We currently have two Sunday worship services, one at 9:45 and another at 11:00. However, our 9:45 worship service is a shortened version of the second worship service and is primarily for those who are serving at NLK (New Life Kids) or who are responsible for preparing Sunday refreshments. There are usually about 50 adults present during the first worship.
However, I have noticed over the past year that our second worship service attendance, especially during the first set of praise, is getting big, filling up almost all the chairs. We consistently have nearly 400 adults and 150 youth and children worshipping together during this time. The general rule of thumb is when a room is at 80% occupancy, it starts to feel very crowded, causing people to not want any more people in it. Furthermore, due to the growth of our children’s ministry, I have been informed that our children are running out of space to have their worship and Bible study time after they get dismissed from the second worship service.
The LT (Leadership Team) members have taken some time to think and pray, seeking God’s guidance on this matter. We have concluded that we have come to a point where we need to go into two services that will be very similar to each other in content and length. We ironed out many details during our meeting together in March, being mindful of all the implications such a change will bring about for New Life members.
The final actual worship service times will be determined after we conduct an online survey of all the members of New Life. But for now, the LT thought that 9 and 11AM would be reasonable. We do not want to have short, hurried worship services for the sake of our own comfort and convenience. However, we do not want to make our worship services unnecessarily long either. This will allow us about 90 minutes of worship and 30 minutes of preparation for the next worship.
In order to consistently end our worship in 90 minutes, we need to make several changes including the order of worship. Everyone who is taking a part in worship service will need to abide by the amount of time that will be allotted to him. Furthermore, when it is your turn to serve on Sunday in church-wide ministries such as NLK, Sunday refreshment or Intercessory Prayer, you will need to come a little bit earlier and serve a little bit longer.
This may seem like a little sacrifice, but if we do this together, we will not have to renovate or expand our facility, especially our NLK wing, to accommodate our growth.
I personally look forward to going into two services, possibly as early as the beginning of the school year this coming Fall, because the worship center will look cozier (with less chairs set up), the NLK wing will not be as crowded, and there will be more opportunities for New Life members to serve.
Once the online survey goes out, please indicate which service you will most likely commit to. Of course, you can come to the worship that you did not choose when there is an emergency in your life. But we would like for you to stay with your choice as much as possible so that both services will be well- prepared with predictable numbers in mind.
Your pastor,
Eric
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