Open Forum on Sunday School and Worship Times

In my May newsletter article, I wrote about some changes we are considering for Sunday morning worship and Sunday School. I am re-posting that article, and inviting you to discuss the article here.

There are some new ideas bubbling up around here! Both our Education and Worship& Music Boards have been thinking about our Sunday morning schedule, and both feel like this fall might be the right time for a change. 

This isn’t a decision that has been made yet. It is simply something for the congregation to consider. We want your opinions and input!

Statistics indicate that children who worship with parents have a much greater likelihood of continuing to worship when they become adults. Our Sunday School Worship is a lot of fun and has loads of energy. It has also been convenient for many families to have worship and Sunday School at the same time. We realize, however, that both children and adults are missing out on a key component of worship life when we separate the two services—the importance of worship together as a family. So we are considering changing worship times so that Sunday School and our Contemporary Service would be held at different times. One benefit of this change would be the possibility of a Sunday School hour that includes all ages—Sunday School classes for every age group! Another benefit is that adding the children into our Sunday Contemporary Worship Service would also bring their energy and enthusiasm and we could create a worship service that appeals to ALL ages! Some ideas to help that along include: inviting children up to play rhythm instruments during opening and closing songs, children’s sermons each week, more songs that appeal to children and teenagers, and teenagers involved more in our worship band (many of whom are now teaching Sunday School).

In order to do this, we would have to consider some changes to our Sunday morning worship schedule. We also have ideas for that (but maybe there are possibilities we haven’t thought of yet that you would consider). Ideas so far include:
    1. Keeping things the same.
    2. Traditional Worship at 8; Sunday School at 9; Contemporary Worship at 10; Traditional Worship at 11.
    3. Traditional Worship at 8; Contemporary Worship at 9:15; Sunday School and Traditional Worship at 10:15 or 10:30.
    4. Two Services on Sunday Morning with Traditional Worship at 8 and Contemporary Worship at 10:15/10:30. We would have Sunday School between services at 9:15. 

Again, these are just some of the ideas. If you have other options, we would love to hear from you!

In order to discuss these things further, and gain your input, the Education and Worship & Music Boards will be hosting an Open Forum on Wednesday, May 29. All are invited to attend. We will begin at 5:30 with
a potluck meal. The meeting will begin at 6:30. If you cannot attend the meeting, you are encouraged to contact a member of either of these Boards, one of the pastors, or our worship and music director, Cynthia Tompkins to share your opinions. 

THANK YOU for helping us consider some changes on Sunday mornings. We value your input and hope you will talk to us about your ideas and opinions and/or come to the Open Forum on Wednesday, May 29.

-Pastor Jeni