525 Sunday!
It's here!!! ...and so it this week's LONG eNote
It's another HUGE weekend here at Prospect!
Last Sunday's Kingdom Quest Kick-Off was a huge success!
And now we're just a few days away from launching our 2 Service Sunday Schedule!
As a reminder...
Our traditional service will be moving from 9:00 to 8:45 am.
Our discipleship hour for Children, Youth and Adults will run from 10:00-10:45.
(Soul Cafe will run from the conclusion of the early service through 10:45.)
Our new "525 Worship" service will start at 10:45 am.
Frequently Asked Questions of our 2 Service Schedule
Yes...Pastor Steve will be offering the same sermon most Sundays. We want those worshipping at both Sunday services to feel connected, and offering the same sermon series focus at both services will help foster this connection. There may be special Sundays where different guest preachers are leading worship at the 2 services, but this will be the exception and not the norm. So, if you finds yourself bouncing from the early service to the late service from week to week, you won't miss a beat with regard to the sermon. (Of course, the delivery from service to service may change and/or "minor editing" may occur between services.) You might even want to stay for both services to catch what you missed the first time around! :-)
What is the plan for Children and Youth on Sunday mornings?
Little will change with regard to the early (8:45) service. We will still include a children's moment during the service. After which our 3-5 year olds will be invited downstairs to the Kingdom Quest activity room (if they aren't staying with parents/family in the sanctuary).
Special Soul Cafe treats will be delivered downstairs for our children so they can go right into they Kingdom Quest classes and kids' choir at 10:00. The children will be dismissed from their classes in time to join us for the 10:45 worship service.
We are inviting all of our Prospect Kids to stay in the sanctuary for the 10:45 service. We aren't planning a "dedicated children's moment" within the 10:45 service, but are really looking into ways to creatively involve out kids in the worship service. We certainly hope that the Prospect Kids' Choir will sing at the late service when possible.
Nursery Care will be provided for our infant through 3 year old "Little Prospectors" throughout both services and the Deeper Still education/fellowship hour.
Will parking be an issue with 2 Sunday services?
We hope so! LOL
But with an hour break between services, we expect sufficient space to open in the parking lot to accommodate those arriving late in the morning.
Of course, we would LOVE to have everyone, regardless of what worship service they are attending, hanging around during the Deeper Still/Soul Cafe hour. If we start to experience a full parking lot (wouldn't that be a nice problem to have!) members are reminded that there is parking behind the church AND ample parking at Dunlap Grade School. To help the parking situation, Pastor Steve has agreed to walk to church every Sunday!
Will we still have Soul Cafe on Sundays?
Absolutely! Soul Cafe will be a big part of our Deeper Still hour between services. We hope that those who come to the early service will stick around long enough to connect with those arriving for the 10:45 service...and that those attending the 10:45 service will come early enough to connect with those from the early service.
So, if I'm coming to the late service, does that mean I can take my Soul Cafe coffee into the sanctuary?
Ah...the coffee question!
Yes. But we would ask everyone who wants to bring coffee (or other drinks) into the sanctuary to use spill-proof cups/tumblers (adult sippy cups!) as much as possible. Our sanctuary is part of God's Holy House, and we do want to honor/respect it...even as we respect everyone's need for Sunday morning caffeine.
How will our Sunday Meals be incorporated into this new morning schedule?
Great question! We typically have 4-5 special meals on Sunday mornings during the course of the year (chicken-noodle dinner, men's ministry breakfast, youth crock-pot cook-off, Chaddock Missions Team brunch and Soup & Sandwich Sunday with Christmas Decorating of the Church). We are looking to plan 5 weekends where we will have a single/combined Sunday morning worship service to accommodate these meals and the all-church connection they help foster. The first of these combined worship services is tentatively scheduled for November 25th (Christmas decorating and Soup/Sandwich Sunday).
We're sure that you have additional questions, so feel free to ask them. (If you have a question, chances are others have the same question, too.)
Check out this video recap of our Kingdom Quest Kick-Off Sunday!
A FEW BIG FAVORS, TO ASK OF YOU!!!
Favor #1: Could you let us know if you are planning to attend the 2nd service this weekend?
We want to think intentionally about seating (we don't want 40 people huddled into the back 3 pews of the sanctuary) and the flow of the service and having some idea of which "regularly attending Prospectors" plan to be at the service will be extremely helpful.
Favor #2: Share/Like the invitational links we've created for the new 525 Worship service to help us keep getting the word out before this weekend.
Favor #3: Pray for big things! We've put in a lot of work and expended a lot of energy/resources to get to this point...but that pales in comparison to the energy and resources our God has to offer. Pray for our worship team, pray for me (Pastor Steve), pray for those who will be serving in the sound booth and as ushers, greeters, etc. for the new service, and pray for those in our community who could be blessed by a connection to God through Prospect and this new worship service! Pray against the Adversary's efforts to throw darts at us or to otherwise thwart the movement of God's Spirit in our midst!
Thanks, Prospect!