Spirit Song United Methodist Church

The good news is that we finally found a place to begin weekly worship. The bad news – it’s on Saturday evenings. That was my first response and perhaps it was your first thought too, when you heard the news. But the more I thought about it, the more I could see some real benefits in starting our new church’s worship and ministries on a Saturday.

All the church planting literature and wisdom says that the optimal time to offer worship services for a new church is Sunday mornings at 10:00am. People expect to worship on Sundays – it’s part tradition (two thousand years worth) and it’s also our experience (at least for people brought up in a Christian culture). I’ve been told that starting a new church on Saturday nights is a huge disadvantage and should be avoided if at all possible. And I have to admit, as a pastor and having grown up in the church, when I wake up on Sunday morning, I have a deep desire to worship.  

But as I started thinking about it, and talking to people, I realized that Saturday worship offers some real benefits. First, our culture has changed over the past fifty years. When I was growing up, Sunday was for church and family. All the stores and work places were closed on Sunday. I think there was one grocery store that opened after noon, as well as a pharmacy. Everybody, it seemed, went to church on Sunday. But fifty years later things have changed. Many people work on Sunday mornings. Those that don’t will sleep in, or watch sports (especially in football season) or will head out to the lake, or take their kids to soccer games, or join any number of other activities that compete with church on Sunday mornings.

I’ve had many people, especially young parents, tell me that they would actually prefer a Saturday service. Church is a place where they can take the kids, socialize with other young parents, and still have the kids home in bed at an early hour. After a busy Saturday of running errands, shopping and doing chores, relaxing at a Saturday service is a great way to end the day.

It’s important for a new church to have a good number of people in their first few worship services. A “critical mass” of at least a hundred people makes that service attractive to first-time attenders. Worship is a communal experience and having a hundred people around us in worship feels a lot different than having fifty. We have a few people from other churches that have been helping us plant Spirit Song. By beginning our worship on Saturdays, they can join us for a month or more without having to make a choice between our church and their own. They can worship in both (at least for awhile). They can help boost our attendance in the first few weeks when it is most critical.

When all is said and done, worship on a Saturday night is no different that worship on a Sunday morning. We’ll sing the same songs, hear the same kind of message, and enjoy the same Christian fellowship. We will still be the Church, wherever and whenever we meet to worship God and serve Jesus Christ.

Take care and God bless,

Steve

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 at 12:25 PM and is filed under General. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.