Saturday/Sunday worship as a significant practice in Christianity: HSC Studies of Religion

What this dot point is asking

The Christianity depth study asks you to choose ONE significant practice from Baptism, Marriage ceremony, Saturday/Sunday worship, and to:

1. Describe the practice.
2. Demonstrate how it expresses the beliefs of Christianity.
3. Analyse its significance for both the individual and the Christian community.

This page covers Saturday/Sunday worship. The syllabus names both days because, while most Christians keep Sunday as the Lord's Day, some, notably Seventh-day Adventists, worship on Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath. It is the most frequent and most widely shared Christian practice, so it is easy to support with examples, and it links to almost every principal belief. NESA's 2024 marking guidelines also cited Saturday/Sunday worship as a pathway to inner peace in the Religion and Peace question.

Because worship differs markedly between denominations, the best answers describe one tradition in detail (for example the Catholic Mass) and show awareness of others (Orthodox, Anglican, Uniting, Pentecostal, Adventist).

The answer

Why Sunday, and why Saturday

Sunday: the Lord's Day

• The day of the Resurrection. All four Gospels place the empty tomb on "the first day of the week" (for example John 20:1). The Catechism explains: "Because it is the 'first day,' the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the 'eighth day' following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection" (2174).
• New Testament evidence. "On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread" (Acts 20:7); Paul asks for a collection "on the first day of every week" (1 Corinthians 16:2); John was "in the spirit on the Lord's day" (Revelation 1:10).
• Early Church. Around 155 CE Justin Martyr told the emperor: "on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read", followed by prayers and the sharing of bread and wine, "because it is the first day on which God ... made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead" (First Apology 67).
• Public recognition. In 321 CE the emperor Constantine made Sunday a day of rest in the Roman Empire, and it became the Christian day of worship and rest in most of the world.
• Fulfilment of the Sabbath. Catholic teaching holds that "Sunday fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man's eternal rest in God" (Catechism 2175). John Paul II called Sunday "the weekly Easter" (Dies Domini 19).

Saturday: the seventh-day Sabbath

• Seventh-day Adventists. The Seventh-day Adventist Church, founded in the United States in 1863, teaches that the fourth commandment, "Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8), still binds Christians, and that God "rested on the seventh day" and blessed it (Genesis 2:2-3). Adventists keep the Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday: they prepare on Friday, often gather for a Friday evening vespers service, and on Saturday attend Sabbath School (small-group Bible study) followed by a worship service centred on the sermon. The Adventist Church has a strong presence in Australia, where its South Pacific Division is based at Wahroonga in Sydney.
• Saturday evening Mass. Catholics may also fulfil the Sunday obligation "on the evening of the preceding day" (Catechism 2180), so many Catholic parishes hold a Saturday evening "vigil" Mass. This is Sunday worship celebrated on Saturday evening, not a Saturday Sabbath.

What happens: worship across denominations

Catholic: the Mass

The Mass "displays two great parts that form a fundamental unity" (Catechism 1346):

1. Introductory rites. The Sign of the Cross ("In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"), greeting, penitential act (confession of sin and prayer for mercy) and, on most Sundays, the Gloria.
2. Liturgy of the Word. A reading from the Old Testament, a Psalm, a reading from the New Testament letters, the Gospel, the homily (sermon), the Nicene Creed and the prayers of the faithful.
3. Liturgy of the Eucharist. The presentation of bread and wine, the Eucharistic Prayer in which the priest repeats Jesus' words at the Last Supper ("This is my body ... This is the chalice of my blood"), the Lord's Prayer, the sign of peace and Holy Communion.
4. Concluding rites. Blessing and sending out ("Go forth, the Mass is ended").

Catholics believe that at the consecration "there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood", which the Church calls transubstantiation (Council of Trent, quoted in Catechism 1376). Attendance is an obligation: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass" (Catechism 2180), "unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants)" (2181).

Orthodox: the Divine Liturgy

Eastern Orthodox Christians (including the Greek, Russian, Serbian and Antiochian churches in Australia) celebrate the Divine Liturgy, usually that of St John Chrysostom. It is sung throughout, rich in icons, incense and processions, and also has a Liturgy of the Word and a Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Orthodox believe the bread and wine truly become Christ's body and blood but generally prefer to leave how this happens as a mystery rather than define it.

