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To my knowledge, most Protestant denominations (Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Non-denom, etc...) structure their church to meet once a week, with maybe a bible-study once a week as well. Though I am challenged when I read the devotion to fellowship of the first century church:

Acts 2:44-47 All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Act 5:42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

I know that some Catholic churches have daily mass, but I'm wondering if anyone knows of any major protestant churches that structure their church to meet every day, whether in a designated building or in houses. I would especially be interested to hear how it's done first hand.

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  • Some Anglicans do. That said, the text doesn't state that everyone went to the temple every day. Many churches have bible studies each day of the week, so shouldn't they qualify too?
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Jun 2, 2014 at 21:52
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    There are Pentecostals that meet daily.
    – david brainerd
    Jun 6, 2014 at 3:59
  • But remember what you're reading there is the Jerusalem church, centered around the temple at that time. You don't read this of the Pauline churches among the Gentiles.
    – david brainerd
    Jun 6, 2014 at 4:00
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    The thing is, when you get to that level of 'togetherness' you're not really talking about a 'church' as most people understand it: more of a community. And they're are any number of Protestant communities (the Amish being a well-known example).
    – Benjol
    Jun 6, 2014 at 11:06
  • I seconds @davidbrainerd I know Pentecostals who meet everyday. I don't know if it has anything to do with them being from Puerto Rico or not, but they are and it is in an area of our town which most people are primarily of Puerto Rican decent. Completely unrelated but their beliefs and practices are very strong (most are virgin until marriage [no really], etc). However I think there is a difference between meeting daily and "being together all of the time"
    – The Freemason
    Sep 14, 2015 at 23:04

2 Answers 2

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The two passages you cite from Acts involve may involve very different models of Christian life. The former describes how some Christians lived, the latter describes what some Christians did.

The citation from Acts 2 involves people who lived together, if not in the same structure, then at least in very close proximity. Religious life [Note: the use of the word "religious" here is to describe communities of Men and Women who live together in a consecrated life in communities such as monasteries and convents] commonly found among Catholics, Orthodox, and less common, but not unknown among Anglicans and Lutherans, and rare, but not unknown among other Christian denominations, fit this example. So, too, at least to some degree, do the Seminaries of most denominations, and universities operated by, or with close working relationships to various denominations, where students live together in dormitory housing.

The citation, to Acts 5, describes the principal Christian mission, evangelism. That is to say it describes what Christians did, and does not really speak to how they lived. I like to think that I follow this model in my own life, not so much in the explicit form of proclamation described in Acts 5, but rather in the somewhat more subtle form of Matthew 5 (v. 16): "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven." (RSV). I know others whose behavior tells me that they are practicing Evangelism in the same manner.

For what it's worth, most major cities in the US have at least one Episcopal Parish at which at least morning and evening prayer are celebrated at least six (Sunday through Friday), if not seven, days a week. This is consistent with Biblical practice, where making sacrifices in the Temple was the work of the priests, who being obligated to keep the Sabbath the same as every other Jew, would not have offered Sacrifices n the Sabbath.

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  • Could you explain how you reach the conclusion that the believers mentioned in Acts 2 were already living intentionally close together, as you say. From 2:41 it looks as though the believers were just Jews that heard the gospel from Peter and became saved--to me there isn't an indication either way that these believers were already determined to live in close proximity (like for some denominations, universities, etc...). It seems to me that these were just normal folk that, upon hearing the good news, decided to stay together.
    – LCIII
    Jun 3, 2014 at 12:28
  • To me, Acts 2:44-45, "And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need", suggests that the people described lived in close proximity. I don't mean to imply that there was a conscious choice to do so, the way m monastics or students do. Whether they chose to move so that they lived in proximity, or just formed a group of those who happened to do so is not an important factor in my answer, which sought to convey that the passage in Acts 2 was lifestyle, in Acts 5, mission.
    – brasshat
    Jun 10, 2014 at 16:06
  • Acts 5:42 refers to the what the Apostles were doing and not all Christians. There is actually no Biblical basis for the belief that every single Christian should be teaching and preaching to others. Paul even goes so far as to admonish women in particular "to be silent in the churches" (1 Corinthians 14:33; cf. 1 Timothy 2:11). The "Great Commission" (Matthew 28:16ff) was given specifically to the Apostles and not to everyone in general.
    – guest37
    Mar 17, 2017 at 13:11
  • @guest37 The "Great Commission" (Matthew 28:16ff) was given specifically to the Apostles and not to everyone in general ... What, should we stop evangelizing then? 8^D
    – KorvinStarmast
    Mar 17, 2017 at 17:38
  • @KorvinStarmast - it was not given to everyone to evangelize in the sense I think you are suggesting. Even Paul submitted himself to the authority of the Apostles (with one early exception, wherein he had to be rescued). Paul himself affirms that there exists a diversity of gifts in the Church (1 Corinthians 12:1ff). Those who were appointed to preach were those who had appointed to do so by the Apostles and their successors through cheirotonia (e.g. Acts 6:2-6, 14:23) ...
    – guest37
    Mar 17, 2017 at 18:18
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The Vero Essene Yahad meets every day. When I say 'meets,' I'm talking about remotely over the client zoom.us. We meet in a facebook group. We do worship on Saturday over zoom. We have a daily radio show on Hebrew Nation Radio. We have get-togethers Tues, Fri and twice on Saturday. We have an early meeting on Sunday. Monday and Wed. we meet as an option. If you are interested in such, then you may check our website - www.veroyahad.org. We are a professional religious organization that features getting back to the first century original worship, and have found numerous apostolic books dating to 1st BC - 1st AD that tell us how. These days, only communes like the Hutterites can actually meet every day - however, we now have technology that we may and do meet every day. We have approximately 1000 actives and/or associates.

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  • This question asks about ⓐ major ⓑ Protestant denominations. I'm pretty sure this group qualifies on neither count. At the very least any answer to this question should put the results in context relevant to Protestantism.
    – Caleb
    Mar 25, 2017 at 16:13

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