I am reading a book by a pastor who saw his church grow from a few hundred to several thousand.
In it, he gives advice to another pastor. He suggests that man do things differently than anyone else in his town does them in order to appeal to people in a different way.
The irony is that later in his ministry, that same pastor taught others to copy his model of ministry instead of being different. As a result, those who followed him have become belligerently intolerant of anyone who doesn’t do things the same way.
It’s hard to break out of the imaginary prisons that others like to lock us into.
As we considered our city, the people who dwell in it and what it would take to reach out to them, we have made a few changes to our service structure.
We used to run our Sunday school buses on Sunday mornings starting at about 8:30 AM. They would arrive on property by 10:00 AM and Sunday school would begin and go until 10:45 AM. The morning service would start at 11:00 AM and dismiss around 12:20. The buses would then drop off riders and return to the church by 1:30 PM ish. For our bus workers, it was a five hour morning without a break. We would then return for the evening service at 6:00 PM and go until about 7:20 PM. Total time invested was six and a half hours on property not counting prep and drive time.
We’ve made the following changes and for the following reasons:
The buses no longer run in the morning. This allows our families to rise, eat breakfast and come to church together when babies and young children are still in the home. Mothers appreciate having dad around to help get the kids ready for morning service.
We have a morning service that begins at 10:00 AM and dismisses by 11:15 AM. The best anyone can account for, the traditional 11:00 AM service was chosen to help accommodate farmers who had to rise and get chores done before breakfast and cleaning up for church. We are a city church without a single farmer in our membership. 10:00 AM works much better for our families.
We have no Sunday school in the AM, but still have nursery and children’s church for babies through the sixth grade.
Our buses run in the afternoon. This allows our bus workers to enjoy their morning and morning service in a peaceful, restful manner with their families. It also helps our bus attendance. When we ran in the morning, children were often not awake to catch the bus. In fact, they preferred to sleep in. This will prove even more beneficial in the winter season when it is still dark at 8:00 in the morning and the streets have yet to be plowed. By afternoon, the streets will be plowed, children will be awake, out of bed and about their day. We have even had new riders come on the bus who previously did not for the same reasons.
Sunday school begins promptly at 5:00 PM and dismisses at 5:25 PM. This is half the time we used to take. Many of the children we pick up are ADD and ADHD. They tend to have short attention spans and some even deal with behavioral disorders. A twenty-five minute class is more reasonable for both the kids and the teachers.
At 5:30 PM, we start what we have dubbed “Night Church.” Night Church runs from 5:30 PM and dismisses right at 6:30 PM. As in the morning, we hold nursery and children’s church. The single hour long service is appreciated by the children’s church workers. The teenagers come into the auditorium with the adults. Night Church is a bit more lively and relaxed than the morning service by design. Simply put, we have a good time. Imagine that, enjoying church.
Since starting our new schedule, we have seen a noticeable attendance increase in every service. Our workers have felt better rested, less stressed and enjoy their service more. The bus riders have been a little more rambunctious coming in at night, but we believe the newness will wear off and they will settle down.
This may not work for everyone. It may not please everyone. One thing I have noticed, if you try a unique method on a foreign mission field, you are brilliant for addressing the culture. If you try a unique method in the United States, you are a liberal compromiser.
I guess we’ll have to focus on pleasing Jesus.
Joel Stiff's Adventure 