THOUGHTS ON GOING TO TWO SERVICES
The first Sunday in October we’ll be going to two services, and I’d like to share a few thoughts about making that adjustment.
First, this is an experiment. The tentative plan is to run two services until the end of May 2024 and then return to a single service format for the summer. This will give us an opportunity to assess what works and what doesn’t – and whether we need to return to two services in the fall of 2024.
As much as we’d like to dot all of our ‘i’s’ and cross all of our ‘t’s’ and have a plan set in concrete for how a two-service plan is going to work, that isn’t possible. I expect a lot of surprises because people aren’t predictable. We did our due diligence surveying the congregation to find out who wanted to go to which service and how many children would attend each service and designed our plans based on those surveys. But I’ve already had a number of people tell me they don’t even remember which service they said they’d attend. I’m sure, too, that some people will switch services based on which service their friends attend. Every change like that adjusts what we need to provide, especially with children’s ministry. So, we’ll be tweaking as we go. That’s just the way it works. People are unpredictable. They change their minds. 😊
People have asked why we’re going to two services when the present service doesn’t look full. First, the problem we are trying to solve is parking, not seating. Our parking lot has at least 20 more cars than we have spaces every Sunday, and it’s been that way for well over a year. We’ve counted as high as 40 more cars than spaces on a few Sundays! Second, an auditorium is “full†if 80% of its seats are taken. For us, 80% is about 300 seats. We’re not quite there on a regular basis, but we’re close on some Sundays, so it’s just a matter of time before we have to deal with a ‘full’ auditorium. Doing so sooner rather than later is not a bad idea.
The plan is to keep both services the same for now because eventually we hope to build a facility that will be able to handle all of us in one service. That’s the long-range plan, though God may direct things differently. Providence will direct our steps.
Coming to church will feel different. The church will feel smaller. There will be fewer chairs and fewer people singing.
If you’re someone who’s trying to melt into a larger church so as to become invisible and uninvolved, you may start to feel uncomfortable. But that, too, will change, and in the meantime, we’ll find ourselves adapting. It’s what people do. And two full services are really just a matter of time. Churches going to two services are growing, and two services usually continues that trend. In the end that should be a good thing and worth the temporary discomforts of change. That’s what we found all too quickly the last time we went to two services!
If you see something that you think isn’t working, or that needs adjusting, or that could be done better, talk to someone in leadership about it and we’ll work on making the necessary adjustments. Nothing is set in stone. We need your input!
First, this is an experiment. The tentative plan is to run two services until the end of May 2024 and then return to a single service format for the summer. This will give us an opportunity to assess what works and what doesn’t – and whether we need to return to two services in the fall of 2024.
As much as we’d like to dot all of our ‘i’s’ and cross all of our ‘t’s’ and have a plan set in concrete for how a two-service plan is going to work, that isn’t possible. I expect a lot of surprises because people aren’t predictable. We did our due diligence surveying the congregation to find out who wanted to go to which service and how many children would attend each service and designed our plans based on those surveys. But I’ve already had a number of people tell me they don’t even remember which service they said they’d attend. I’m sure, too, that some people will switch services based on which service their friends attend. Every change like that adjusts what we need to provide, especially with children’s ministry. So, we’ll be tweaking as we go. That’s just the way it works. People are unpredictable. They change their minds. 😊
People have asked why we’re going to two services when the present service doesn’t look full. First, the problem we are trying to solve is parking, not seating. Our parking lot has at least 20 more cars than we have spaces every Sunday, and it’s been that way for well over a year. We’ve counted as high as 40 more cars than spaces on a few Sundays! Second, an auditorium is “full†if 80% of its seats are taken. For us, 80% is about 300 seats. We’re not quite there on a regular basis, but we’re close on some Sundays, so it’s just a matter of time before we have to deal with a ‘full’ auditorium. Doing so sooner rather than later is not a bad idea.
The plan is to keep both services the same for now because eventually we hope to build a facility that will be able to handle all of us in one service. That’s the long-range plan, though God may direct things differently. Providence will direct our steps.
Coming to church will feel different. The church will feel smaller. There will be fewer chairs and fewer people singing.
If you’re someone who’s trying to melt into a larger church so as to become invisible and uninvolved, you may start to feel uncomfortable. But that, too, will change, and in the meantime, we’ll find ourselves adapting. It’s what people do. And two full services are really just a matter of time. Churches going to two services are growing, and two services usually continues that trend. In the end that should be a good thing and worth the temporary discomforts of change. That’s what we found all too quickly the last time we went to two services!
If you see something that you think isn’t working, or that needs adjusting, or that could be done better, talk to someone in leadership about it and we’ll work on making the necessary adjustments. Nothing is set in stone. We need your input!