity to partake. One of the leaders noticed our expressions and approached us before Bible class began. He explained that we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}