Starting a Third Worship Service and Second Sunday School
at Park Street Brethren Church
Questions and Answers
Answers prepared by Ronald W. Waters
May 1997
Return to Frequently Asked Questions
1. What was the first step you used in getting the congregation positively involved in the idea of a third worship/second
Sunday school hour?
Process started about 1½ years before actual "Launch
Sunday"—some general announcements; reports of formation of a
committee; etc. Original projected start was Easter 1996.
Meetings by pastor and moderator with each of the adult Bible fellowships laying the groundwork--follow-up to
construction of our Family Life Center. There had been some talk about new services earlier, but not in a formal way.
December 1995—congregational survey about interests/attendance patterns
2. How much resistance did you encounter? How did you handle it?
Initial challenge had to do with when the second SS would meet; had hoped to have some classes move en mass to the new
hour (projected at 11:00 a.m.); none wanted to move to that hour, though some open to 8:30 hour
When realized we were not yet ready to launch the new services by Easter 1996, initiated a shift in the "traditional" worship
service to more of a blended style—that resulted in a lot of unhappiness after the change was implemented. Goal: to have
two "healthy" services before launching the third worship; also, to alleviate crowding in early, contemporary service.
How did we handle that resistance? Probably not well. We listened to be people who were complaining (mostly they were
complaining to everyone but those who actually could/would do something about it), but we were resolved to stay the
course. Result: after 10 years of decline in the traditional service, we saw an 18% increase in attendance in that service in
1996. This growth was in spite of the fact that some people stopped attending worship
3. In what order were the steps taken to reach the final goal?
1. Formed initial planning committee in fall 1995
2. Congregational survey in December 1995
3. February 1996—decided planned launch date of Easter 1996 was not feasible; announced planned changes in traditional
service
4. April 12, 1996—officially initiated blended service
5. Spring 1996—I was asked to chair steering committee for new launch Sunday of March 2, 1997
6. Summer 1996—I began meeting with staff to "get up to speed" myself and to lay foundation for the changes
7. August 1996—announced "Chapter III" elective class to be held in fall quarter 1996; pastor and myself visited each ABF
to announce plans and offer invitation (to whole classes or to individuals)
8. September-November 1996—conducted "Chapter III" class; focused on the purpose of the church (concepts from The
Purpose-Driven Church by Rick Warren); also addressed our philosophy of ministry, vision statement, and congregational
priorities
9. September-October 1996—steering committee of myself, pastor, director of CE meet regularly to work through
implementation details; met at times with other members of the staff
10. October 25, 1996—announced proposed implementation plan to "Chapter III" class; announced to congregation at large
through November 1996 newsletter; open meeting for congregation on Sunday evening, November 8, 1996; offered to meet
with any or all ABFs (two eventually accepted invitation)
11. November 29, 1996—commitment Sunday for "Chapter III" class members. Five choices:
- 1) Definitely planning to be part of the new services
- 2) Considering being part of new services, but have questions
- 3) Considering staying part of present service, but have questions
- 4) Definitely planning to stay with present service
- 5) Other
Result: 76 people (all members of families) definitely or considering new services
12. December 1996-February 1997—section quarter of "Chapter III" class for those who chose to be part of task groups to
work out the details of the new services
13. January 19-February 8, 1997—first phase of "The Phone's for You!" calling
14. February 23, 1997—all ABF meeting to address logistical issues
15. March 2, 1997—Launch Sunday
4. In the article, seven task groups were mentioned. What were they and what aspects/areas did they cover?
5. Did you have any trial runs (a few classes and/or an additional service) before "Celebration Sunday"?
No. Worship team practiced during Sunday school hour for about six weeks. Considered a dry run worship service (w/o
sermon) but decided the logistics were too difficult to pull it off; plus too artificial.
6. Did you consider a Saturday evening service instead of an additional Sunday morning one? Why did you finally
decide on all three services on Sunday morning?
I'm not sure whether original committee considered it. I raised issue in beginning stages of working with the steering
committee, but it was obvious that we had already invested a lot of energy in thinking about Sunday morning.
Reasons for keeping all three services on Sunday morning:
- 1) Needed to alleviate early, contemporary service
- 2) Enough initial resistance to changing one or two hours; felt a changed to Saturday evening
- would be even more difficult
- 3) We are committed to offering SS/ABFs; felt it would be easier to achieve that on Sunday
- morning
- 4) We are in a very traditional community; Sunday morning is when you go to church
7. In the article, there is a chart showing attendances for March. Do you have any idea why the third service had the
lowest attendance? Has this trend continued up to the present?
Yes and yes. Initial congregational survey (December 1995): indicated that most of the younger people (40 and under) in
the traditional service would shift to a new 9:45 contemporary service. That has largely happened. Goal of the year of
blended service was to strengthen that service so that: 1) most of these would not leave that service; and 2) to reach new
people who might stick with the blended service after the new service was initiated.
Also, the contemporary service had been larger than the traditional service (302 to 160 in 1996).
Further, the focus of our advertising and "The Phone's . . ." was on the new 9:45 service.
The trend has continued. The worship attendances for the 12 Sundays since March 2 have been: 8:30 - 252; 9:45 - 198;
11:00 - 116; total - 566. Without Easter Sunday, has followed along proportionately the same.
8. What is attendance like now (May 1997) for services and Sunday school?
Since launch Sunday, we've had no Sunday below 500 for worship; in January and February, we had only one Sunday
above 500.
For first three Sundays in May 1997:
9. How/Where do you get ideas to keep the contemporary services alive week after week?
I'm not sure. The liveliness is do to the celebrative worship, which consists of the praise team (singers and band) and the
contemporary, scripture-based choruses used.
Drama is provided only one Sunday a month at this point
Pastor preaches without suit coat and without pulpit in two contemporary services.
10. Did the established Sunday school hour stay the same?
Generally, yes. A slight time adjustment (from 9:40-10:35 to 9:45-10:45--five more minutes)
Elementary children's classes changed only slightly: first, second, third, fourth, fifth/sixth (previously a boys and girls
class; now co-ed)
For adults: one class now meets in two sections; one class dissolved and reformed in the new 8:30 hour; one class was
resurrected. At the same time, we added one new class in the 9:45 hour that resulted from one existing class dividing.
11. What was offered for the second track of Sunday school (like established Sunday school or completely different)?
Essentially the same, but with fewer classes:
