Kevin Sanders is a follower of Jesus, husband, pastor, blogger, and caffeine addict. He is the pastor of the Apollo Heights Baptist Church in El Paso, Texas.
I led the church I currently pastor to make a significant change in our ministry programming: canceling our Sunday evening services. This happened back in January, but I decided it was best to see how things go before I posted anything about it.
Allow me to share a little more about my own background before going any further:
I jokingly tell people that I started attending a Southern Baptist church nine months before I was born. I was raised in a family that pretty much attended church meetings whenever the doors were open. This means my weekly schedule consisted of Sunday School, Sunday morning worship (or “children’s church” when it was available), a Sunday evening Bible class (called “church training” back in the day, then later called “discipleship training”), Sunday evening worship, and Wednesday night worship or Bible study (or RA’s, or whatever else we did as kids). Just in case you’re counting, that’s five “meetings” per week, four of which happened on Sunday.
I’m deeply grateful that I grew up in a family that prioritized involvement in the church. I would not be the man I am without it. Having said that, at some point, I no longer felt the need to attend multiple services/meetings on Sunday. I’ve generally attended only one Sunday worship service for the past 20 years or so (this does not include prayer meetings, small group Bible studies, etc.).
I do eagerly look forward to assembling with fellow believers every Sunday morning–especially now that I’m a pastor. But I don’t really have that same enthusiasm for Sunday evenings, and I haven’t in a long time. Maybe I’ve been influenced by my time in the Philippines, where attending multiple Sunday services was just not practical for most church members (due to the cost of transportation, traffic, etc.).
I believe the Sunday evening service is a tradition that has outlived its usefulness in many (though not all) contexts. It seems the vast majority of Protestant churches have reached a similar conclusion. My current church was the only Southern Baptist congregation in Northeast El Paso still offering an evening service when I first arrived. There are only a handful of other churches in the entire city that still do (based on my research, anyway). This seems to represent a national trend. Thom Rainer predicted (in 2015) that fewer than 5% of American churches would have a Sunday evening service in the coming years, making the practice “almost extinct.” I also assume many of the churches that still do an evening service are mega churches that simply repeat the same service/sermon for those who can’t attend in the mornings.
I realize that not all pastors agree with my assessment (or the trend). Kevin DeYoung has acknowledged that Sunday evening services are not a biblical mandate but believes churches should keep doing them. I’ve heard John MacArthur say that preaching twice per Sunday has “doubled his life” as a pastor. He’s gone so far as to criticize church members who set apart Sunday afternoons/evenings for “family time.” Paul Chappell has given ten reasons why he considers Sunday evening worship/preaching a crucial part of his church’s ministry, and Tim Challies has expressed similar thoughts. Last but not least, Bart Barber shared about his commitment to the Sunday evening service here on SBC Voices. I’m sharing this so readers will see both sides of the story–every pastor and church has to decide what is most effective for making disciples in their respective communities.
That leads us to my current church. We are a multiethnic, friendly, generous, mission-minded group of believers. These strengths were present in the church long before I arrived. I consider it a great honor to be their pastor, and I’m grateful for the solid foundation that was already here before we showed up.
But we needed to make some adjustments in ministry programming in order to more effectively reach our community–especially the younger demographic. And we needed to do so sooner rather than later.
I presented the new vision for the church back in January. As I mentioned, it involved canceling our Sunday night services so we could begin a new small group ministry. It was a significant change, especially considering that I had only been the pastor for about 90 days when we voted on it.
Here’s what has happened since we made the change:
My sermon preparation and preaching is more focused. I really enjoy being able to spend all my sermon preparation time on a single message for our largest weekly gathering. I also spend a few hours on our Wednesday night Bible study (we have continued our Wednesday night prayer meeting), but most of my weekly study time is focused on the Sunday morning sermon.
