Lord's Day

What it is

The Lord's Day is the Christian name for Sunday, the day when most Christians come together to worship. In the Hebrew calendar and in traditional Christian calendars it opens the week. Christians keep it as a weekly remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus, who, as the Gospels tell it, was raised at the beginning of the week. The expression itself is rare in scripture: it occurs once in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation. In Koine Greek the word behind it is kyriake, an adjective meaning belonging to the Lord, with the noun left for the reader to supply.

Early written traces

Christian writers used the word kyriake in the first and second centuries, though not always clearly for Sunday. The Didache, a manual dated between 70 and 120, tells believers to gather on the Lord's own day to break bread and give thanks; translators supply day, commandment or doctrine because the Greek phrase is unusual. Ignatius of Antioch, writing about 110, is read in one manuscript as speaking of the Lord's life and in a Latin version as speaking of the Lord's day. The first undisputed use comes in the Gospel of Peter. Around 170, Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, told the church at Rome that his congregation had kept the Lord's holy day.

Sunday in the early churches

By the middle of the second century Sunday was a festival honouring the resurrection, and Justin Martyr described a gathering of believers. Writings of the apostles and the prophets were read aloud, the one presiding spoke and urged the others on, and all stood to pray. Bread, wine and water were then brought, thanks were given, and the people answered Amen. Portions went out by deacons to those who were absent, and the gifts of the better-off supported orphans, widows, the sick, prisoners and travellers. Tertullian, early in the third century, answered critics who accused Christians of sun worship. Cyprian later linked the day to baptism.

Rest and Sabbath

Rest on Sunday has a legal history. In 321 CE the emperor Constantine required rest on the sun's day, which was a pagan festival, and councils of the church later made rest rules of their own. The link with Sabbath keeping was in place before the early Middle Ages. Four church families, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist and Methodist, still speak of Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, a position called first-day Sabbatarianism. Members of these churches often gather twice on the day, teach children the faith, and stay away from paid work and shopping. Many also take up works of mercy.

Disputed beginnings

Christians were widely worshipping on Sunday by the second century, but where the practice began is still argued. Richard Bauckham places its start in Judea in the middle of the first century, no later than the mission to non-Jewish believers, and says it was universal by the early second century. He finds no record of an early group that ignored it, except one small party of Ebionites mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea. He also argues that the church of Rome in the second century had no power to impose such a change across the whole church. Other scholars take other positions, so the question stays open.

How Lord's Day is kept

Christians meet on Sunday, often in the morning and again in the evening. The assembly hears readings from the apostles' writings and the prophets, listens to an address, and prays. Bread and wine are shared, and a portion goes to those who could not come. Children may go to classes that teach the faith. Some churches treat the day as a Sabbath, so members avoid paid work, shops, restaurants, buses and trains, sport, television and the internet. Others give part of the day to visiting prisoners, the sick or nursing homes, or to telling others about their faith. In many Christian countries, families at dinner hear children repeat the sermon, correcting them if needed.

When and where

The day is not a date in the calendar but a weekly one, falling on Sunday all year round. Christians keep it every week. It has been the usual day of assembly since the earliest centuries, and Christian writers connect it with the resurrection, which the Gospels place at the opening of the week.

It is kept wherever Christian churches gather, and one Lord's Day custom is described as present in many Christian countries. Its early history is set around the eastern Mediterranean: in Judea, where one scholar places its beginning, and in Rome, whose church received a letter from Dionysius of Corinth.

What Lord's Day means

For those who keep it, Sunday carries more than a weekly pause. Early Christian writers saw in it a sign of new creation: the day after the Sabbath, the eighth day, on which God began the world by making light and on which Christ was raised. The shared bread and the common prayer are how that belief is expressed, and the day's rest is offered as worship rather than idleness.

Questions people ask about Lord's Day

See also

PassoverA Jewish spring festival celebrating freedom from slavery with ritual mealsHoly WeekThe solemn seven days leading to Easter, recalling the final week and Passion of JesusYom KippurThe holiest day in Judaism, dedicated to fasting, prayer and atonementRosh HashanahThe Jewish New Year marked by shofar horn blasts, prayer and sweet foods

Good reading and sources

• Lord's Day on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.