Is Your Local Church Scheduling Evening Services for December 23rd?

[Pete Vecchi]

Is Your Local Church Scheduling Evening Services for December 23rd?

[Barbara Moulton]

No...we normally don't have a Sunday evening service.

But of course we are having an evening service on Dec. 24th.

[Mark Bolerjack]

No...but we don't normally have a Sunday evening service - we normally have Sunday evening Sunday School, but it will be cancelled as well.

[Walter Thompson]

We will be having a candlelight communion service instead of our regular fellowship time.

[Barb Bouldrey]

We will do something special concerning Christmas, but we will have a service. Last year we did not since it was Christmas Eve.

Barb

[Larry Brincefield]

Is Your Local Church Scheduling Evening Services for December 23rd?

No, instead we will have a candlelight Christmas Eve Service. Our people have come to really enjoy the Christmas Eve service.

[Jon Twitchell]

We typically do our Christmas Candlelight service on the Sunday before Christmas. So, even though we don't typically have a Sunday Evening service, we will have a service on the 23rd.

[Mike Norris]

...We usually have Sunday night Sunday School........but this year we will hold a Christmas service.......rather than having it on Christmas Eve.

[William Hunter]

The community churches in our town are banding together for a community Christmas service that evening. It is sponsored by our local ministerial assoc. and the community choir will join us.

The offering at such events, after about $400.00 is taken out for the operation of our annual local ministerial assoc. budget, all goes into a "helping Hands" fund. All the churches here and in the next town south of us join together and put the offering of all our events together in a common fund administered by a church sec. whose church is located about half way between the two towns. This money is used to help people actually living in our county, with rent, utilities, etc.

We have another fund that is administered through the local police dept. for gas and/or a meal for those traveling through. That way we do not have people coming to town and working the churches. The folks who have nothing to hide have no problem going to our police dept. to gain the proper form for gas and food. That fund is not used a great deal and so the amount of money put in there from the offerings at our events is small.

The churches in both towns also ring the Salvation Army bell in various locations in our two towns. Twenty percent of what is given here goes to the SA, and 80% goes into our Helping Hands effort. We do not have a SA unit in our country and they are glad to work with us on this.

The system works pretty good. By working together we can help a bit more substantially those in our county who need help---rather than only a church or two trying to help by themselves. Also, good records of who received what and when are kept, etc. We pastors here a pleased with the way this all works.

[Kara Blankenship]

we are

[Mike Schutz]

We normally have communion on Sunday evenings, as well as several small groups and children's programs - both on and off site.

Several of the small groups will meet, but children's programs and communion service will not. The next night we will have our regular Christmas Eve candlelight service, which is a major outreach event for us.

[Alisa Stoll]

We have Sunday evening services two Sundays a month - one is a prayer service and the other is some type of outreach. We will have a Christmas eve service.

Alisa

[Pete Vecchi]

I think the thing that surprises me most is that of the 29 votes cast thus far, 21 show that the churches don't generally hold Sunday evening service at all. That's over 74%.

Is this a new norm?

[John Rivas]

Our church has a tradition of Christmas Eve services which communion is served. This year we expect to serve over 8,000 between 12 services.

[Marsha Lynn]

I think the thing that surprises me most is that of the 29 votes cast thus far, 21 show that the churches don't generally hold Sunday evening service at all. That's over 74%.

Is this a new norm?

I suspect it's a growing trend. I chose the "no, but we usually do" choice in your poll, but what we usually have isn't a true Sunday evening service. Rather, we have various activities/events on Sunday evenings -- fellowship, missions, outreach. On the in-between Sunday evenings, we watch a Ray Vanderlaan (sp?) videotape and have discussion.

The Sunday before our revival, we had a full-blown Sunday evening service with music. That was the first since we restructured our music program. It was a lot of work! I was suddenly thankful that we don't do that every week.

Tonight is an exhibition Bible quiz between quizzers and their parents. One round of children's quizzing and one round of teen quizzing. No music. Next Sunday evening is the "hanging of the greens" service. Then a week with either the videotape or the NMI service (depending on what the NMI prez decides about the current scheduling of Dec 30 for his meeting). Then the teen Christmas play on the 16th and nothing on the 23rd, but a Christmas Eve service the next night.

My pastor says that we "have church" on Sunday evenings. I say that if someone asks me if we "have church" on Sunday evenings, we would have to discuss their definition of "having church" before I could answer.

Marsha

[Hans Deventer]

I think the thing that surprises me most is that of the 29 votes cast thus far, 21 show that the churches don't generally hold Sunday evening service at all. That's over 74%.

Is this a new norm?

I don't think that not holding Sunday night services is considered a norm. A norm would be some rule, written or not, to which people would adhere.
It seems to me that neither is the case. I do think that holding Sunday night services used to be a human norm. Can't find it in the Scriptures.

[Pete Vecchi]

I don't think that not holding Sunday night services is considered a norm. A norm would be some rule, written or not, to which people would adhere.
It seems to me that neither is the case. I do think that holding Sunday night services used to be a human norm. Can't find it in the Scriptures.

I guess I meant the word "norm" to mean more or less "general practice." In other words, is it simply getting more common for churches to not have Sunday evening services than to have them?

[David Pettigrew]

"Carols, Candles, and Cookies"

Sunday, December 23rd @ 6:00 PM

Denison First Church of the Nazarene

Kids - wear your Christmas pajamas.

************

This is what we are doing. A service of carol singing, with everyone given a candle to hold when they come in. This will conclude with communion. Then we'll move to the fellowship hall for cookies. Everyone is to bring their favorite homemade to share. If anyone is in the neighborhood, y'all come!

[Hans Deventer]

I guess I meant the word "norm" to mean more or less "general practice." In other words, is it simply getting more common for churches to not have Sunday evening services than to have them?

So it seems. Or do special things on Sunday night. We have a "service of silence" every month on Sunday night.

[DA Weaver]

Is Your Local Church Scheduling Evening Services for December 23rd?

You forgot one answer to the poll....

I don't know, ask the pastor!!! lol :basic03

[Tami Martin]

We usually do have a service, but this year instead of a service, we're having family communion. It's a special time of communion for each family individually. We really enjoyed it last year and I'm glad we're doing it again.

[Jim Norman]

We are having our Christmas eve service on the 23rd so folks can be with their families on the 24th...I can't believe some of the flack we are getting.