Worship times in your area?

[Idaho45guy]

I grew up in this area, then moved all over the place from Hawaii and California to Iowa and Arizona.

I moved back here three years ago from Arizona eager to find a church where I could continue to grow in my faith and make new Christian friends. I attended two different churches in seven years in Arizona. One was a little Baptist church with maybe 100 members and the other was a large non-denominational Bible-based church with around 800 members.

Both had two services on Sunday mornings as well as a Sunday evening service and a mid-week service. Great preaching in both.

I moved out here and discovered very limited options.

I have visited several churches or checked out their sermons online. I have yet to find a good fit. None offer a mid-week service or multiple services on Sunday. I work graveyard shifts from 6pm to 6am, Sunday through Wednesday. Getting up at 8am on Sunday to get to church by 10am is very difficult.

The one church I attended had Sunday morning services at 10:15am. I've been able to occasionally adjust my sleep schedule enough to get a solid 6 hours of sleep so I can go to church. It doesn't work every week, however. So I signed up for a home-based Bible study that met on Thursday nights. Went a few times then they decided to meet on Friday or Saturday nights which didn't work since my friends and family usually had something planned on those nights.

Then the church went to "Summer" hours. Worship starts at 9:15am. A friend invited me to his Baptist church which meets at 10am. Went a few times and really did not like the pastor. He kept using leftists in his sermons as positive examples. Stephen Colbert and Hillary Clinton. Wanted to try another church that had a later start time, but they listed a woman as an associate pastor.

There is a church that meets at my work at 5pm on Sunday evenings. I went there and it was a college kid ministry. I was the oldest person there, by 20 years...

I don't recall ever living anywhere that had such limited church services. There are plenty of churches, but none have multiple services.

Just curious if the churches in your area still have two or more services on Sunday and one during the week.

[Grmps]

The age gap from 20 to 40 isn't that bad. Did you like the atmosphere at the church that meets at your work? Did you feel edified by what the preacher was saying. Do you feel too old to keep up with younger more energetic parishoiners? If you like the church (it does fit your schedule) you could invite friends your age to the service. Talk to the preacher, see what he thinks.

[Idaho45guy]

The name of the church for college kids is called Resonate. It is solely a college ministry. The sermon was geared towards college kids and I felt like a creepy old man being there and got a few strange looks.

From their website:

In December of 2006, 5 people, who would later be called Resonate Church, started meeting in a coffee shop in Pullman, WA. For 9 months we continued to gather and invite people to what we were calling "The Resonate Sessions." Each week we shared a meal together and opened the Scriptures to dream about what church could be. We told people, "If what we're talking about 'resonates' with you, please stick around." That gathering grew from 5 to 50.

On August 19th, 2007, Resonate Church had its first large group public worship gathering. We launched with the mission of reaching college students at Washington State University and the University of Idaho. In August of 2008, we started a service in Moscow, ID, closer to the U of I students.

We now have sites at Washington State University, University of Idaho, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, and the University of Oregon. In our first 9 years, God has given us grace and favor beyond our expectation. We have seen students come to Christ and have been able to celebrate over 650 baptisms.

We're grateful for what God has done, but we press on knowing there is still much work to do. Currently there are 21 million college students in America and we are confident God wants us to play our part in reaching them with the rescue of Jesus.

[Blackwater]

Idaho, my own church has grown significantly in recent years, and now has early morning and 11:00 services with Sunday School at 10:00. We also have Wednesday prayer meeting, and the men's and women's study groups meet Tue & Thurs. There's also a Sunday evening service. Our preacher really keeps it in the wind! But he's a good one, and I am SO thankful for that! He's spent time in Alaska as a preacher/missionary, and loves the outdoors, and hunting and fishing, etc. But he gets to do those things only rarely because of his workload and his diligence and love for the church and its members. We're lucky to have him.

I suspect we've all had "dry spells" for a while in our lives, but they never last all that long, really. Or at least they haven't in my experience. It seems you're pretty discerning, and want a GOOD church. That's a good thing, and they'll always be harder to find than the "also rans." Great churches are as rare as great people, so it's a good thing that we can learn from others who may not be the "best," but have their hearts in the right place. I thank God for them all!

[Boaz]

Times can vary greatly . Depending on many things . We have one bible study (Sunday school) at 10 am and worship service at 11 am , evening service at 7 pm. Bible study on Wednesday evening . Those are written in stone . I belong to a small church , average attendance on Sunday would probably be about 150 people .

But we have a lot of special projects , groups , outreach programs , etc that vary according to need .

Generally only the 'big' churches here have two worship services on Sunday because of a large membership .

[jmort]

11 am
Southern Baptist
Established 1884

[Idaho45guy]

I think some churches view changing worship schedules as somehow as blasphemous as changing scripture... Now, I'm very sensitive to twisting scripture to make it more "relevant" to modern times and find much of the modern church movement in America offensive with it's emphasis on media and entertainment, but making church services more flexible and accessible for those with non-conventional work schedules does not go against the Word, IMHO.

[modified5]

The only real "scriptural" time we have is Paul preaching tip midnight!
If they start that I'm sleeping! :)

We have morning Bible study at 9 and services at 10.
Evening services are at 5, and Wednesday night at 7.

Church of Christ
Established 33 AD. :)

[wv109323]

Very few churches in my area have a Sunday evening service. It is a a morning Sunday School and worship service. Then Prayer Meeting on Wednesday. Some have Bible Study, Food Pantries,and Shut- ins where a meal is prepared and delivered to those unable to attend services. All churches around me are small. I don't think any church has an attendance of 150 or more.

[Ken in Iowa]

It is interesting that this subject has come up just now as I have been called closer to God.

It has been years since attending any Catholic Church function. Our local Parrish has weekday morning mass at 8:30 daily. I think I'll drop in and see if they have an evangelical section.