For the month of May 2021, we entered an experiment here at Central. We “flip-flopped” the worship schedule of our two main services, so that for those five weeks, Traditional Worship occurred at 9 am, and The Well Worship occurred at 11 am. Along the way we asked you to respond, via a survey, to gauge your views on how our Sunday worship schedule might better meet needs of the broader community as well as your family. First, let me say that I appreciate your taking part and being open-minded. My desire is that we be a faith community where there is permission to experiment and try new ideas that address our mission. Secondly, we heard much in your responses, all 280 of you who submitted surveys. Opinions were diverse, as our congregation is diverse. But, survey results confirm that going forward in the Fall, we will hold to the current schedule of 9 am Well Worship and 11 am Traditional Worship. There are no plans at this time to resume the 8:15 am Chapel Worship as we did not hear a clear need from a critical mass of Central families asking for that.
I want to celebrate how this survey allowed us to hear new voices; we were moved to think out of the box. We have learned over this past year as we have elevated Central’s virtual presence via worship filming production and zoom study groups. In some ways our circles have grown to involve persons living outside the community, and even across the country, who now regularly join us in praising God, supporting missions, attending classes, and even taking membership vows remotely. The Body of Christ is growing. Persons are fully a part of our ministry, even if not in the same room. We want to continue being in ministry with those physically present as much as with those who can only join us remotely.
We are a healthy church with great traditions that have brought us this far. Let’s build on that. Rebounding from this pandemic, we will find new ways to be the vibrant Body of Christ is this community. We will continue to ask questions and to experiment, and to ask your opinions, so we can enlarge our vision of “Together in Christ, Reaching beyond our Doors”. I look forward to engaging our leaders in strategic planning questions that ask,
“What are we called to do now?”
“Who are we now?”
“Who is our neighbor now?”
I value your input, and your response to those three questions as well. Let me know what you’re thinking.
Stay tuned and pray we have ears to hear God’s vision,
Pastor Chris
I don’t recall any questions regarding the 8:15 Chapel Worship. Though I didn’t attend regularly, that was always my fallback when schedules precluded my attendance at 11 am, and I probably was there 6 times a year. I’m disappointed that this is being eliminated as there appeared to me to be a sizable number of regular attendees.
I did regularly attend 8:15 Chapel Worship, and also don’t recall specific Survey questions addressing preference for that service. I like the more contemplative, intimate setting and the earlier time frame. It seems that our attendance has grown over the past couple of years from a handful to an almost-full ChapeI, including elderly as well as young adults & families… and those of us in between! I know a number of regular attendees who are looking forward to resuming the 8:15. I hope we can reconsider and add the early service back to our Worship schedule.