Today’s article is about going “All In” on the 11:00 Worship Service. Let me begin by saying a heartfelt thank you to the small group that has faithfully supported and attended the 8:30 worship service over the years. Remember we started the 8:30 service as a hymn based alternative to the more contemporary service. That was a great idea but apparently not one that met many needs according to attendance over the years. Recently, it has been exactly like the 11:00 service but it did not start out that way. Then, we promoted the 8:30 service as a wonderful opportunity for those who wanted to attend worship but still have most of Sunday ahead of them. Again, that made sense on paper, but in reality not many used it that way. Our last major push was to see it as an available service for those who served during the 11:00 service. They could attend an early service and still serve…the best of both worlds. That seemed to help one or two, but not very many. So we might have 20 or 30 in attendance spread out in a sanctuary designed for 300-400. It is very hard to create worship energy or fellowship intimacy in that setting.
So, starting January we are going “All IN” joining our two worship services at 11:00. We believe it can introduce, or re-introduce, some of our 8:30 attendees to the rest of the church family. It will
give us an opportunity to build both unity and numbers. We have had members and guests ask why we had a service for such a small number. We never intended for it to stay so small. So, let’s go
“All In” in an effort to do it better.
We will monitor attendance at the 11:00 worship service and when it is consistently full, we may plan to launch a second service more in keeping with our purpose, mission and values. The reason for a second service will be more about strength and need, not convenience. It will be more about “them” and less about “us”. It will be more about church health and Kingdom progress. I long for the day when we can re-start a worship service like that.
Until then, my thoughts and prayers for the few who really did like the 8:30 service. I really hope and pray you will be able to make an adjustment without too much difficulty. I will deeply regret, but fully understand, if we lose someone who says the 8:30 service is the only reason I attend James Island Baptist.
It may be a small consolation but let me offer an alternative service. Starting in January, Celebrate Recovery will have a worship service starting at 6:30 in the Worship Center/Sanctuary. It will be led by Pastor Marty and a Praise Team. You could attend Celebrate Recovery from 6:30 until approximately 7:10 and enjoy great worship, see what CR is all about and receive helpful life information. Just an idea…but a pretty good one.
See you this Sunday for the third Sunday in Advent…JOY!
Pastor Tom
