Remember the days when you planned your Sunday social calendar so you could attend the “evening service” ? Personally I miss the more informal and more intimate services we used to have the option to attend in the evening. I would like to again make the Sunday evening an opportunity to connect with other believers in a time of worship, learning and renewal. To revive the old format would be a mistake but there are other ideas floating around that need to be explored. Somehow I feel like we are losing a valuable resource…Sunday evening…that could be used to foster community, growth and vision in our congregation.
I miss the liturgy we often had as part of the evening service like reciting the Apostles Creed or the Our World Belongs to God passsages etc. Somehow we need to incorporate the good things and try to avoid duplicating the morning service. Suggestions might be an intro followed by discussion groups, or a healing emphasis service, or a potluck followed by worship and prayer or small groups, a social, a community speaker followed by discussion, a service in which we sing only hymns, a bible study, prayer meeting, etc. I think we ought to experiment and and be open to various formats as long as they include worship, a time to learn and grow together, as well as an opportunity to deepen our walk with the Lord.
What do you think??
