Preparatory Service, the name given to the regular Sunday morning service preceding the communion service, or to a special service held on Saturday afternoon or evening preceding communion Sun­day (as in the Franconia Mennonite Conference in Eastern Pennsylvania) at which the intent of the sermon and the entire worship is to contribute to an inner preparation of the congrega­tion for a better celebration of the communion. The custom is no longer as common as it once was among the Mennonites of North America or other countries. It is to be distinguished from the Counsel Meeting, whose function, though also in a sense preparatory to the communion, was rather to deal with matters of church discipline.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 215. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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