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A question that several members of the Atlanta North SDA Church asked me this past Sabbath was regarding the Sunday morning worship services conducted in some Adventist churches. The question came up because their previous pastor is now planting a new Adventist church in Atlanta by holding a regular Sunday morning worship service, in addition to that of the Sabbath.

What this pastor is doing is not unique. During the past few months I have received reports from different parts of North America about SDA churches conducting regular Sunday morning services. I have been repeatedly asked to comment about this practice. So far I ignored these reports because I felt that they represented few isolated cases. Evidently, that is no longer the case. More Adventist churches are adopting Sunday worship service, in addition to that of the Sabbath, to facilitate the outreach to their communities.

In my view there is nothing wrong with holding meetings on Sunday as part of a temporary outreach endeavor, like an evangelistic campaign or various types of seminars. The problem arises when Sunday worship services become a regular feature of an Adventist church. The predictable result is that gradually the Sunday morning service will displace and replace the Sabbath service. This is the lesson of history.

As a church historian, I am reminded that Sunday worship began, especially in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire, as an addition to Sabbath worship. Gradually, however, Sunday worship replaced completely the Sabbath worship, especially since it was more convenient to go to church on Sunday-the day that was made a civil holiday by Constantine in A. D. 321.

History often repeats itself. The current promotion of Sunday worship in addition to Sabbath worship, is no exception. An example is recent adoption of Sunday worship by several former Adventist pastors and Bible teachers, who have embraced the so-called "New Covenant Theology," These men initially promoted the introduction of Sunday worship in addition to Sabbath worship. But it was not long before they moved their church services exclusively to Sunday. I predicted this development two years ago while debating some of these former Adventists. I was accused of using defamatory and scaring tactics. What has happened has proven the accuracy of my prediction. I was simply reading the current development in the light of what has happened in the past.

On the basis of the same historical perspective I dare to predict that those SDA churches that are now conducting regular Sunday worship services, in addition to Sabbath services, will eventually for convenience sake eliminate altogether church services on Saturday. How can we expect Sunday-keepers to accept the principle and practice of Sabbath-keeping when they are invited to worship regularly on Sunday in an Adventist Church?

The notion of conducting a regular Sunday worship service as a way to reach Sunday-keepers who are more free and accustomed to go to church on that day, is inspired not by Scripture, but by the Willow Creek mentality. The underlying philosophy of Willow Creek is to give to people what they want. By contrast, the Biblical philosophy is to give to people what they need. Going to church on Saturday may not be popular and convenient for some, but Jesus never promised that it would be easy to follow him. The problem is that many want to wear a crown without carrying the cross.