Protestant: Word and sacrament

• Anglican and Uniting Church services follow a structure of gathering, confession, Scripture readings, sermon, prayers and, weekly or regularly, Holy Communion (the Lord's Supper).
• The centrality of the Word. Since the Reformation, Protestants have emphasised the reading and preaching of the Bible, so the sermon is often the centre of the service.
• Two sacraments. Most Protestants recognise two sacraments instituted by Christ, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Views of communion range from Christ's real but spiritual presence (Reformed tradition, following Calvin) to a memorial of his death (many Baptist and evangelical churches), and it may be celebrated weekly, monthly or quarterly.
• Pentecostal worship is informal and expressive: extended contemporary praise music, raised hands, prayer for healing and the use of spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, followed by a sermon. Australian Pentecostal churches such as Hillsong have influenced worship music around the world.

Common elements

Despite the differences, almost all Christian Sunday (or Saturday) worship includes: gathering as a community, praise (hymns and songs), confession and assurance of forgiveness, Scripture and preaching, prayer for the Church and the world (including the Lord's Prayer), usually the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, a collection for the Church and the poor, and sending out into daily life.

How Saturday/Sunday worship expresses the beliefs of Christianity

Significance for the individual

• A living relationship with God. Regular worship is where believers meet God together in word and sacrament. For Catholics, "the Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice" (Catechism 2181), and communion "augments our union with Christ" (1391), quoting Jesus: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (John 6:56).
• Forgiveness and renewal. Confession and the assurance of forgiveness let believers begin again each week.
• Guidance. Readings and preaching apply Scripture to daily life and moral decisions.
• Rest and peace. The Lord's Day gives "adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives" (Catechism 2184). NESA's 2024 guidelines noted that "cultivating a strong and loving relationship with God through prayer, Saturday/Sunday worship, and meditation can provide a sense of peace and purpose".
• Marking life. Many personal milestones (first communion, confirmation, baptisms, marriages) are celebrated within Sunday worship.

Significance for the Christian community

• Identity and belonging. Participation "is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church"; worshippers "strengthen one another" (Catechism 2182). The weekly gathering is what makes a congregation a community.
• Unity. Sharing one bread expresses and builds unity (1 Corinthians 10:17). Ecumenical services, such as those during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, bring denominations together.
• Mission and service. Worship ends by sending people out. Sunday collections fund parish life, welfare and overseas aid; Christians are asked to sanctify Sunday by "good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly" (Catechism 2186).
• Continuity. The basic shape of Sunday worship described by Justin Martyr around 155 CE has "stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families" (Catechism 1345), linking Christians across twenty centuries.
• Adaptation. During COVID-19 restrictions, churches in Australia streamed services online, which NESA's 2024 guidelines describe as "continuing to foster a sense of belonging".

Evaluating the practice

• Strength. Worship is the practice that most Christians share, week in and week out, and it gathers up the whole of Christian belief.
• Diversity. Denominations differ on the day (Sunday or Saturday), the understanding and frequency of communion, the style of worship and whether attendance is obligatory. This diversity is itself evidence of how central the practice is.
• Challenge. In Australia, 43.9% of people identified as Christian at the 2021 Census, but only a minority of them attend worship weekly. Regular worship is therefore a marker of committed belonging, and churches work to make worship accessible (online services, children's programs, contemporary music).

In one sentence

Christian Saturday/Sunday worship, the weekly gathering on the Lord's Day of the Resurrection (or, for Seventh-day Adventists, the seventh-day Sabbath) to hear God's word and, in most churches, share the Eucharist, expresses the Resurrection, the Trinity, salvation through Christ, revelation and the Church as the Body of Christ, renewing each believer's relationship with God and building a community that is sent out to serve.

Try this

Q1. Explain why most Christians worship on Sunday. (2 marks)

• What the marker wants. The Resurrection on the first day of the week, with New Testament or early Church evidence (Acts 20:7; Justin Martyr).

Q2. Compare Sunday worship in TWO Christian denominations. (4 marks)

• What the marker wants. Accurate features of each (for example the Catholic Mass with transubstantiation and obligation versus a Protestant service centred on the sermon, with communion as a memorial or spiritual presence) and a similarity.

Q3. Analyse the significance of Sunday worship for the Christian community. (5 marks)

• What the marker wants. Belonging (Catechism 2182), unity in the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 10:17), mission and service (Catechism 1397, 2186), continuity since Justin Martyr, adaptation, with a judgement.