Here’s the email from Pastor Michael:
Discontinuing Saturday Night
I wanted to let you know that after much prayer and discussion, our leadership team has decided to discontinue our Saturday night service. October 8 will be our last Saturday night service. I know this is inconvenient for some and very disappointing for others. I’m sorry for that. Let me share why we are discontinuing Saturday night service.
- Saturday service has struggled after COVID, while our Sunday morning services are slowly and steadily growing. We currently invest 45% of our weekend staff and volunteer hours into Saturday night for 14% of our weekend attendees.
- People who are new to LC or far from God will get their best first impression of our church from a Sunday morning service. Because our Sunday morning services are fuller, they can better express the warmth, engagement, and joy that our church is known for having. We hope that a good first impression will lead to a second and a third and to continued discipleship in helping people find and follow Jesus.
- Saturday night service has put a strain on our staff and volunteers and their families. We’ve lost several staff and many volunteers because of the strain of being away from family all weekend. We want to operate in a way that models the healthy rhythms we preach.
Here is our big hope and two notes.
Our big hope is that Saturday night attendees and volunteers will join us on Sunday mornings! God is doing great things in our church: people are saying “yes” to Jesus, getting baptized, growing in the Word, giving to the needy, and finding community in groups! You belong and we can’t wait to see you on Sunday! If you can’t make it on Sunday mornings, we would love to help you find the best option for growing with Jesus, possibly inviting friends and family for church in their home with our Sunday evening broadcast at 5 pm!
- We want to say a GIANT “Thank you” to all the volunteers who have served so faithfully and fruitfully on Saturday night! We couldn’t have done this without you!!!!
- We are excited to make room for new opportunities to serve our church in new ways! More info coming soon.
With Love,
Michael
I would just like to say my family looked forward to Saturday night service as we are unable to attend Sunday morning due to work schedule. A lot of families cannot make it Sunday mornings because they work. So now alot of families will not be able to attend church.
Hi Shannon – this reality honestly weighed heavily on us as we debated this for months. As mentioned, hopefully you can join us for our Sunday evening online replay at 5pm?