St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Make a good thing better

This month we are making a few small changes to the routine of our 11.15am all-age services. Here's a short explanation of what and why.

There is no doubt that the creation of the 11.15am All-Age Service has been a good thing in the history of our church. The service register shows that about 90 adults attended the former 10.30am morning service at St Luke’s before the new pattern came into being - within a few months the total attendance rose to 120 adults after the present 9.30am and 11.15am services came into being. This was ten years ago, when church attendances nationally were slightly higher than today. We currently aren’t achieving the 120, but our total attendance is still better than the 90.

However, we always need to ask if we can improve things by tidying up some loose edges, so here are five little changes which we are going to try for a few months:

• Instead of “pre-service” singing we will have only instrumental music before the service, and the service will make a definite start at 11.15am. We hope this will help people to make the definite mental switch to worship, instead of having a time which is sometimes felt to be a bit half-and-half. We also hope people will still come early so as to have a cup of coffee and share fellowship with those who linger from the 9.30am service.

• The part of the service before the children go out will have a definite aim of being accessible to all ages: so on the whole there will be lively songs, often including some with actions. There will usually be some input on the bible passage which Sunday Club will be studying, in the form of a sketch or a quiz or something similar.

• The worship songs will be moved to after the children depart, and will lead into the prayers, instead of the Peace interrupting the atmosphere of worship.

• Sunday Club will return to church by the end of every service. This will mean that parents don’t have to go to the school to collect their children, and we will finish as a family together. We hope people might be able to get to know each other a bit better if they don’t have to rush off and collect children. (It will also help the Sunday Club teachers to have a definite finish point.) In order for this to work we are setting target times - we aim to start Sunday Club at 11.35am and finish it at 12.15pm (we’ll have to make a real effort to achieve this!).

• There will be a final hymn and then the blessing, and then no more singing. We hope this will also help us to be able to get to know each other a little better.

Of course, we might not have got this right yet. But if we start, we stand a chance of God steering us.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. October 2000, Page 6.
Home Page. Index of articles. Services: index, 11.15am changes, Regular 10.30am. In this issue: (October 2000) Vicar's Letter, Money & Missions, 11.15am changes, Question.	Make a good thing better This month we are making a few small changes to the routine of our 11.15am all-age services. Here's a short explanation of what and why. There is no doubt that the creation of the 11.15am All-Age Service has been a good thing in the history of our church. The service register shows that about 90 adults attended the former 10.30am morning service at St Luke’s before the new pattern came into being - within a few months the total attendance rose to 120 adults after the present 9.30am and 11.15am services came into being. This was ten years ago, when church attendances nationally were slightly higher than today. We currently aren’t achieving the 120, but our total attendance is still better than the 90. However, we always need to ask if we can improve things by tidying up some loose edges, so here are five little changes which we are going to try for a few months: • Instead of “pre-service” singing we will have only instrumental music before the service, and the service will make a definite start at 11.15am. We hope this will help people to make the definite mental switch to worship, instead of having a time which is sometimes felt to be a bit half-and-half. We also hope people will still come early so as to have a cup of coffee and share fellowship with those who linger from the 9.30am service. • The part of the service before the children go out will have a definite aim of being accessible to all ages: so on the whole there will be lively songs, often including some with actions. There will usually be some input on the bible passage which Sunday Club will be studying, in the form of a sketch or a quiz or something similar. • The worship songs will be moved to after the children depart, and will lead into the prayers, instead of the Peace interrupting the atmosphere of worship. • Sunday Club will return to church by the end of every service. This will mean that parents don’t have to go to the school to collect their children, and we will finish as a family together. We hope people might be able to get to know each other a bit better if they don’t have to rush off and collect children. (It will also help the Sunday Club teachers to have a definite finish point.) In order for this to work we are setting target times - we aim to start Sunday Club at 11.35am and finish it at 12.15pm (we’ll have to make a real effort to achieve this!). • There will be a final hymn and then the blessing, and then no more singing. We hope this will also help us to be able to get to know each other a little better. Of course, we might not have got this right yet. But if we start, we stand a chance of God steering us. John Hartley
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