I grew up in a family that were Catholic early on but I never experienced it past 1st grade Catholic school, my dad remarried a Protestant.

A lot of my relatives are Catholic though. I just chuckled thinking of my great aunt and uncle growing up who used to take us when we were visiting them for the weekend to Saturday night Mass and the vibe always was they were going to “get it over with” so they didn’t have to get up Sunday morning.

Haha. I can relate to that story, especially in my younger years. Saturday night Mass is considered a vigil Mass for the next day, and fulfills the "Sunday" obligation.

I wonder if a drive-in church service counted as one's "Sunday obligation" back in the day? There was one maybe a mile from where I grew up.

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them". Growing up in a rural area, I was always impressed with the many small churches with small memberships and lay ministers with full-time vocational employment. The church furnishings were simple and the services were straight-forward, but the family participation was strong and dependable. A lot of good citizens were developed in those times with small churches.

Nowadays, the number of churches has dramatically shrunk due to consolidations and less family participation. The large church buildings are impressive and the furnishings are top-grade, but I am not sure the quality of the citizens has grown. There is no major attempt to provide on-line services as an alternative to attendance, but they are available for the "shut-ins".

I don't see on-line services being a long-time deterrent to church attendance, but I do believe the constant encouragement of TV Ministries to the "sow your seed and reap God's bountiful harvest" type of religion is the plague that will ultimately destroy Mankind's belief in a superior being. (They seem awfully similar to the times in Jr. High when I was encouraged to grow my lunch money by "sowing my seed" in the after-school crap games run by the high school "Fonzie". A few days without lunch helped to get me back on the straight and narrow - well, kind of! )

quote:

Originally posted by Southern Rebel:
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them".

FYI that verse is speaking of church discipline, not people gathering for church (read the verses before that). Christ established the church and it was intended for people to be under the authority of Pasters/Elders. Christ left them as His undershepherds, those tending His sheep until He returns. If you were a member already and then became bed ridden, that would be a rare reason it could still work out. Your church Pastors still need to be involved with you. The Apostles died establishing churches for the called out assembly. The church is not the building, it is the redeemed, those Christ died and purchased the sins of, and we were called to gather together breaking of bread, prayer and the Apostles doctrine.

There is no way to be accountable and under the authority of the church leadership by attending online. You should exhaust every possible avenue before “attending” from home.

As has been coined "a matter of salvation" in our other discussions... I don't think this is one.

Going to church with fellow Christians is an undeniably good thing, and it should be encouraged. But opting to take-in the scripture and sermon of that Sunday from home via an internet stream is not going to affect your condemnation.

Good, thought-provoking conversation in this thread, in any case.

Chicago has always had "Mass for shut ins on Sundays." It was followed on TV by the more than scary Bishop Sheen.

Our church offers three services every Sunday, and live streams each of them. Missed all of that? It’s okay… hop on the web site and find the link to “previous talks.”

It’s a good thing, really. We have a number of people who have moved away, or are distant college students, or just plain can’t get there that morning. On weekends I travel, I can still get the Sunday’s talk, right on time.

On top of all that, the online campus is an easy way to introduce our particular church to potential new members. Think you want to come visit but aren’t sure? Catch tomorrow’s service from your couch in your jammies. And then show up in person next week, we’ll be looking forward to seeing you.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Chicago has always had "Mass for shut ins on Sundays." It was followed on TV by the more than scary Bishop Sheen.

I remember Mass for Shut-Ins on WGN when I was a kid up in a Chicago suburb

We are a small real full time church with building of only 50 people or less and started doing online both on our website and on Facebook before covid. We picked people from other countries watching us online and sharing our online services. Some of the countries are in Africa, Middle East, and many in Asia like Vietnam, etc that have underground Christians that watch when they can. God Bless