Other services?

[MilkmanDan]

I dunno.

IMHO a potluck may be a little much. It certainly doesn't sound like a bad idea though.

Our church has SS,S am,S pm and Wed Services.

[Bakershalfdozen]

Doesn't have to be. In my experience, some ladies bring stuff in a crock pot, plug it in in the kitchen, put the serving spoon next to it. Other ladies bring a tray of sandwiches, a pan of brownies, put the sandwiches in the fridge, put the brownies on the counter. After church someone makes sure it is organized on the counter or a table and folks line up. Doesn't have to be a big deal.

[zealyouthguy]

Assign two or three families each the dinner for the week.

week one: smiths, jones, wesson
week two: beery's, jacks, johns

etc.

Then everyone only prepares once a month.

Have a singspiration on the 5th sundays each quarter.

[Psalms18_28]

oh yeah, be sure to include a list of food safety :frog

[Anon]

Assign two or three families each the dinner for the week.

week one: smiths, jones, wesson
week two: beery's, jacks, johns

etc.

Then everyone only prepares once a month.

Have a singspiration on the 5th sundays each quarter.

Well his church only has three families. :tum Another reason why I think they wouldn't mind just one bringing a roast, one bringing sides, and one a dessert or something. But it would be up to the church.

[MilkmanDan]

Well his church only has three families. :tum Another reason why I think they wouldn't mind just one bringing a roast, one bringing sides, and one a dessert or something. But it would be up to the church.

Draw straws?

[zealyouthguy]

Ah... got ya.

hmmm... I don't know the whole church situation, but with three families, I would be meeting at each families house and rotate it out.

then only two families are driving...

or I would wait until I had a larger crowd before going to Sunday night.



In Pa, we are going to start with a Thursday night in home bible study.

When we launch, (depending on the crowd at the time) will determine if we do more than a Sunday Morning at first.

[Psalms18_28]

We do have one family that visits on Sunday nights. They attend a non-denominational church for the morning service and then come to ours for the Sunday evening service. Hmm, I might have to keep it just for them.

Mitch

They could come in the afternoon, could they?

[zealyouthguy]

We do have one family that visits on Sunday nights. They attend a non-denominational church for the morning service and then come to ours for the Sunday evening service. Hmm, I might have to keep it just for them.

Mitch

hmmm, I missed this.

They attend a non-denom in the morning and then your church faithfully in the evenings? Wow, that's different.

But yeah, if they are coming, I would probably keep it too... ALTHOUGH...

I am seriously thinking if you had the evening service in one of your homes and included them... they may join in the fellowship/worship to the point that they become denominational... as in baptist... lol.

[Bakershalfdozen]

Good points.

[kevinmiller]

Wow, very active thread.
I like the morning service, lunch, shorter afternoon service idea. I really don't like the bureaucracy, tradition and ritual in most churches today. I think church should be a whole lot more enjoyable and informal than it is now. Praying together, singing and fellowshipping. And if the preacher is going to preach, make it something that is going be applicable to my life and motivating. I really don't like salvation messages or generic messages in church. I want it to be something that I can really apply and think about.

I also like the idea of gathering in people's houses during the week. I was part of a cell group in Korea, which was really awesome. One evening a week to eat with other young people, pray together in smaller groups, talk about character, etc. and sing together. Usually a few games afterwards. Christians should be able to enjoy getting together in a relaxed atmosphere.

[Madeline]

