CHURCH MANNERS | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 15, 1880

CHURCH MANNERS.

Be on time. No one has a right to disturb a congregation or a preacher by being tardy.

Never look around to see who is coming in when the door opens. It diverts your own and others' attention from the exercises, and is discourteous to the leader.

Never talk or whisper in church, especially after the exercises are opened.

Never pull out your watch to see what time it is when the text is announced, or during the sermon. Better to feed on a sermon than to time it.

"Never lean your head on the pew rail before you, as though indifferent to the preacher."

Conform if possible, in conscience, to the usages of the church in which you worship. Kneel, stand, bow, accordingly.

Never manifest your disapprobation of what is being said by unpleasant sounds, or signs, or by hastily leaving.

Do not fidget, as though the service were a weariness. Be quiet and decorous to the very end.

Do not put on your overcoat or adjust your wrappings till after the benediction.

No gentleman ever defiles a place of worship with tobacco.

Never be one of a staring crowd about the door or in the vestibule, before or after service.

Do nothing out of keeping with the time, place, and purpose of a religious assembly.

Let your politeness be positive. Invite the near stranger to a seat. Offer him a hymn-book, or share with him your own. Be cordial to all, but do not be offended if you are not specially noticed.—Tomlinson's Handy-book.