We have made the switch to Saturday night services! The gym where we’ve been meeting for most of the past year has become, let’s say, very difficult for us to remain there. It is HOT HOT HOT for one thing. And the dust and airborne stuff in there has gotten very bad. I have several parishioners who have gotten ill from being in church, and they along with a handful of others just cannot be present there anymore.
I began discussing with some of the churches in town about using their facilities. No one had a time slot that would work for us on Sunday mornings. We decided to try Saturday nights – and the local Lutheran church has very graciously offered their building to us. For now, we won’t have a Sunday morning service at all – and that’s very weird to me. It doesn’t feel right, but we will try this on for a while and see how it goes.
Two Saturdays ago we launched this service, and it was a BIG HIT! We had 90 folks there. Our average Sunday attendance (ASA) pre-Katrina was 140 (up from 125 when I arrived here). So for 90 to be there on a Saturday night, considering how many of our folks have moved away, was really a great turn out.
It remains to be seen if this will hold up. Will people really stop what they are doing on Saturdays and get ready for church? Will moving off of Sunday mornings mean some people may switch to other churches? Time will tell. I am hoping to add a Sunday morning service as soon as a facility becomes available, or perhaps a VERY early one at the Lutheran church (but keeping the Sat evening one). We could meet there around 7:15 and be out of their way for their own services.
But for now, I like the idea of us being one body together. It’s been that way since the storm and I think it’s been good for us. Once we are comfortable in the space and have the kinks out, and once I am convinced our numbers will support this move, we will then decide on the Sunday morning options.
It does kill me to miss college football games for CHURCH! Oh, the sacrifices we must make…..