In Luke 20:1, we read that Jesus "as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel". Now our Lord is our model in every way. What do we seriously imagine He was doing? Was He telling funny stories? Was He giving interesting illustrations? Was He preaching three-point sermons in the best epideictic style? What I imagine Him doing, and what I would hope every other Christian would imagine Him doing, is exactly what He does everywhere else in the gospels, namely substantively teaching the Word and proclaiming the Word just like the verse says. That is, our Lord was the Bible teacher and the dispenser of truth par excellence. He was all about the content, even when the content was hidden through parables from those who were truly disinterested (later He gives the interpretation of the parables to those who are interested). Now we are nowhere and in no way comparable to the Lord in anything we do. However, that does not mean we are not to emulate Him to the best of our ability - indeed that is precisely what we are called upon to do as "little Christs" (i.e., "Christians"). For Bible teachers, that means putting the Word of God first (rather using the traditional devices to wow our congregations with little heed to the stuff that makes for spiritual growth); that means figuring out what the Bible means and teaching the content (rather than using if merely for window dressing). What it does not mean is taking some issue that the congregation will warm to, throwing in some fancy rhetoric, some cute illustrations, some neat multimedia, and, oh yes, a few verses of scripture that may have or at least seem superficially to have a vague connection to the topic, then passing this mess off as "Bible teaching" because a passage was quoted (but never exegeted). Sermon-services have things inside out. I would be in favor of reducing them alright, to the point of non-existence. If someone out there really is exegeting, say, the book of Romans verse by verse, and teaching everything that is therein, doctrine by doctrine, principle by principle, topic by topic, phrase by phrase, verse by verse, explaining what it means in detail and correctly so, then the only restriction on number of services should be the ability of the pastor-teacher to produce the material in a quality way. It's probably not easy to do things the right way, and may take an incredible amount of time, even if a person is very well prepared (if they are not well-prepared, it may be impossible to get beyond the superficial level much at all in the first place). So one should not think that actually teaching the Bible multiple with sessions in a week is something that a pastor-teacher can probably do :lol, especially not in the early going of the ministry. I would think that if a person actually found such a Bible teaching ministry, that just like the person who found the pearl of great price or the treasure that was buried in the field, they would immediately rearrange their priorities around this wonderful and rare possession, and do whatever it took to get as much out of it as possible, because this sort of thing is the only path to true, deep spiritual growth and effective, highly-rewarded production for our Lord. If we really did put Jesus first, then our schedules and other commitments could and should be changed to respond to what it is we say we value most of all. But to make any special effort just for more of the same "hoo-ha" is pointless. If there is no Bible teaching going on in a church, then attending two services a week is twice as much a waste of time as attending one.

Love,
Madeline

[Sojourner]

We switched this past spring from a 7pm Sunday service to a fellowship meal and afternoon service each Sunday. Most of the folks like the change. We have several families that drive 20+ miles one way and so it's convenient for them. Personally, I would prefer to do this maybe once a month, not every week. Reasons being: I have so many responsibilities on Sunday morning, I just don't have time to fix food for a meal, AND I'm a single bachelor who hates to cook!

It really hasn't increased our Sunday pm service attendance since a lot of folks who stay for the meal leave before the service starts. I live only a half mile away, so I run home for lunch and then come back for the service.

The church that Sophie attends has a monthly fellowship meal and afternoon service, but the other Sundays they have 2 or 3 families bring things like finger sandwiches, fruit, cheese & crackers, etc... and then they have a shorter afternoon service. I wouldn't mind doing this at our church, also, I guess.

[chev1958]

So, it seems a Sunday night service is not as fundamental as it once was, eh? :huh:

[grace2u]

I can relate to the ones that find it hard to travel twice on Sunday a long distance....we too have to travel quite a distance, an hour, highway driving, for morning service, so sad to say, we don't often make the evening service....
Two services, make 4 hrs of driving on Sundays...and because of responsibilities at home, we can't stay for the day.

Our local IFB closed about 1 1/2 years ago...and since we have attended the one at a distance...we are so happy there, and wished the distance were shorter, but our pastor so graciously has started a Thurs night bible study in our town, for those who all travel.
We appreciate this sooo much.

He is praying about a work locally for us, as there are a couple other families in the same boat who all attend the Thurs Bible study.

Are your families coming from the same place, or all different??? Maybe you need to pray for them to have a local church....

As much as I love my church, I can't see me wanting to cover the distance as I get older...It makes it hard to even enjoy the fellowships that go on...we just can't be travelling constantly...Hubby already commutes for work.

We are so looking forward to a local church...and pastor is definitly looking that direction...

Keep keeping on....God knows... :amen: