New Worship Schedule Adopted
In considering a change to our regular Sunday morning schedule, the Council had two primary goals in mind:
- to strengthen the worship experience, and
- to strengthen Sunday school.
The Council also had to take into consideration the effect any change would have on our two children’s choirs, King David and Cherub, which have been meeting on Sunday mornings.
It seemed clear that to us that the best way to strengthen our worship experience was to have a single primary service on Sunday mornings. Since our practice has been to have one service at 9:00 and one at 11:00, a single service at 10:00 seemed a good compromise. The reasons we feel a single service would be best for Andrew Chapel now are that a full sanctuary gives everyone a better feeling than a sanctuary that is less than half full, and that it gives a better – and more accurate – impression of our church to visitors.
Changing the worship time to 10:00, however, means that the Sunday school time would need to change. The Council considered several alternatives – all of which would either have the Sunday beginning too early for many people, not allow enough time for Sunday school, or move the worship time later than we wanted. All of these alternatives would mean we had missed our goals of strengthening worship and Sunday school.
After a great deal of discussion, during which all of the comments submitted by members of the church were taken into account, the Council decided on the following Sunday morning schedule:
Sunday school at 9:00 – 9:45
Worship at 10:00
Fellowship time following worship
It was also clear to us that many of you would greatly miss an earlier worship service, and that a number of you prefer a less formal, more relaxed kind of worship experience. Therefore, we will offer a 40-45-minute service at 8:30 during the seasons of Advent and Lent. So, from November 30 – December 21 there will be an 8:30 service in addition to the 10:00 service; and from March 1 – April 12 (Easter Sunday) we will have two services. On certain other “high-demand” Sundays we will offer two services, as well. With the exception of these “high-demand” Sundays, the 8:30 service will very different from the 10:00 service. There will be no choirs or special music and no children’s time. At times (during Lent, for example) we may Holy Communion each Sunday at this service. It will be less structured, with no printed prayers or affirmations. During the early service, we will have an opportunity to sing, to share prayer concerns, and to hear the Word of God read and preached. If these services are well received, there is a strong possibility that they will become a regular offering. For the time being, however, we want to stress that our primary service is at 10:00.
While it is clear that this schedule will not make everyone happy, and that any change is stressful, we are asking that everyone bear with us and continue to support your church by your prayers, presence, gifts and service. We sincerely believe that, if given a chance, this move will help strengthen our congregation.
We would like to continue to receive your comments and suggestions. The Council will review this schedule again in December to determine its effectiveness.
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Harvest Mission Auction 2008
