Christians have lamented the shift away from businesses observing Sunday sabbath for decades. In CT’s early days, evangelical leaders complained about the uptick in “Open on Sunday” signs in grocery stores, theaters, and other businesses.

“Too largely the Sabbath day has been reduced from a holy day of spiritual replenishment, instruction, and correction, to a mere holiday for pleasure seeking or to just another day of merchandising,” Charles W. Koller, president emeritus of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote in 1963, two years after the US Supreme Court ruled that “blue laws” restricting Sunday commerce were constitutional.

“Christ made allowance, within the spirit of the law, for works of mercy and of necessity, and for taking care of the occasional ‘ox in the ditch,’” Koller said. “But the moral responsibility of unnecessary Sabbath violation is not to be lightly regarded. Immeasurably greater is the moral responsibility of coaxing others away from Sabbath observance to the marts of trade. Still more serious is the policy of denying to employees the possibility of observing the Sabbath.” //

Sabbatarian Protestants—which fall in traditions ranging from Presbyterians to Pentecostals—schedule work, travel, and other activities around being at church on Sundays, avoiding what the Westminster Shorter Catechism calls “recreations as are lawful on other days.” While some fellow believers see such commitments as legalistic, Sabbatarians see it as a joyful chance to take advantage of a day set aside to draw near to God.