The best antidote against the poison of sin is to walk in the Spirit, to be much in conversing with spiritual things, to mind the things of the soul, which is the spiritual part of man, (more than those of the body, which is his carnal part) to commit ourselves to the guidance of the word, wherein the Holy Spirit makes known the will of God concerning us, and in the way of our duty to act in a dependence on His aids and influences.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714)
I would like to share my personal testimony regarding the “summer” schedule and the prospect of continuing it indefinitely. When the Elders first began to discuss the idea of having Worship Service, followed by a meal and then followed by a second time of teaching, I was most skeptical and reluctant. I liked the idea in theory, but really wondered about the practicality of such a schedule. Would people be inclined to stay and eat so early? Would people be inclined to stay at church until 1:15 pm? Would such a schedule interfere with people’s previous plans and expectations of church on Sunday? I realize that these are not necessarily spiritual questions, but they are questions I was concerned about. As far as the spiritual questions, I saw the schedule as wonderfully supplying our congregation with a means of practicing meaningful worship and fellowship in accords with Acts 2:42.
But even with all this and with personal prayer, I was hesitant. My two Elders were quite excited about the potential and after several weeks of discussion and prayer, I was inclined to get out of my traditional comfort zone and see what such a schedule might produce.
Remembering that in addition to seeking the fulfillment of congregational activities as outlined in Acts 2:42, I know that practically speaking the new schedule has been a tremendous blessing to those of our congregation that for either economic or time reasons (living some distance from the church) have appreciated being able to participate in the “whole” of the church’s activities on Sundays and not feeling as though they were missing out as an evening service was taking place.
One of the hopes of the Elders in pursuing this schedule was to encourage and stimulate (Hebrews 10:24) the congregation to participate “in” and “with” the type of teaching that was being done in the evening services. We have been blessed with a number of men who desire to communicate the word of God. Each of these men has brought their various styles and experiences to light during such teaching opportunities. Prior to the summer schedule, second hour participation was being decreasingly attended. Believing that any stagnant ministry is a dying ministry, the Elders had prayed that the new schedule might encourage those who had not stayed for the second hour previously to now consider staying. By and large, this has not proved to be the case, but when you put the pencil to the paper, the overall attendance of the second hour teaching time has been better attended than our evening services due to the fact that those who had previously been unable to return to Hope for evening services were able to “hear” and participate in the type of teaching time previously held in the evening.
With regard to our fellowship meal, I must say that one of my main concerns was how the women (and some of the men) would feel about making a meal every week. Would this be asking a lot of such meal preparers? I have been encouraged by so many of the reports. Many meal preparers have shared testimonies along the lines that the fellowship meal helps them out because rather than coming home and trying to figure out what to make for their families, they simply prepare one thing and know that their families’ meal is taken care of. Other testimonies have included how this fellowship time has been economically helpful for some were accustomed to eating out because they would have a meeting or be staying around until evening service. Some have conveyed how this practice has disciplined them to truly preparing for Sunday; both for worship and for fellowship, getting things ready the night before. These are things I was not anticipating hearing. Some have communicated how they thought it would be a burden, but as they have considered it and seen the blessings of it, they have now come to appreciate the time.
In addition to all this, I have heard, and have as my personal testimony as well, that many have come to learn of, be encouraged by, and very much blessed by the opportunity to eat with others from the congregation. This time has afforded a very real way by which to get to know people in the context of church. Some, including my wife, have told me that they prayerfully consider whom they might have lunch with on any given Sunday. Many of our newer families have expressed how such a time has given them a great opportunity to come to know people more easily in the church. During the course of our meals together, I have heard people sharing prayer requests, conveying their joys, expressing their sorrows, encouraging one another and being encouraged. While the timing of our fellowship hour may not be perfect and suit everyone, I have known no other time (except perhaps for our Family Unity Nights) in which the congregation can so actively engage in true Christian fellowship.
At the beginning of this new schedule I was also concerned about the many families with young children. How would we accommodate naps and such? Of course we have been working on getting areas ready for naps, but upon reflection of the issue the reality is that most of the children’s nap schedules have had to be altered only slightly. Previously they were not leaving until about 12:15-12:30 pm, getting home, having a meal and then putting the kids down by around 1:30 or so. With the new schedule, they may not get home until 1:45 or so, but the nap schedule has only been changed by about a half-hour. I hope this is an encouragement to other parents who have had this concern.
