{"id":68242,"date":"2024-06-03T20:41:13","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T01:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=68242"},"modified":"2024-06-03T20:41:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T01:41:13","slug":"are-fellowship-halls-optional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-fellowship-halls-optional\/","title":{"rendered":"Are fellowship halls optional?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Good morning, brother Jeffrey:<\/p>\n<p>I have had several discussions with an elder of a church of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>First, the issue of fellowship halls. I sent him the article entitled &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/kitchens-and-fellowship-halls-what-was-the-issue\/\">Kitchens and Fellowship Halls, What Was the Issue?<\/a>&#8221; His response was because the early church met in homes for worship and fellowship, there was a kitchen present. The kitchen was likely used for meals before or after worship. Further, because having a church building is not a direct command but a necessary inference to assemble, fellowship halls are optional.<\/p>\n<p>Second was the use of God&#8217;s funds. Recently, my church purchased a van to take members to various activities such as summer bible camps, church retreats, and the older adults to lunch once a month. After one month of payments, the elders announced to the congregation that a donation of $60,000 was needed to pay off the loan to avoid interest. We have less than 12 youths. Less than 12 go to lunch together once a month. The elder said this expenditure was not a salvation issue and was up to the elders. I understand the donation of $60,000 could be considered separate from God&#8217;s funds. How is the use of God&#8217;s funds not a salvation issue?<\/p>\n<p>Please help to scripturally respond to this elder. Thank you very much for your assistance over the years. May you have many years on this earth to help the brethren stay faithful until the end.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Notice that the elder&#8217;s answer is based on assumptions. He assumes the early church always met in homes, even though the first congregation met at the Temple (Acts 2:46). He also ignored Paul&#8217;s rebuke, &#8220;<em>If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment<\/em>&#8221; (I Corinthians 11:34). The flaw in his reasoning is to conclude that anything not directly commanded can be modified. See<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/necessary-inference\/\">Necessary Inference<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/logic-in-the-bible\/\">Logic in the Bible<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cant-the-building-be-used-for-things-other-than-worship\/\">Can&#8217;t the building be used for things other than worship?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The argument of declaring something less important or unimportant, because it isn&#8217;t a salvation issue, is an empty point because it places men in the position of deciding what God deems to be important. See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-salvation-issue\/\">A Salvation Issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I suspect that this elder and the congregation are not interested in obeying God to the best of their ability. They will dismiss any point that you raise. If you are interested in finding a more conservative group to worship with, let me know what town you are near and I&#8217;ll see if I can find a nearby congregation.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Good morning, brother Jeffrey: I have had several discussions with an elder of a church of Christ. First, the issue of fellowship halls. I sent him the article entitled &#8220;Kitchens and Fellowship Halls, What Was the Issue?&#8221; His response was because the early church met in homes for worship and fellowship, there was a&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":[154,593,1684],"class_list":["post-68242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church-funds","tag-fellowship-hall","tag-salvation-issue"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54072,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-regards-to-fellowship-halls-it-seems-you-gave-two-different-answers\/","url_meta":{"origin":68242,"position":0},"title":"In regards to fellowship halls, it seems you gave two different answers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading through some of your questions and answers regarding\u00a0fellowship halls. I'm a little confused. In\u00a0one post about the subject, someone asked if they could still worship as long as they didn't attend the meal. The answer was yes and Revelation 3:4 was cited. In\u00a0a different question, someone\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":55535,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/church-kitchens-and-fellowship-halls\/","url_meta":{"origin":68242,"position":1},"title":"Church Kitchens and Fellowship Halls","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Riggs Church buildings with kitchens and fellowship halls are quite common today because the social gospel has gained acceptance in the minds of many. In fact, more and more churches of Christ are running headlong in that direction with complete apostasy being the only outcome. Unauthorized There is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19698,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-shouldnt-write-against-having-kitchens-and-fellowship-halls-since-these-arent-important-to-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":68242,"position":2},"title":"You shouldn&#8217;t write against having kitchens and fellowship halls since these aren&#8217;t important to salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I stumbled across your web site and found some very valuable information that may help me in the future. I disagree, however, with one of your beliefs. Having a kitchen or a potluck at the church building is not wrong. The church building is just that -- a building.\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":63314,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-real-issue-regarding-kitchens-and-fellowship-halls\/","url_meta":{"origin":68242,"position":3},"title":"The Real Issue Regarding Kitchens and Fellowship Halls","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Colossians 3:12-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Over the years Christians have experienced disagreements that have led to divisions \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the late 1800's it was disagreements over missionary societies and instrumental music in worship. It lead to the formation of the Christian Church and the Disciples of Christ. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30093,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-church-to-organize-meals\/","url_meta":{"origin":68242,"position":4},"title":"Is it wrong for a church to organize meals?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading through a couple of articles on your website when I ran into \"Using a Kitchen in a Rented Hall\" and I became a bit concerned. See, the church I attend has a potluck dinner every first Sunday of the month following morning services. We meet in\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":30095,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fellowship-halls\/","url_meta":{"origin":68242,"position":5},"title":"Fellowship Halls? (Dunagan)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Dunagan Somewhere in the past, the idea entered the Church of Christ that it would be all right to take the funds collected on the first day of the week and construct a church building which would include such things as a kitchen and a large dining room\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\/68242","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=68242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}