We average between 425 and 450 worshipers each weekend. On special occassions (like Easter, Christmas, etc.) we will have around 750. God has had us on a journey of numerical and spiritual growth. Six years ago there were under 150 worshipers each weekend.
The new space will give us some much needed fellowship space as well as the opportunity to remodel our existing buildings to accomadate our children's ministries.
Can you just sense the lifes that are going to be changed inside that "frame" right now? It just pumps me up to think about the building going up and what will happen inside there. It just seems like yesterday that the whole plan was just being discussed, God moves in wonderful ways.
Ok, Kris, so I have to ask....how do you do the silent worship portion of the service with so many in a congregation? Have you had to abandon that because of size? It would seem that the larger you got the less people would be able to participate in such a tradition. AND, how has it changed the "Quaker" flavor because you have grown? The largest Friends Church I pastored got up to about 300 and at that level the silent worship seemed to lose something....glad to hear about the growth though, that's great! I hope it continues.
Great question. You're right, when we started getting more people in our worship services the "silent worship" became let's just say "interesting". So we did have to make some changes.
Fortunately, we had a traditional service with fewer people in it so we have intentionally kept silent/open worship in that service.
In our contemporary service we have kept the personal/intimate feel by inviting anyone who wishes to be prayed for to come to the altar and a pastor or even their small group spends some time ministering to them. We do this during one of our worship sets; this way the congregation is involved by singing praises and those with needs are being ministered to. It can get tricky sometimes for the worship leader if they are winding down the song set and we still have a lot of people at the altar, but this invitation to pray at the altar works very well in our setting.
Which Yearly Meeting were you in and which church did you pastor Mike?
Thanks again for joining the discussion and commenting on the blog.
Kris, sounds very interesting. do understand the need for a change. My pastoral ministry? I pastored Buffalo Friends in Eastern Iowa as part of the Iowa Yearly Meeting, then we spent a number of years at Tulsa Friends Church in Oklahoma as part of the Kansas Yearly Meeting. My time in the Kansas Yearly Meeting was very rewarding. I did recently hear from the superintendant in the Iowa Yearly Meeting asking me to come back and take a church in Iowa. It would be a difficult change for me at this point. I'm currently working as a Lead pastor and teaching pastor at a large bible church of abou 2,000 families, so it would be a move down from where I am now...maybe when I retire from here.
I hope your Sunday went well, and I hope you have a great new year.
Mike, I've got roots in both Iowa Yearly Meeting and Mid-America (Kansas) Yearly Meeting. My Dad planted Mason City, Friends in Northern Iowa on the early 80's, and Riverton Friends in Kansas is "home" for me. My wife and I graduated from Barclay College in Kansas.
Sounds like you've got your hands full there in Texas - keep up the great work and have a great New Year!
very exciting and very nice.
ReplyDeletelooks great! That should help a lot. Kris, how many do you have in worship on a Sunday? It looks like a large fellowship for a Friends church.
ReplyDeleteMindy,
ReplyDeleteI'm excited too. I'm looking forward to using the new space. I'm sure Jeff will enjoy his new office too.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteWe average between 425 and 450 worshipers each weekend. On special occassions (like Easter, Christmas, etc.) we will have around 750. God has had us on a journey of numerical and spiritual growth. Six years ago there were under 150 worshipers each weekend.
The new space will give us some much needed fellowship space as well as the opportunity to remodel our existing buildings to accomadate our children's ministries.
Can you just sense the lifes that are going to be changed inside that "frame" right now? It just pumps me up to think about the building going up and what will happen inside there. It just seems like yesterday that the whole plan was just being discussed, God moves in wonderful ways.
ReplyDeleteOk, Kris, so I have to ask....how do you do the silent worship portion of the service with so many in a congregation? Have you had to abandon that because of size? It would seem that the larger you got the less people would be able to participate in such a tradition. AND, how has it changed the "Quaker" flavor because you have grown? The largest Friends Church I pastored got up to about 300 and at that level the silent worship seemed to lose something....glad to hear about the growth though, that's great! I hope it continues.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteGreat question. You're right, when we started getting more people in our worship services the "silent worship" became let's just say "interesting". So we did have to make some changes.
Fortunately, we had a traditional service with fewer people in it so we have intentionally kept silent/open worship in that service.
In our contemporary service we have kept the personal/intimate feel by inviting anyone who wishes to be prayed for to come to the altar and a pastor or even their small group spends some time ministering to them. We do this during one of our worship sets; this way the congregation is involved by singing praises and those with needs are being ministered to. It can get tricky sometimes for the worship leader if they are winding down the song set and we still have a lot of people at the altar, but this invitation to pray at the altar works very well in our setting.
Which Yearly Meeting were you in and which church did you pastor Mike?
Thanks again for joining the discussion and commenting on the blog.
Kris, sounds very interesting. do understand the need for a change. My pastoral ministry? I pastored Buffalo Friends in Eastern Iowa as part of the Iowa Yearly Meeting, then we spent a number of years at Tulsa Friends Church in Oklahoma as part of the Kansas Yearly Meeting. My time in the Kansas Yearly Meeting was very rewarding. I did recently hear from the superintendant in the Iowa Yearly Meeting asking me to come back and take a church in Iowa. It would be a difficult change for me at this point. I'm currently working as a Lead pastor and teaching pastor at a large bible church of abou 2,000 families, so it would be a move down from where I am now...maybe when I retire from here.
ReplyDeleteI hope your Sunday went well, and I hope you have a great new year.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI've got roots in both Iowa Yearly Meeting and Mid-America (Kansas) Yearly Meeting. My Dad planted Mason City, Friends in Northern Iowa on the early 80's, and Riverton Friends in Kansas is "home" for me. My wife and I graduated from Barclay College in Kansas.
Sounds like you've got your hands full there in Texas - keep up the great work and have a great New Year!