Preparing for an Additional Worship Service

Today is my final blog posting giving more information on our adding an additional Contemporary Worship Service beginning September 9 to the current Classic and Contemporary services that we already have here at Gaylord E-Free.  Today let me give you some thoughts on how each of us can prepare for this exciting adventure as a church.


Pray

Nothing of eternal importance happens apart from prayer!  Please join us in praying daily that God will give us the grace to pull all of the logistics together and that He will use this decision and this direction to allow us to more effectively meet as many people as possible right where they are so that we can help to move them to where God wants them to be.

Patience

Obviously, there is a lot of communication that needs to take place to ensure that everyone is aware of how our new service format will work starting September 9.  Each Sunday over the summer we will be taking some time in the service to talk about what it means for our church to add an additional Contemporary Service.  This will allow us to all be on the same page and to all be “in the loop” on why we are making this decision and how it will affect each of us on Sundays.  We are still working out all of the details so we ask you to be patient in the process.

Promote

It is our hope and prayer that adding this additional service will make it easier for each of us in our church family to invite others to come to E-Free.  Remember, the number one reason people visit a church is because they were personally invited.  We encourage you to use this change as an opportunity to invite people you know to join us for worship here at E-Free.

Protect

We understand that not everyone will agree with all of the logistical decisions that will be made to add the second Contemporary service to our ministry.  It is our prayer, however, that each person who is part of the E-Free family will look beyond any differences in preference to the purpose that is driving our decision.  Our purpose is to meet and move as many people as possible.  That is a purpose that we can all rally around.  While change can be difficult and can at times cause division, it is our prayer that we will be careful to protect the unity of our church by getting behind the purpose behind this decision even if it differs from some areas of personal preference.


Perform

To be able to accomplish this change and do it well, we are going to need many new workers.  We need everyone who calls E-Free their church home to do more than simply attend.  We need them to serve.  We encourage you to be praying now about where you can be involved in serving here at E-Free on Sunday morning.  There is a place for everyone.