I like to think that Hope CBC seeks to be appropriately active. And in our efforts to reach the most people most conveniently, we do have various meetings, events and even outreaches on Sunday afternoons. For many in the church under the previous schedule (myself included), Sundays were a non-stop, whirlwind that began at 8 or 9 am and continued with very little time to pause until about 8:00pm. Then, because little of this time had been engaged in “fellowship” many would get together after that to visit with others. Believe me, this is not a complaint, but my typical Sunday under the old schedule began at 4:30 am and would not generally come to an end until between 10-11 pm. Under the new schedule, the congregation can participate in afternoon activities and events (i.e. Quiz meets, Missions Meetings, Nursing Home Ministry, Youth Staff meetings, etc) and still be done before or by dinner time, opening opportunities for more intimate fellowship and still allowing families to be home at a reasonable hour on Sunday evening before the start of the work week.
I know that children’s ministries have been a concern in this new schedule. Previously, apart from the summer, the children had “Jesus Club” on Sunday mornings and “LiFE Kids” on Sunday evenings. Believing that there is a need to come along side of parents and aid them (not replace them) in the conveying of Biblical truth, we have continued through the Summer with the Jesus Club format, that is a more “one room” type of teaching ministry for the younger children during the second hour as opposed to the more age-oriented style of LiFE kids. If the summer schedule is maintained, it would most likely mean that we would maintain a “Jesus Club” style of ministry for the children, having two or three teachers rotate through a series. This would not preclude the use of the LiFE Kids materials for such a teaching time as this. As I have given much thought and prayer about this, I believe that the “one-room” ministry (or if we were to grow significantly a “two room” – younger and older groups) is in keeping with one of the philosophies of ministry sought by the leadership of Hope CBC for the past decade, a focus on fellowship. I have always believed that Sunday worship ought to be as “congregational” as possible. Sunday is a time for God’s people to come together corporately and worship together, to fellowship together, and to learn together. There are some practical divisions in this. Jesus Club would be a “congregation” of young children. A nursery is needed for the babies and perhaps a toddler class as well. But there is no reason why those from Jr. High up through Senior Adults should not learn to worship together and then interact together. Both the “youth group” and the adults have times throughout the week to focus in on their “level” – so I have come to believe that we should strive to keep Sunday’s as congregational as possible. I know that the future may force us to consider other things, but for this time, such a schedule seems to meet the greatest amount of real needs for the congregation.
The long and the short of it is this; I was the skeptical one. I was the doubtful one. I was the one who looked for all the problems and shortcomings. And while I know that no schedule is perfect, and while I know that no schedule is necessarily permanent, I have come to appreciate and anticipate this schedule, believing it to be the most beneficial to the most people to the glory of God at this time in the life of Hope CBC. I am grateful to the many who, like me, have come to see not only how the schedule might benefit them personally, but how it also has come to benefit so many in the congregation. I know it will not be the most personally beneficial and pleasing to everyone anymore than our previous schedule was the most personally beneficial and pleasing to everyone.
I write this as my personal testimony concerning the new schedule for the church. These are my thoughts, the things I have had to work through asking myself questions like, “Why do we have an evening service?” or “Why do we do the things we do?” I do not believe that one way is more godly than another, but I have come to believe that our current “summer” schedule is the most beneficial to the congregation at this time.
The Board of Elders has been carefully considering whether or not to maintain what was started as merely being a “summer” schedule, making it our regular schedule. The Elders have much appreciated the input of so many concerning both the pros and cons in keeping or not keeping such a schedule.
One of the great difficulties in changing the schedule is the realization that no schedule is perfect and no schedule will ultimately suit all the people. When taking this into account, it has been the belief of the Elders that the greatest amount of people would be best served in making the summer schedule permanent. To help the Elders confirm this conclusion, they solicited input from the congregation and this input has overwhelmingly confirmed that the summer schedule is not merely more convenient, but it is also more conducive in pushing forward the philosophy of ministry that puts an emphasis upon fellowship and interaction. In short, it is the belief of the Elders that at current Hope CBC can best fulfill the fundamentals of Acts 2:42 (devotion to the Apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to breaking of bread/communion, and to prayer) by means of this schedule.
The Elders will be having some meetings with various ministry leaders (i.e. Children, Youth, etc) to discuss how this impacts them and the directions the Elders would like to have them take. More information to that end will be forthcoming.
The Elders do wish to thank everyone for their involvement and would continue to ask everyone to participate as best as they are able in light of the schedule. We look forward to what the Lord will do among the congregation of Hope CBC as we labor together in unity for the gospel.
As a recap then, the Board of Elders, having had an overwhelming positive response by the congregation, has determined to make the current summer schedule the regular schedule for the Sunday services at Hope CBC. This schedule is as follows:
9:30am – 11:00am
Morning Worship Service – 1st Hour
11:10am – 12:10pm
Fellowship Meal – 2nd Hour
12:15pm – 1:15pm
Bible Fellowship (Jr. High – Adults) and Jesus Club (K-6th grade) – 3rd Hour
For His Glory,
The Board of Elders
Back before the summer, the Board of Elders was looking at a number of issues that faced the church. Among those issues were rising gas prices, making it more and more infeasible for those attendees of the church who had to drive any distance to make two trips to the church on Sundays; a decline in attendance for Sunday Evening services and therefore a lack of exposure for the various teaching series the men had been delivering on Sunday evenings; and a need to encourage and promote more casual times of fellowship for the congregation and therefore enhance the sense of unity and community. Certainly there are other factors as well, but these were some of the more pressing ones.
