Gathering Sundays at 10AM

Last winter, the leadership of Grace Point began to ask again a question we had pondered in the summer of 2010 - what if we had church on Saturday night?  This time we took it a bit more seriously and elected to bite the bullet and make a go at it.  That's right, we took our main worship gathering time and switched from Sundays at 10AM to Saturdays at 5PM.

As we prepared for the switch, the anticipation was high.  We believed it would be more convenient for people to participate in our gatherings if we eliminated the "it's my only day off" or "it's my only morning to sleep in" excuse.  We also thought it would be great to really help us experience a true day off on Sunday.  What we found was different than we expected.

After making the switch to Saturdays following Easter Sunday, we had a great turn out.  The truth is we saw our highest attendances for the year during the first month of Saturdays.  Surely this was a sign!  Then June, July, and August came.  As vacations, getaways, camps, reunions, and the like filled family calendars attendance quickly plummeted.  By the time the summer was over we averaged 30% less in attendance than we did on Sundays before the switch.

Here's what we found: church on Saturday night sounds great, on Sunday morning!

The shift to Saturdays was exciting at first because it was new, but as life continued, the newness wore off.  Changing one's rhythm is very difficult and we found our new Sundays were enjoyable, but Saturdays weren't working.  Our families hadn't abandoned the gatherings, but they were unable to participate as they once had.

Some might ask, "why cut it before the fall?  Surely, more people would be able to participate in the fall, wouldn't they?"  Maybe. But our experience has taught us that Saturday night church is a great OPTION but it's not a person's first choice.  There is a historical value to Sunday morning church.  Regardless of the validity of gathering for worship on Sundays versus any other day, Sunday has the first place in our historical memories.  Additionally, unchurched people aren't any more excited about going to church on Saturday as they are on Sunday.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: if we are trying to make church attendance/participation convenient, we've already lost!  

Being a part of Christ's body, the church, is not convenient.  It should cost us something!  And I mean more than just our time and money.  Being the part of the church should cost us our comforts, attitudes, and predispositions.  We've fallen into the trap of believing this following Christ-stuff is easy, and it's not!  As my college professor Cliff Sanders reminded me over and over again: "It's impossible to follow Christ! By our own efforts." The cost of discipleship is great and it doesn't matter how we try, it is never convenient to follow Christ or to be a part of his body.

So, here we go, back to Sunday mornings because it's our story! Grace made it's grand entrance into the lives of humanity on a Sunday morning as Jesus conquered death and made life available to you and me.  We are returning to Sunday gatherings because it's not convenient to set aside the beginning of a day or week to gather with others for worship.  We are returning to Sunday mornings because our neighbors expect to see us leaving our homes and assembling during this time.  We are returning to Sundays because it seems old fashioned and maybe that's what is missing in our culture.

We are returning to Sundays, but that doesn't mean we won't try out of the box ideas to reach our neighbors with the kingdom of God.  Who knows, some of efforts may crash and burn, but some may be glorious!