Make Over Weekend November 6-7
Modified Worship Schedule
Saturday
6:00 PM Contemporary
Sunday
8:15 AM Traditional
9:30 AM Contemporary
11:00 AM Traditional & Contemporary
Trial Period: Assess by Easter 2011
In November 2009, your session decided that we would launch a second Sunday morning Contemporary Worship service in 2010 for the purpose of reaching new people for Christ. This decision will come to fruition on the 39th birthday of St. Matthew, November 7, 2010 at 11:00 AM.
This was a God led, prayer driven decision influenced by gathered facts and current data. In the spring of 2010, we began the diligent work of determining the best time to host the new service. Our intuition was validated by prayer, listening to the unchuched , local and national research. All sources revealed that 11:00 Sunday morning contemporary worship is the best time and music style to attract the unchurched.
We began in earnest May 2010 having conversations with the church body, seeking creative insight as to how to launch this service with minimal negative impact among our own congregation, particularly 10:55 traditional worshippers. Based on the worship surveys taken in the summer of 2009 and the feedback received in the summer of 2010, your session and staff jointly agreed upon a schedule that consolidated our 8:15 and 10:55 traditional service into a single service at 8:30.
Since the announcement of that schedule, the grief and inability of many long time 10:55 traditional worshippers to attend an 8:30 service became apparent. Your session being wise and compassionate, revisited the proposed worship schedule and revised as above.
It is not uncommon for large churches to have simultaneous services where the message is viewed by live video feed in more than one location. We are not financially prepared to launch such an ambitious endeavor by November 7t,h so though the message will be the same in all five services, there will be rotating messengers in the 11:00 traditional service. After the new contemporary service has been solidified, I will join the 11:00 Traditional service message rotation. We will continually evaluate the simultaneous worship format and asses s the viability of such a plan by Easter 2011.
It is my personal hope and prayer that someone will soon be God led to provide the funding needed to facilitate the live feed. Rotating messengers means a program staff person will be reserving preparation time to deliver a message I have written. That means some of their primary duties will be ignored because in good conscience I will not ask any of our staff to add anymore hours to their work week on a regularly basis. Research and history indicate that congregants prefer the consistency of a primary messenger. Furthermore, off sight satellite campuses are in our future; live feed capabilities accelerate the reality of this vision and would even enable us to provide a message to churches that are in between pastors.
Our great God has given us a great vision, a powerful purpose, an awesome congregation and called out a tremendous leadership team. I am humbled to serve alongside such a large group of godly men and women. I trust they are listening to God and I am confident that we are headed in the right direction. Praise be to God for such a hard working, spirit filled loving session and staff!! Thank them every chance you get because they are doing a marvelous job.
Thirty nine years ago 6 families left their home churches to start a new church. They prayed, gathered resources, sacrificed, deliberated where and when and then invited their neighbors and friends. St. Matthew was born. We are here today because of their sacrifice and commitment to glorify God by reaching the lost and unchurched for Jesus Christ. It is out turn to do the same. Let’s do it!
TGIM, Rick
