Consideration of Church Schedule

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.