Weekend Update
Posted by nathan on 15 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: New Hope stuff.
We (New Hope) started our new weekend service times six weekends ago, and I wanted to share with you some exciting stats…
Over the last six weeks, we have averaged 9.3 guest families per week. The same six-week period last year averaged 3.8 families per week. That is 257% of the guest families for the same 6-week period from 2006 to 2007.
Over the six weeks, overall attendance is up 12.0% from the same six-week period a year ago.
The recent launch of our new children’s program, High Point, has been met with much success, and we’ve heard a ton of great comments from parents. I know if I was a kid, I would want to be in High Point–it’s sweet action!
God is flipping awesome, isn’t he?
4 Comments »
on 16 Oct 2007 at 10:37 am 1.
Joy said …
Nathan,
If I may ask, what scheduling changes were made? Did you previously have a “Sunday School” hour? We do at my church, however, it is not well attended by young adults and the children’s numbers are getting especially low! Our midweek children’s numbers are probably 5 times greater. I’ve wondered for awhile, with some older members of my church aghast by it, if the time of Sunday School has come and gone. It can be hard letting go of traditions, even when they are no longer effective. Thanks!
Joy
on 16 Oct 2007 at 11:03 am 2.
nathan said …
Joy,
Your situation sounds incredibly familiar…
Previously, this was our weekend schedule:
Saturday Service, 6 p.m.
Sunday Service 8-9:15 a.m.
Sunday School 9:30-10:15 a.m.
Sunday Service 10:30-11 a.m.
We did cut out the Sunday School, and our schedule currently is:
Saturday, 6 p.m.
Sunday, 9 a.m.
Sunday, 10:30 a.m.
We saw declining Sunday School numbers for years, and it finally got so low we knew we needed to do something. (our midweek children’s numbers was probably five times greater, too!)
When we cut the Sunday School, we didn’t cut eliminate it, but replaced it with a couple of things (which was important for the older generation who was raised with Sunday School). First, we really upped the Children’s ministry taking place during each of the services. It is now a full-fledged, high-energy production, and utilized media clips and DVD worship. If I was a kid, this would have been flipping awesome! We purchase a kit to help with this curriculum ( Click to go to High Point’s Web page).
We also shifted our adult efforts from lecture setting to a group setting, taking place during the midweek. This is still in development and changing.
Young parents are certainly responding well to these changes, and I don’t know of anyone who has left the church over the revamping of our education.
Hope that answers your questions! Let me know if you have any more questions! I love to talk about this stuff!
on 17 Oct 2007 at 5:33 pm 3.
Joy said …
Nathan,
Thanks. I may take you up on the offer of more info. I wondered about replacing SS with small groups during the week but there is a segment of people who are so accustomed to and enjoy SS. Our churh might have to give one of those church hours to people who still wanted to meet on Sunday. I have to admit, it would even seem weird to me because that hour has been dedicated to SS all of my 45 years. But we have to be willing to be flexible to other people’s needs. My pastor once shared that church times were actually set to accomodate farmers, milking times etc…if that is true then it should not be a sin to have something other than SS don’t you think?
Thanks again!
Joy
on 18 Oct 2007 at 7:54 am 4.
nathan said …
Since the idea of Sunday School was first introduced in the year 1780, I think it hard to believe not having it would be a sin, considering:
1. It isn’t Biblical
2. Jesus didn’t command it (never mentioned it)
3. The early church never practiced it (or for that matter, no church until the late 1700’s practiced it).
(That is not to say education isn’t important, because it is!)
One thing we had considered, and this is what Grabill Missionary and many other churches do, is offer a Sunday School during the same time as a service (if you have two services), so people can attend Sunday School and church, without the additional hour between the two services.
But I think it is also very important to make sure the Sunday School die-hards feel important to the church. And that’s hard to balance!
my email is nathan at newhope.in if you want to ask questions!