Dear Friends,
Last week’s musings on the academic year sparked a bit of discussion around the church house. Nobody contradicted the findings but few remembered that it had to do with our agrarian roots.
I promised you a similar missive on why Divine Worship has traditionally started at or around 11:00 AM. Here it is.
Much like the academic year, the observance of the Lord’s Day in America has been traditionally scheduled around our heritage of agriculture. The observance actually began on Saturday afternoon when the lady of the house would begin preparations for the Sunday meal. Remember, this was a time when “keeping the Sabbath holy” was defined as refraining from any unnecessary work on the Lord’s Day. Following the evening meal, the man of the house bathed and scrubbed, followed by the children, and then, hopefully in a tub of clean, fresh water, the wife. The meal for Sunday was placed into a pie safe or other such spot for safekeeping from vermin, spoilage, or hungry hands seeking a midnight snack.
There was no “sleeping in on Sunday” for our farm families. Though most work was prohibited on this day, the livestock had to be fed and watered, water drawn for the house, pre-cut kindling brought in from the woodpile, etc. After the chores were completed, the children had to be dressed in their “Sunday Best” while husband and wife struggled into their finery. After this, horses had to be hitched to the wagon or saddled for the journey to the Meeting House. The Sunday meal was packed up and everyone began to make their way to worship. For many, the ride or walk to church was not our accustomed 10-15 minute drive. In some cases it may have taken an hour or considerably more to arrive at the Lord’s House.
Meeting at 11:00 gave farm families the time necessary to accomplish all of the above and still join their brothers and sisters in time for the first hymn. It has been suggested that the late morning hour may have also helped move the Parson’s sermon along, since by noon, he would be getting rather hungry. Propriety dictates that I refrain from any commentary in this respect.
Hey, I just sell it like I bought it.
Following worship, families gathered on the church grounds and shared their meals, news and concerns of the community. Later in the day, there might be another service or a time of hymn singing if the Parson had gone on to preach at another charge. The day would conclude in the late afternoon with all of the good folk making their way back home to prepare for the ardors of the work week which would soon be upon them.And, of course, supper would be leftovers!
Let me know if you have other interests which I may be able to address in this forum.
Ken
