The Church of Pembroke Pines in Pembroke Pines, Fla. has a pretty interesting strategy. You’ve heard of multiple services. Sometimes two on Sunday. Sometimes one on Saturday. Heck, sometimes even one on Wednesday. We’ve got something new and interesting for you though: Seven nights of worship at 7 p.m. That’s what the Church of Pembroke Pines does. Every night has a different feel, a different aim, and a different team. It’s crazy, but I think I might be sold. (link via Monday Morning Insight)
Update: The Church of Pembrook Pines is now Oasis Church, in case you’re looking for it. You can also hear more about the church at Pastor Guy Melton’s blog.
emergingmatt
May 7, 2007
I am a bit undecided about this idea. A church near me does 6 services a week because their building is too small for the numbers coming through their campus. Two of those six services are video services.
Still with this church it is the same message for all six services. This way the whole community that goes to that church is on the same page. They have small groups where they talk about the sermons and grow together in community, much like the New Testament calls for.
With the church that is having 7 services a week, it seems like American consumerism has completely infiltrated their ministry. If all seven services have 7 different pastors and 7 different “feels” to them, then no one there is on the same page as you except those in “your” preferred service. This kind of disturbs me, because church should not be about meeting our needs! That’s my take on it.
Brad
May 7, 2007
My worst interpretation of this is that it separates the church into narrow strata and community is destroyed.
My best interpretation of this is that church has become an always-open hub for human interaction and worship, and community is reborn.
The truth is probably somewhere in between.
Jonathan Ross
May 7, 2007
I would tend to disagree with emergingmatt.
Much like radio stations, it’s almost impossible to meet everyone’s desires at the same time. I think that a good talk, can leave questions open for individuals, allowing God to speak to them personally thorough the message.
In the Bible, Paul became like a Jew, or gentile, or weak… (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
I also think that different people in churches are on different pages. Some are not christians, some are new christians, some have been christians for years, they’re not all on the same page.
I wouldn’t feel able to invite my friends to a really traditional service, but in a more laid-back setting, where they could feel at home, that’s another story.
KevMc
May 7, 2007
Hi everone! I work at the church doing 7 Nights of Worship. I commented a lot about the operationial side of 7NOW on the MondayMorningInsights blog that is linked above. I’d like to share a few items of ministry significance that have happened since we started 7 Nights of Worship.
First, people visit our church who would not have come on Sunday mornings. Also, since the evening are more intimate, visitors enjoy more interaction. I seem to be meeting a lot of “single-again” men. Guys who probably work or sleep in on Sunday or have their kids for the weekend.
Second, unpaid team members are taking significant leadership roles now that we can’t rely exclusively on paid ministry leaders.
Third, we see people going through difficult times in their lives attending multiple times each week. Sure, the message is the same, but they really need a safe place and people who care to listen and pray with them.
Fourth, we already had 5 worship services so our reality was that our church was already spread out. Now we’re spread out with even more of a purpose. People are excited about their part in the big vision. The nights are like different rooms in your home. They feel different, but they are still part of the same home.
Fifth, we’ve been able to grow our paid staff because of this new format which is a blessing to our ministry in many ways.
Sixth, we are trying to create a safe place for people in our community. We’ve done it all: multiple campuses, bigger buildings, and multiple services. We’ll do whatever we can to continue to share the Gospel message.
The downsides are clear though…
We don’t have a lot of space and time to use that space for events.
We don’t see everyone every week. There are months that go by when I don’t see someone I really love in my own church!
We aren’t ready to recommend this approach to others. We simply felt led by God in this direction. I’m sure we’ll fail in many ways. In a year we’ll know if this is sustainable.
Derrick
May 7, 2007
I lead worship at a church where we have 6 worship experiences each weekend. 2 Saturday night and 4 on Sunday. Each of these is identical to the next one in that we do the same worship set with the same band the entire weekend. Our pastor is broadcast live via satellite (we’re an hour and a half away) and does the same sermon at each experience.
We’ve found that this model builds community very well. The same people attend the same experiences every week. They serve and are involved in lifegroups (small groups.) Having multiple “options” for people is a fact of our culture. The upside is that people who may not like the MEGA feel can attend a smaller experience and those that do like a crowd can pick those experiences.
I am very glad that God has not led us to do experiences every day of the week. I might shoot myself, if my wife didn’t shoot me first!
Derek
May 7, 2007
Cool idea, but I was very disappointed as I browsed the web page to discover that there were no women in leadership. How can you offer 7 different styles of worship and not include a diversity in who plans the services. I am glad to see, however, that there are churches willing to try new things.
KevMc
May 7, 2007
Good points Derek & Derrick.
The website is WAY out of date. I hate to admit it on this web blog in particular, but we are struggling in that area.
There are 8 host pastors and 6 or 7 worship leaders. A couple of our worship leaders are ladies. All the host pastors are men. Ladies also lead and serve in the other areas (children, prayer, first impressions, behind-the-scenes, tech).
Our goal is to keep volunteers from being at no more than 2 evenings each week and paid staff at no more than 3. Paid staff have very flexible schedules.
Later!
Kevin
orrin
May 8, 2007
Catholics have had mass (service) everyday for years and years. I would like it, but I’d rather it be aimed at everyone all of the time. I want a church to be a house of prayer, not a feel-good center that celebrates music and charismatic speaking.
Sarah
May 8, 2007
I think this is a great idea. We have created a society that is fast paced, where there are no real days off and we are loosing touch more and more.
What a great way for everyone involved to meet needs and have their needs met. I grew up in a family where my Dad worked lots of hours and was often not able to come to church on Sunday. I wish this had been an option for us.
I will be very interested in seeing how God uses this church.
I also like that it has different teams each night. It frees up those who are ministering to have more time to be with their families and not become over worked. It also gives more people opportunity to use the gifts God has given them.
I know this is just my opinion but I think it is a great idea. I can see so many benefits of it.
Good Job Pembroke!!! May God Bless your ministry:)
WoO
May 8, 2007
“Our goal is to keep volunteers from being at no more than 2 evenings each week and paid staff at no more than 3. Paid staff have very flexible schedules.”
Glad to hear this. This is the first concern that popped into my mind upon reading about this. Burnout is sadly very prevalent in the churches today, and without such ground rules, could be very easily facilitated in such an environment.
TattooPastor
May 17, 2007
Just found this website this morning and wanted to say how happy I am to see this conversation even happening!
I love that they are not ready to pass it on to others but simply that God led them to it. Awesome heart.
This is a tough call because our consumer culture asks us to do things to reach out that might come against our other calling to create community.
Dan
May 20, 2007
Perhaps we should create a new denomination. How about the Seven Days Adventists?