With all this in mind, the Elders prayerfully considered rearranging our Sunday schedule, a schedule we have now been enjoying for the past three months. That schedule is as follows:
9:30am - 11:00am: Morning Worship Service (focus on Scripture and Praise)
11:10am – 12:10 pm: Fellowship Hour (Sharing of a meal together)
12:15pm – 1:15pm: Second Hour Fellowship (A more casual teaching time for Jr. High – through Adult; Children’s Ministry – “Jesus Club”).
This schedule has afforded us great opportunities for fellowship and has greatly encouraged those who were previously unable to make the two trips to church. While we know that any Sunday schedule will not suit or please everyone, this one has seemed to work well for the summer.
As we come to the last month of the schedule, the Elders have been giving consideration as to whether or not to continue with this schedule or to revert back to our old schedule (which was as follows):
9:30am – 11:00am: Morning Worship Service (focus on Scripture and Praise)
11:00am – 11:15 am: Break
11:15am – 12:00 pm: Second Hour Fellowship (casual teaching time; Children’s Ministries)
6:00pm – 7:15 pm: Evening Service (Teaching time for Adults; LiFE Kids ministries)
It is truly understood that there are pros and cons associated with either schedule. With the current summer schedule, some parents of young children are concerned about nap times. Some people enjoy “going out” for lunch and find leaving at 1:15 pm not conducive for that (especially after eating at 11:15 am). Some feel that we have lost a “teaching” time by not having Evening service (this is technically true, but as the Elders have been trying to incorporate Acts 2:42 into our meeting times; fellowship is included with the list of Apostle’s teaching, breaking of bread and prayer). At current then, the Summer Schedule does afford us two teaching times as well as a fellowship time. We regularly “break bread” during the second hour on the first Sunday of the month and we have regularly scheduled prayer meetings for both the men and the women (this is not to suggest there is no room for improvement in these things).
In light of these things, the Elder Board has been increasingly inclined to maintain the “Summer Schedule” for an indefinite period of time. Some of the noted benefits were already mentioned above, but it might also be pointed out that soon the days will be getting shorter and we are aware that it becomes increasingly difficult for some to drive in the dark. The current schedule would ensure all would be home before dark.
With all this noted, the Elders have been casually speaking to some and have spoken to by others concerning the schedule. It would “seem” that the schedule, while needing some tweaks, has been a benefit and blessing to most from whom we have heard. The purpose of this email/blog entry is to solicit your input. If you have any thoughts, questions or concerns about the schedule in general, the Elders would like to know about it. We have placed this on our blog so that if you are inclined, you may post your thoughts, concerns, opinions here (we would ask all to be very respectful of one another). If you are concerned about “public” comments, you may talk to, call or email any of the Elders as we really want to have your input. We realize this is an important decision and therefore want to hear from you.
And please diligently pray for unity. We have been blessed with a congregation that is so gracious and has both sought and allowed for doing those things that would promote the greatest well-being for the church. To that end, realizing that no schedule will be optimal for everyone, once a decision is made, let us strive together in unity to participate with one another in light of the schedule, even if it may not be the most personally pleasing. It must be stressed that there has been no known tensions or animosities because of our schedule and we prayerfully would like to keep it that way.
One final note, if the current “summer” schedule is maintained, we will need to make some decisions concerning the start up of our Children’s ministries in October. Since there will be only one hour devoted to Children’s ministries in this scenario, we would need to decide whether to follow a “Jesus Club” format (larger classes) or the LiFE Kids format (more age oriented classes). To that end, anyone who has been or is interested in Children’s ministries (having served as a LiFE Kids or Jesus Club teacher or interested in do so), the Elders have scheduled a Children’s Ministries Teacher’s meeting on Sunday, September 7 at 3:00 pm at the church. This meeting will follow the 2008 Quizzing Meeting at 1:30 pm. At this meeting, it is believed that the Elders will have a good idea of which schedule we will be pursing and we will discuss how to organize the Children’s Teachers and materials.
Thank you for your prayerful attention to these matters. Again, we would appreciate your comments, either by means of the blog or by contacting one of your Elders. Their email address and phone numbers are below if you need them or you can of course share your thoughts with any one of them on Sunday. The email address and phone numbers of the Elders will not be posted on the blog for obvious reasons. Please refer to your email if you would want to contact your Elders in this way.
With much excitement and anticipation for the future,
The Board of Elders.
