Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Sabbath School Council Works Out Plan
Last Monday, the Sabbath School Council met to figure out how sabbath schools will meet the challenges brought by the new Sabbath morning worship format. Jerry Taylor and Dan Stevens report that everything worked out very easily and that everyone was enthusiastic and supportive of the new plan.
Adult/Senior SS will meet in the Fellowship Hall.
Contemporary Issues SS will meet in the "Crossroads" room across the hall from the office.
Crossroads will meet - somewhere! We are working on a couple of possibilities.
All the other classes will stay where they are.
Adult/Senior SS will meet in the Fellowship Hall.
Contemporary Issues SS will meet in the "Crossroads" room across the hall from the office.
Crossroads will meet - somewhere! We are working on a couple of possibilities.
All the other classes will stay where they are.
Worship for the Fall Quarter
On June 21, the church board voted unanimously to try a pilot program for worship on Sabbath mornings from September to December.
From September 11 to November 27, we will do three very different worship services each Sabbath: At 9:00 am we will do a “Traditional” worship service (very much like the current 9:00 am service). At 10:00 am we will do a “Classic” worship service (very much like the “high church” worship service with choir and organ that Kettering is known for). At 11:00 am we will do Sabbath Schools for children and adults. At 12:00 pm we will do “Contemporary” worship with a high school/collegiate/young adult bias. The preaching will be essentially the same for each service.
For the four Sabbaths of December, we will all be together in one worship service to celebrate Advent with what we are calling “Festival Sabbaths”. This will be big, glorious, celebratory worship built around the Christmas season and climaxing with Christmas Sabbath, which falls on Christmas Day this year.
In January, we will return to what we are doing now: two worship services at 9:00 and 11:15am, with Sabbath Schools in between, and evaluate what we experienced together between September and December. If we like it, we can switch over. If we don’t, we can keep thinking.
We live in an age of great differences. Never in the history of Christianity have there been so many generations all alive at the same time and never before have those generations been so radically different from one another. People have radically different “worship languages”. It’s almost like trying to communicate the gospel to a foreign culture!
One of the non-negotiable functions of the church is to worship, but how we worship is largely determined by the culture we grew up in. We can and should change the how of worship to meet the needs of the greatest number of worshippers – and to be maximally effective in inviting seekers and unchurched people to experience salvation through Jesus Christ. And we must always be mindful of the needs of the youngest members of the Lord’s family – our children and the new converts. Those of us who are older easily forget how that which makes so much sense to us can mean almost nothing to those who are growing up in a different world than the one we grew up in.
It is because of all these challenges, and the desire to keep the gospel ever fresh and ever relevant, that the church board decided to try this four month experiment in worship. Please approach it with openness to the blessings it offers – and grace for those who are working out the kinks!
From September 11 to November 27, we will do three very different worship services each Sabbath: At 9:00 am we will do a “Traditional” worship service (very much like the current 9:00 am service). At 10:00 am we will do a “Classic” worship service (very much like the “high church” worship service with choir and organ that Kettering is known for). At 11:00 am we will do Sabbath Schools for children and adults. At 12:00 pm we will do “Contemporary” worship with a high school/collegiate/young adult bias. The preaching will be essentially the same for each service.
For the four Sabbaths of December, we will all be together in one worship service to celebrate Advent with what we are calling “Festival Sabbaths”. This will be big, glorious, celebratory worship built around the Christmas season and climaxing with Christmas Sabbath, which falls on Christmas Day this year.
In January, we will return to what we are doing now: two worship services at 9:00 and 11:15am, with Sabbath Schools in between, and evaluate what we experienced together between September and December. If we like it, we can switch over. If we don’t, we can keep thinking.
We live in an age of great differences. Never in the history of Christianity have there been so many generations all alive at the same time and never before have those generations been so radically different from one another. People have radically different “worship languages”. It’s almost like trying to communicate the gospel to a foreign culture!
One of the non-negotiable functions of the church is to worship, but how we worship is largely determined by the culture we grew up in. We can and should change the how of worship to meet the needs of the greatest number of worshippers – and to be maximally effective in inviting seekers and unchurched people to experience salvation through Jesus Christ. And we must always be mindful of the needs of the youngest members of the Lord’s family – our children and the new converts. Those of us who are older easily forget how that which makes so much sense to us can mean almost nothing to those who are growing up in a different world than the one we grew up in.
It is because of all these challenges, and the desire to keep the gospel ever fresh and ever relevant, that the church board decided to try this four month experiment in worship. Please approach it with openness to the blessings it offers – and grace for those who are working out the kinks!
