Sunday night services a fading tradition
Doug DeVries describes Sunday evening worship as "a lot less formal" than the morning service at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church. It's also a lot less crowded.
The Grand Rapids, Michigan, congregation is in step with a larger trend showing declining attendance at evening services in evangelical denominations that have long cherished a heritage of worshiping twice on Sunday. Some evening services have become more intimate; others have been canceled or replaced by an alternative.
"People are spending time with their family [on Sunday nights] or using that time to get together in small groups," said DeVries, the church's minister of music. "We were concerned that we were squandering resources to put the evening service together."
