Changing Times

Last time I was going to write about how much it annoyed me that the meeting times were shifting, but I got sidetracked.

Most meetings have been at more or less the same time for years. I can remember a few shifts in the Lord's day pattern, most obviously from the "nine, twelve and three" times, which were once reckoned to be based on divine principle. Those were in addition to the six o'clock supper, which is still a principle.

So the schedule used to be six o'clock, then nine o'clock for a reading and preachings, then the later times varied from place to place, but around here were one-thirty and four o'clock. Then on Monday the meeting was at seven in the evening so that whole families could be there, then the remainder of the weekday meetings were at quarter to eight (half past seven for some places). Finally Saturday was at nine in the morning unless something special was going on, in which case it could be earlier.

Some while ago somebody heard a whisper that evening meetings should be earlier, and Friday and Tuesday were moved to seven. That worked reasonably well, as those meetings are for locals only.

Then came fresh light about Wednesday, which is "the hill of God", and very important as the furthest in time from the supper in both directions. That has become a compulsory occasion for all the family, and was consequently moved to half past five in the afternoon, or as a gracious concession, six o'clock. That really is impractical, for reasons of work, traffic and meal times. Many businesses have had to revise their hours of work. However, the time stays, and those not too blinkered to see the problems quietly assume that the difficulties are a large part of the point.

Lord's day was the next to be changed around. The reading is now at ten, to allow more time for wives to prepare meals, and the later preachings at half past two and half past four. Opinions are mixed on that, but it seems OK on the whole. Just as well, because that's the way it must be done.

Finally, somebody dug up some statement from somewhere that said that the prayer meeting should be earlier than the other evening meetings. So that has moved to quarter past six - which is not earlier than Wednesday, but if you expect this stuff to make sense then you're an incurable optimist. That was the last straw for me, and I stopped going to those. I didn't often go anyway, as there were few things I was willing to express in public.

It seems to me to be part of a wider scheme of monkeying around with lives so as to appear to be doing something. And if the changes are inconvenient, so much the better, as it's a chance for sacrifice for the greater good. For that reason, although it's a trivial issue, the whole thing irritated me enormously.

It may have changed again by now, of course.