Service Times
Believe it or not, we’ve been in our new building over a year now. Time flies. One of the decisions we wrestled with for a long time prior to moving in was service times. When should we have our services? How many should we have? Granted, I’m not the smartest guy in the world but those conversations took a long time.
As you know, we settled on opening the building with three services at 9 am, 11 am and 6 pm. I’m curious. Are those times still good for you and the friends you’re inviting? Are they too early, too late, or just right?
Chime in and let me know. Just curious.
Jeff
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Announcementsposted
may 13, 2008by Buckhead Church
May 13, 2008 at 7:37 am
I’m a 6pm’r but i’ve also been to the 11am as well. I enjoy both services but 6 is my time really. Everyone i talk to loves their time slot and i’ve never heard anyone say “man i wish it was earlier / later”. those who go to the 9 tend to be earlier risers, and use the 11 as a fall back. I think adding anything but an EARLY EARLY time slot would break up the day too much and make it hard for people to plan around. Anything later then 6pm and who knows what would happen :)
May 13, 2008 at 9:53 am
Speaking as a fellow 6pm’r, this is the best possible time for me to bring my unchurched friends to church. I love all of the services at our church, but I remember when we we’re making the move from the grocery store and me and my friends found out, contrary to what we assumed, that the 6PM service would continue after the move, we were all so excited!
Before coming to Buckhead, “I don’t want to wake up that early” was a popular excuse for people not attending church with me, this service time simply eliminates one of the already many barriers in the way of my unchurched friends giving church a shot.
Gracious!
May 13, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I think the biggest struggle with bringing friends is that I serve at 9 and usually go to the 11. I think 11 is the most convenient time for bringing friends along, but I can’t offer to give them a ride since I live 20 minutes away and the round trip would be impossible. I’m not sure what to do about that, but there you have it!
May 13, 2008 at 1:25 pm
We like the 9:00am slot less crowded and we have the whole day left. We do go to the 6:00pm service and like it too when we can’t make it early.
May 13, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Please bring back the 1pm! It was the best… take friends to a late breakfast or brunch and then, over eggs and waffles, gently convince them to go to church right down the street. Or, if not with friends but being reluctant to go, run some errands and realize you have nothing better to do than go to church because it’s the middle of a Sunday!
6pm is too late, IMHO — especially in the winter when it’s dark out.
May 13, 2008 at 5:38 pm
We normally go to the 9am, but serve at the 11am. Not sure if we could make it early enough to serve a the 9am : )
When we do bring people it is for the 11am service, gives us a chance to have lunch and talk afterwards.
May 13, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I wish they’d bring back the 5 and 7pm services.
May 13, 2008 at 7:55 pm
I agree with C, I wish we’d bring back the 1:00 service. The 9:00 is too early and the 11:00 is always crowded and you can never find a seat, and then it takes so long for 6:00 to come. On the other hand, when I have to serve on production I like the fact that I only have to do two services now instead of 3, and that we’re usually done by noon.
May 13, 2008 at 8:21 pm
I enjoy having the current service times because I have to work on weekends and the shifts that I have to pick from are 9-5 or 12-8. So no matter what shift, I have a chance to make it.
May 14, 2008 at 6:25 am
I really, really miss the 1:00pm service! I actually got used to mid-day church with the original 12:30 service at NPCC, and I was thrilled when we added that time at the grocery store. I know that is really hard on the production team and musicians. But, it really does work out well for doing breakfast/brunch beforehand or late lunch after. I rarely attend the evening services b/c I’m usually resting at that time or gearing up for the week ahead.
Regardless of what’s decided, thanks for checking with us! I love how dynamic our church is! :-)
May 14, 2008 at 6:43 am
A Saturday night service maybe? Just a thought.
May 14, 2008 at 11:22 am
Love the current times. I usually go to the 11am or 6pm service. Either way, we usually go to eat afterwards. Thats usually my big selling point on bringing in newbies.
May 15, 2008 at 3:47 am
I currently attend and prefer the 9 a.m. service. I have heard a lot of friends mention that they miss the 1 p.m. service though.
May 15, 2008 at 5:17 pm
We attend the 9 am and love it. I think the current times for all services are great.
May 15, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I attend the 9am and have invited my neighbor to go also to the 9am. It’s worked out great and I love it!
May 16, 2008 at 9:44 am
I miss the 1 o’clock service very much! Is there enough people that attend Buckhead Church now that you can open that time back up?!?! I would LOVE coming back to the 1pm! A Saturday night service is a pretty good idea too!!!! Either way – I love Buckhead Church! :-)
May 16, 2008 at 11:26 am
9am. LOVE that time!! 0800 definitely TOOOOOO early. But really no matter the time….try to be there every Sunday I can!
May 16, 2008 at 11:46 am
a 12:30 / 1:00 service would be great — maybe reduce the 11:00 crowd some — think the crowding is actually scaring some away — not so much on the inside as on the getting in/out of the parking lot, and other logistics.
May 16, 2008 at 12:17 pm
We miss the 1pm service!!
May 16, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I think the times are all perfect. I go at all different times for all different reasons.
I do think saving seats at the 11:00 service shouldn’t be tolerated. If your “group” isn’t there on time and it’s important enough to sit together what’s wrong with waiting in the hall for them? They’ll either conform to your level of promptness or you may enjoy sitting with other people that share your same exuberance for arriving early (or late)!
May 16, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Thanks so much for asking! If we add a 4th service I like Saturday night maybe at 6pm? or so. Would not want anything earlier than our 9am. I do attend all 3 right now based on my schedule and love having the flexibility so I never miss a service.
See you Sunday!
May 16, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I miss the 1pm service. I used to serve in waumba land every sunday with some friends at the 11 and then meet our other friends at the 1. Now all our friends go to the 11 since there is no 1. I had to stop serving at the 11 so I could attend church with my friends. If the 1 was back I could start serving in the 11 again!! PLEASE!!!!
May 17, 2008 at 5:24 am
Love the 9 am especially with our kids. Saturday at 6 pm would be a great addition!
May 17, 2008 at 11:26 am
Hey everyone. Thank you all so much for your great feedback. This is very helpful. We’ll start discussing this at our staff Leadership meetings in two weeks.
Thanks again. And if you have additional comments, please respond.
Jeff
May 19, 2008 at 6:29 am
A 12:30 or 1pm service would be great, sometimes I can’t make the 6pm and the 11am is too crowded. :)