Starting November 21st, we are returning to a single Sunday worship service at 10am. This is a big moment in the life of our church, and we want to briefly share some of the reasoning behind the decision and some of the changes we’ll put in place to make it happen.
First, some background.
We began holding two services last year in response to social distancing mandates from the county; we wanted to make sure that as many people as possible were able to attend in-person services. When those mandates were lifted, we continued to hold two services so that neither service would feel too crowded and there would be room for growth.
But over the last several months, nearly all of our growth has been at the 9am service.
There are a variety of reasons for this. Chief among them is that our children's ministry has been limited to the 9am service due to volunteer capacity, so our families have generally preferred the earlier service. Others who wish to see those families on a Sunday morning have joined them in the first service, and it has become our "main" service by default.
This means that someone would have a radically different experience of our church depending on which service they chose. This is neither sustainable nor healthy for the life of our body.
So we’re going back to one service. Although we can't promise that we will never again have two services — God will determine our growth! — for right now, we believe it is important for the health of our church that we work together to worship together.
What will this look like? Here are some additions we're planning to make this change possible:
More seating in the "gathering space" (the front room where we have our coffee maker).
A video screen and speaker in that room to make it easier to see and hear what's going on in the main room.
More air purifiers to make sure that we are getting adequate circulation and filtration with more people sharing the space.
We hope to have this all ready to go by our first Sunday with one service, but there will inevitably be some kinks in the system - please bear with us as we figure this out together!
We are excited to once again gather as one united body, and for the additional fellowship opportunities this will open up before and after our services. Please pray for us through this transition, and if you have questions or concerns please don't hesitate to reach out to Fr. Jeromie or Christine.