If we are to come together as one body and participate in the Lord’s Supper, why do we have another service later that same day, and allow those who didn’t attend earlier to partake of the Lord’s Supper? If we are not all eating the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine, are we not in violation?
The frequency with which Christians are to partake of the Lord’s Supper is weekly (Acts 20:7). The number of worship assemblies on the Lord’s Day (or even the number of times a congregation might meet for Bible study, etc. throughout the week) is not specified in Scripture; these additional meeting times (Acts 2:46; 5:12, 42) are left to the discretion of the congregational leadership (e.g., elders, Hebrews 13:7; Acts 20:28). Offering the Lord’s Supper or Communion on the Lord’s Day at either a morning or an evening service, or for those in both services that have not yet partaken of the Lord’s Supper, is not specified in Scripture but is a matter of human discretion. The matter that is specified in the New Testament is that Christians observe the Communion once weekly (Acts 20:7). Therefore, it would neither be biblically incorrect to invite brethren who have yet to partake of the Supper to do so at either assembly (as usually is done) nor would it be biblically incorrect to limit the Communion to one of those two services (such as the evening service), as long as it was observed once on the Lord’s Day. The typical provision of the Communion at either of two services, though, more nearly accommodates the, sometimes necessary, Sunday work schedules of brethren (e.g., police, fire personnel, doctors, nurses, factory workers, etc.).
