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With more and more churches no longer having evening services, I am wondering when a morning and evening service originated in the CRCNA. Any idea? 

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Evening worship services are generally traced back to World War II when businesses shifted to seven-day, 24-hour work schedules in order to support the war effort. In an effort to make it possible for their brethren to worship, two assemblies were offered. 

In Bible days there was the morning and evening sacrifice.  This was daily.  The synagogue had a service at the beginning and end of the Sabbath (Friday night and then again on Saturday) which would have been Jesus' practice.   The Roman Catholic church also had daily vespers and in some areas of Holland that practice continued after the Reformation — the broader assemblies tried to stamp that practice out promoting instead 2 services on the "Lord's Day" only (at first the Dutch did not even want services on holidays like Christmas, Ascension, Good Friday).  Within a short while the Dutch church order prescribed that the Heidelberg Catechism be preached in the second service.  So a morning and evening service is as old as Christendom, definitely older than the CRC itself.  (Just as a note:  When the Dutch government made religious holidays "holidays" i.e. free days, the churches instituted services on those days, more out fear for what people might be doing in their free time than out of a concern to celebrate those feast days). 

Gathering twice on Sunday with a preaching service in the morning and a teaching service (on the catechism) in the afternoon or evening was the practice in the Netherlands well before folks immigrated to the United States and Canada.  That practice of two services was maintained with the formation of the CRC in 1857. 

You might be interested in knowing that in 1920 three orders of worship were presented to Synod from a study committee to reflect the fact that many churches had 2 services in Dutch and 1 in English every Sunday. 1928 Synod adopted an order for the "first service of the Lord's Day" and though the same study committee was asked to prepare another order for the second service (and potentially other services as well) that was never accomplished and the committee was disbanded in 1932. 

Thank you for this information. I have been a life long two service attender and am thankful our congregation still holds two different services. 

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