Expert: Ernie Laurence, Jr. - 11/18/2011

Question
Are Fellowship Halls wrong?

Answer
In and of themselves, they are no more wrong than church buildings.  If one looks at what Christians did in the initial years of the church, people met in homes with kitchens and dining rooms and the like.  So meeting in a building with such facilities cannot be wrong.  It comes down to the question of whether it is sinful or not for the congregation to use money contributed to the congregation to build such.  The answer to this is tied up in the same question regarding the building where Christians assemble to worship.  If we can use church funds to build a building to accommodate more people for the general assembly, to build restrooms to facilitate those needs, cry rooms for mothers with young children, classrooms, water fountains, speaker systems, and even song books, then what real objection can be raised to purchase space for Christians to gather an eat with one another, hang out, and generally spend time in a hall large enough to hold them all for something other than worship?  These are all things Christians are to do.  The argument for fellowship halls is that it is expedient for all but the smallest of congregations to facilitate the numbers of Christians seeking to worship together and spend time with one another.  It can double as a second large classroom, a place for youth to gather for activities for their age, or any other places where a second large space may be needed by the congregation.  The arguments against are all centered around "the church should be spending money on evangelism" and whatnot.  If that is the only argument that can be leveled, then that same argument must be applied to any and all parts of the building.

We are told to prefer one another's company, given examples of Christians doing that in scripture even.  To facilitate that command by building a fellowship hall makes it an expedient that is certainly authorized.  I have never heard any logical arguments against it.

In Truth and Love,
Ernie