How can preachers make adjustments that better prepare them for the transition from one to multiple services? I’ve been a part of such a transition numerous times, and made the transition from two to three, and three to four. I’ve also had to make adjustments for seasons that included preaching live in multiple venues and multiple locations on Sundays. Each season required me to make adjustments—physically, personally and vocationally. While my experience is that the jump from two to three services requires the most adjusting—the jump from one to two services also requires substantial adjustments. Here are some things I’ve found.
Multiple Services
1. Remember this is what it’s about. If you are adding services, that means God is growing the church. That’s the aim, and it’s why we need to adjust our attitudes away from any thoughts of inconvenience to our schedules and workload toward the blessing of God’s movement in our churches. Rather than lamenting “having” to go to two services, look forward eagerly to the moment your church can go to three, four or more.
RELATED: Great Preaching Doesn’t Mean Great Leadership
2. Prepare for the energy drop, and remember it’s only temporary. Both services will feel more empty and have less energy at first. However, in one of the great paradoxes of church growth, those half-empty rooms give your church much more likelihood for growth in the days ahead than the packed room that had more energy. The room will fill again with time—but this time, twice. That is, if you will …
3. Keep the vision clear and the responsibility for outreach in the hands of the church. It isn’t your job to grow the church. It’s the church’s mission to bring people to Jesus. If people want to complain about how “empty” it feels, ask them to help fill the room. God fills rooms when we faithfully engage His mission. He entrusts people seeking Him to churches that are ready for them–and share His passion to seek and save what is lost.
4. Give assemblies the best time slots. It’s common for churches to split the uprights and have Bible classes at the peak hour between two services. Sometimes the schedule reads: two services at 8:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., with Bible classes at 10:00 a.m. This kind of format inconveniences guests and staff uniquely … and basically anyone who isn’t a Bible class teacher. If your church has Bible classes, consider moving them to midweek, running them concurrently with the Sunday assemblies (if parking allows it), or at the extreme time slots. The closer your two services are to 10:00 a.m. the better off you’ll be as a general rule.
