Homecoming Services

[Mike Killingsworth]

What does your Homecoming Service consist of? We have regular morning worship with the message by one of our former Pastors then go to the fellowship hall for dinner and then special singing afterwards. I have notice that through the years that most people eat and then go home so we don't have that many to hang around to listen to the special singers we have in the afternoon. We take up a love offering for the singers which can't amount to a whole lot when it seems only a handful of people stay for the singing which bothers me more than just a little bit. We have no services that night so I can't understand why people can't stay an extra hour for the singing. Any way I didn't intend to start complaining so forgive me for that. :) What I would like to know is if your church has a service similar to ours or do you do something different. The visiting Pastor preached a message this year about "Change within the Church" and I feel we need some type of change made with our Homecoming Service and any help ya'll can give me will be greatly appreciated. :thanks)

[Jon Twitchell]

For us, doing something after a dinner on Sunday doesn't seem to work. We used to do our Annual Meeting business after dinner... and it was obvious to me that the few people who were staying really didn't want to be there. So a couple years ago, we made the decision to do the business and the reports during Sunday School, and the pastor's report as the morning message.

Our Homecoming weekend is in the fall. We have a picnic on Saturday at a state park down the street... they have a covered pavilion in case it rains. We usually have some games and contests for the kids, so this also functions as a Sunday School Picnic. On Sunday, we usually have a former pastor (or church member who is now a pastor) come and preach.

This year, our homecoming weekend is four weeks before the 100th Anniversary Denominational, so we will use it to launch our anniversary services.

[Susan Unger]

What does your Homecoming Service consist of?

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a homecoming service?

[Jon Twitchell]

We have a yearly homecoming service in the fall that coincides with the "anniversary" of our church. It is simply an opportunity for us to try to reconnect with families who may have drifted away... it's also a chance to invite people who have moved to come back and join us for a weekend.

Our Homecoming Weekend is usually the second Sunday after Labor Day, which becomes a chance to kick off the fall...

[Cindi Hammons]

One year (at a former church) we had singing during dinner. People have other things to do than sit and listen to gospel quartets for hours after dinner. Some people like it, others do not. By combining the dining experience with the music, people can visit while having music in the background. One down side to this is that people may feel obligated to quietly listen to the music rather than visit.

Don't be hard on those who choose not to stay after dinner for music. People have different interests, and using a format that has worked in the past does not always mean that it will work in the present or the future.

[Mike Killingsworth]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a homecoming service?




We have Homecoming the 3rd Sunday of May each year. Ours is pretty much the same as Jon said in his post except we just have Homecoming Sunday instead of a weekend. It's just a special day to get together with old friends and familes for the day.