“Tweaking” the 9 a.m. service for Lent

Starting on the First Sunday in Lent, March 9, we’re planning a time-limited experiment with the 9 a.m. service. Your clergy and licensed lay preachers will be preaching shorter sermons and in different formats. The experiment will continue throughout the season of Lent. During and after Lent, we’ll ask for (and hopefully receive) your feedback.

What’s behind this experiment? Here are the factors that suggested we should try a change in sermon format:

Results from the Congregation Assessment Tool

When members were asked where they wanted additional energy placed, people said, “Make necessary changes to attract families with children to our church.” Currently the preaching style and content is the same at all three Sunday services – it’s intended for adults. During Lent, we’ll endeavor to preach in ways that’s accessible to all ages.

The length of the 9 a.m. service

The 9 a.m. service has been running longer than an hour each week. That’s too long for children to sit still. We’re going to keep the 9 a.m. service at an hour or less.

The 9 and 11:15 am Sunday services are very similar in style

By tweaking the sermon at 9 a.m., the two services might give people a clearer choice of the style of worship available.

To be clear, no changes are in the works for either the 7:45 or 11:15 am services. The style of sermons at the early and later services won’t change.

To provide feedback, you can reach out to Bonnie Gunzenhauser, Vestry liaison for worship, Rev. Gabriel, staff member responsible for worship, or me, Stephen Applegate.