Correcting a Miscommunication
It’s come to my attention that I wasn’t clear about the plan when we put the 8 o’clock service on hold at the beginning of Lent. I believe that some folks understood that we’d resume the 8 o’clock after Lent. However, my plan has been to reconsider resuming it after Lent. To help explain let me share the reasons that we paused the service in the first place.
First, the attendance has been dwindling for a long time. Essentially, the number of regular attendees at the 8 o’clock service has been shrinking since we resumed that service after the Covid restrictions were relaxed. The core group of attendees has continued to shrink with some folks switching to the 10 o’clock some folks have left the church.
Second, the number of people willing to serve at the service has been shrinking. There is a very small number of folks who are willing to be the reader or the acolyte at the 8 o’clock and those who were willing were not willing to do it as often as it was needed.
Third, because of these shrinking factors the group at the 8 o’clock was beginning to feel less and less like a community and more and more like private Masses for a select few.
We paused the service for these (and some other more minor reasons) with the thought that if there was a shift in interest in the 8 o’clock service we would start it back up again. Ultimately, I am not aware of any increased interest in attendance or leadership at the 8 o’clock service. For that reason we won’t be starting it again at Easter.
As for Palm Sunday and Easter Day, I believe there has been some talk about just having an early service on those special days, but as a matter of liturgical theology I believe that it is better for us all to worship together when we have the opportunity to do so. I think the benefit of having the whole congregation worshiping in the same services is of far greater benefit than the benefits of adding an additional service on those days. To be clear, I think there would be some benefits to adding the service for those days but the benefit of us all worshiping together is far, far greater to my mind.
I look forward to worshiping with all of you this coming Palm Sunday and Easter. Blessings to you!
