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Question for those who have ever held multiple services |
Da Sheik |
Our church currently holds two services. The demographics of both are vastly different. Our early service tends to be young adults or younger families with children (there are some exceptions) and youth. Our later service tends to be an older demographic who prefers a more traditional style of worship.
We have about the same attendance numbers in both services. I keep kicking around the idea of combining the two and just having one service but I'm afraid the results would be disastrous because the two groups are so different in terms of preferences/styles. We have a sanctuary that is large enough to accommodate both groups in a combined service (we can seat around 600 in our current sanctuary).
I'm just throwing this out there for different perspectives. Have any of you ever combined services, and if so, what were the results? My reasons for wanting to combine have more with my desire to unify the church as opposed to any other factor. I don't like the fact that we are almost like "two churches in one". Maybe I'm wrong and I'm willing to see that. So chime in! |
Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1865 9/9/15 12:42 pm
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Tried it, it failed |
mytwocents |
Tried combiming from two morning services to one and found people are creatures of habit. Those who came early wanted to keep coming early. Those who came to later wanted to keep coming later. |
Acts-celerater Posts: 813 9/9/15 2:59 pm
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Re: Question for those who have ever held multiple services |
Josh Trammell |
Da Sheik wrote: | Our church currently holds two services. The demographics of both are vastly different. Our early service tends to be young adults or younger families with children (there are some exceptions) and youth. Our later service tends to be an older demographic who prefers a more traditional style of worship.
We have about the same attendance numbers in both services. I keep kicking around the idea of combining the two and just having one service but I'm afraid the results would be disastrous because the two groups are so different in terms of preferences/styles. We have a sanctuary that is large enough to accommodate both groups in a combined service (we can seat around 600 in our current sanctuary).
I'm just throwing this out there for different perspectives. Have any of you ever combined services, and if so, what were the results? My reasons for wanting to combine have more with my desire to unify the church as opposed to any other factor. I don't like the fact that we are almost like "two churches in one". Maybe I'm wrong and I'm willing to see that. So chime in! |
Most of my Pastor friends who do multiple services say once you go to two or more its very difficult to go back to one. _________________ www.takeheartchurch.com |
Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1085 9/9/15 3:15 pm
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Dave Dorsey |
I'm not a pastor, but I can tell you about the church I have been a part of for many years. We used to have a very similar situation. Ultimately, we combined to one service and lost a bunch of people, but we are way, way better off for it now.
We now have two services that are exactly the same (unless the Lord moves differently in one or the other, which He certainly does), and despite having two distinct groups that tend to prefer coming earlier or later, we are in total unity. If I happen to go to a different service than I normally do on any given Sunday, it feels like I am seeing friends I haven't had a chance to see recently. The feeling, the atmosphere, the spirit of unity, etc. are all exactly the same.
Unfortunately, that unity came at a cost. If your situation is anything like ours, the reason you feel like "two churches in one" is because you are two churches in one. But we are one church now, and while we miss those we lost, we are much better off being one church instead of two. |
[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 13654 9/9/15 3:42 pm
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Da Sheik |
I don't foresee us being able to do combined services other than just various special times throughout the year. Thanks for sharing your success story Dave! I don't mind doing the two services but I really feel that both groups would benefit with regular worship and fellowship with the other groups. Of course, they do have the opportunity to combine during Sunday School. So it's not like there's an excuse. |
Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1865 9/10/15 1:27 pm
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Nature Boy Florida |
Agreed on everything said about church services.
That said - if there was a 7:00 a.m. service on Sunday - I would attend - as I get up early and do devotions and prayer early anyway. Waiting around until 10:00 a.m. feels like I am wasting time. _________________ Whether you like it or not, learn to love it, because its the best thing going today! |
Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16646 9/10/15 1:30 pm
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