Very few answers to our questions about corportate worship can be found in the life and teachings of Jesus. The obvious reason is that he was not worshipped until after his resurrection and ascension. The epistles to the early churches, therefore, offer more information and instruction concerning church life and worship. I would dare to say, however, that given Jesus' silence on the subject of worship and the comparative scarcity of instruction in the epistles concerning worship itself, the focus of modern evangelical churches on what occurs inside the church walls as distinguished from what our lives are to be on the outside is out of proportion and even contrary to what is found in the New Testament.

At Fellowship Baptist Church in Armathwaite, Tennessee, preaching occurs one weekend a month. On the other Sundays the church meets for a short assembly, followed by Sunday School. The pastor of this church is a circuit-rider, preaching at a different church each of the four or five Sundays in a month. Perhaps if the church were larger, or if there were more pastors in the area, it could have preaching services two Sundays a month, or even four. The church has probably existed in this fashion since its inception in the mid to late 1800s.

The folks in Armathwaite and the surrounding community simply do not expect the church to take up a large portion of their time. Most are farmers working additional jobs to make ends meet. The question is this: are they wrong in not expecting more from their church? Or is it simply that a rural environment has different needs than urban? Or do they know something the rest of us may have forgotten? More to come.