Protestant work ethic: is there such a thing and if so does it 
contribute to a notion of separting work from Sunday worship?

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Clarification of Question by pastorkay-ga on 16 Sep 2005 01:01 PDT

Thank you for your comments

It wasn't possible, in the space provided, to outline the full
sabbatical project. So here goes!

My aim as a British Methodist Minister is 'To discover if there is
such a thing as a 'Weekend Culture'. And if there is, to ask the
question  - what are then the implications for the Christian Church,
which has a predominately Sunday only culture.

I am looking at the question from three different perspectives
1 The historical background to the 'weekend'.
2 The social impact of the 'weekend'.
3 The Church and the 'weekend'.

The question I have asked is one of 4  in number 1 above

I addition I'm also asking questions like -
How important is the weekend to people?
What is like to have weekends as leisure time - like hobbies and trips
to the country?

And from the position of the ministry asking if always having to work
at weekends and major Christian festivals (which are often holidays
for others) contributes to stress through lack of time for family,
friends or hobbies.

As a Christian minister I am very aware of the importance of making
time for God so I am well versed in the 4th commandment but I'm also
aware of St Paul's words in  Romans 14: 5-6. What I'm trying to say is
that I'm not coming to this project from a simple legalistic position
but of trying to get under the skin of contemporary culture and to see
what I might learn from in it in order that the relevence of the
gospel might be better communicated.

I hope that this clarification is  helpful

pastorkay

Pastorkay,
From your user name, I don't expect that you need reference to the
catechisms in which one is told to worship on Sunday and respect it as
a holy day or day of rest.
Are you asking about the situation in the United States?
Myoarin

The body of your question mentions the 'protestant work ethic' and the
subject of your question mentions 'weekend culture.'

My first reaction is that the two are not directly related.  The
modern 'weekend', Saturday and Sunday, is a modern invention brought
about by the establishement of the 5 day work week and creation of the
middle class.

The concept of the Christian Sabbath is (obviously) a much older concept.

You don't define what you mean by 'weekend culture,' but I think for
observant Christians, Saturday is very different from Sunday in terms
of faith.  I'm not away of any Protestant denomination that has
incorporated Saturday into its worship schedule.  (except for possibly
the convenience of a Saturday night service for those who can't attend
on Sunday morning)

Does the Protestant work ethic exist?  Probably.  But is it different
from the Catholic work ethic or the Jewish work ethic?  Growing up as
a non-religious Protestant, I am very familiar with the term, but now
it sounds like something that has its roots in an era when Catholics,
Jews and other religions were more of a minority and terms were
popularized that reflect the bigotry toward those groups.  In other
words, the phrase implies that people of other faiths are not as
industrious as the Protestants.  Something that we now know is not
true.

Pastorkay --

I'm not sure what your real focus is in the research but an anecdote
may lead to you to some statistically-verifiable numbers:

When I moved to Seattle, I ran into a minister affiliated with Wheaton
College.  He referred to Seattle as an "unchurched" community and
explained it by saying, "Everyone leaves town for the weekend."

You may be able to statistically verify this by looking at different
communities church attendance and correlating it with second-home
ownership; outdoor recreation statistics; or some other factor.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Phil's comment reminded me that "Protestant work ethic" is related to
John Calvin's Doctrine of Predestination, which directly or by later
interpretation suggests that those "elected" (for salvation) can be
recognized by the success of their work on earth.

http://www.coe.uga.edu/workethic/hpro.html

This was an incentive to Calvin's followers to demonstrate by their
industry that they were members of the elect, probably six days a week
and piously respecting Sunday as the day of rest (Genesis, Exodus, and
the catechisms, Jewish rules about not working on the Sabbath).

Phil is right, that is not a "weekend culture", which could be said to
have grown from labor union success in establishing a 40 hour, five
day work week.

Incidentally, a sabbatical year or semester comes from the same idea
of having a longer period of rest and revitalization after six or
seven years work, similar to old traditions of leaving a field fallow
after such a period.

Returning to the question:
"Protestant work ethic: is there such a thing and if so does it 
contribute to a notion of separting work from Sunday worship?"

I would say that there absolutely a connection, and one that has
probably been well discussed.

Here, a Protestant text of the 4th of the Ten Commandments:

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou
labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the
Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor
thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor
thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed
it.

Pastorkay, perhaps you can add a clarification to help understand what you want.
Myoarin

Pastorkay,
Thank you, that does indeed help.  Many other questioners have felt
that they had to limit their question to the immediately apparent
space, abreviating them to the extent that postings were aimed at
pointing out the obvious.

Concerning the historical background, the etymology of "weekend":
"weekend 1638, from week + end. Originally a northern word (referring
to the period from Saturday noon to Monday morning); it became general
after 1878. As an adj., meaning "only on weekends," it is recorded
from 1935."  (www.etymonline.com)

I believe Wodehouse's Jeeves referred to country house parties as a
"Saturday-to-Monday", a luxury possible only for those with a house in
the country and guests with the freedom to take a "half-hol" Monday
morning, an upper, upper-middle class perogative, perhaps the origin
of a "weekend culture" (but not for the servants).  With better
working conditions, more of the population gained the leisure time to
enjoy two-day weekends, allowing them to pursue activities that they
could not with just Sunday as a needed day of rest, perhaps including
church attendance, so that there was only time for a walk in the park,
etc., and due to strict Sunday closing laws, little else to do.

I hope that helps a bit, Myoarin