We have the option of doing evangelism, outreach, and fellowship on Sunday afternoons/evenings. Sunday is a great day to mingle with lost and unchurched people here in our community–they are out playing sports, walking their dogs, and finding all sorts of ways to take advantage of the warm, sunny weather. We have done some outreach and fellowship activities on Sunday afternoon and plan to do more in the future.
We are more prepared to expand our Sunday morning ministry. We are praying to outgrow our current seating capacity in the morning service. This would mean starting an additional Sunday morning service to handle the volume of people. A second morning service would be a huge breakthrough, but it would also require more work and resources (audio/visual team, etc.). An additional evening service would have been even less practical in this scenario–we would likely be stretched too thin.
We now have the option of doing some of our small groups on Sunday afternoons/evenings. We are currently in the process of developing small group Bible studies that meet in homes and other locations. The group my wife and I lead meets on Friday nights, but we already have another group that meets on Sunday afternoons on the church campus.
Closing Thoughts
I realize I haven’t shared anything original or groundbreaking here. And I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m presenting some kind of “magic bullet” for church revitalization. I’ve written this in the hopes that it will help others who are leading their churches through changes (or considering it).
I’ve truly wrestled with this situation as I see more and more churches closing on Sunday night. I think about Walmart. I believe if I went to The Board of directors meeting and stood and say I know a better way to reach more people. I know a better way to get more people in the store and get our name out in the world better. I know a better way to sell more product. What we need to do is close except for one hour on Sunday morning and that will occur. I would be laughed out of the store or hauled out by folks in little white coats. I live in a small town and I know that we all have to answer to the Lord individually for what we have done as stewards of His flock. I was in management in secular situations and did not surrender to become a pastor until I was in my late 30’s and It does seem to be more difficult today to reach people for Jesus. In fact, our statistics bear it out as we see baptisms decreasing at an alarming rate. Is less going to be more? Jesus said in Luke 16:8So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.
Chris, that is my concern.
Kevin did a strategic move to do MORE in a better way. Great.
But what I’ve seen with a lot of people (Get-off-my-lawn old codger warning) makes me think that cancelling Sunday PM is often not part of a strategic decision, but just a desire to cut the schedule and downsize commitment. Is it wrong to do less? Maybe, maybe not. I have to admit, those days we cancel Sunday PM are pretty sweet. In my church, I am often the YOUNGEST person in church on Sunday PM.
I believe t that the Walmart analogy breaks down on many levels. Blessings!
This is funny to me to read this post today. The church I serve will be considering this move this coming “Sunday evening.”
The reasons we are considering doing this are very similar to those Kevin has stated in his post.
Our church is growing through Sunday School. That means “old-time” Sunday School methods are being used. The world has changed. In order to train SS Workers and leaders, we have to have time. I believe we can get more done in the Kingdom by ending the Sunday night services as they are and use some of those nights to train workers.
I really believe you’ve got the right idea, CB. One thing I’ve learned is that you can realistically expect most church members (even committed ones) to give you two meetings per week–three in some cases, though that’s the exception.
We have kept Sunday School but added a home-based small group ministry (it’s a better “fit” for some of our members). It is helping us get some people into small groups that otherwise would not be.
When I assigned to serve McDowell FBC as pastor, I shared with them that I was a Sunday School guy, old-school Sunday School guy. That means we train people to teach the biblical revelation to people, believing that if we actually “teach” the Bible to people the Holy Spirit has opportunity to convict them and convince them of their need to surrender their lives to Christ.
It takes time to train people to teach the Bible, this is even true of skilled educators who make their living teaching in schools, colleges, universities, and yes, even seminaries.
In today’s culture it is all but impossible to get prospective Bible teachers to give 13 consecutive nights to coming for training. However, we can be innovative and get the “most bang for the buck” doing weekend training clinics and Sunday afternoon and evening clinics to train potential Sunday School leaders and teachers.
Sunday School is working for us and we need more teachers and for our current teachers to be better teachers. That’s a major reason we are leaving the Sunday Night worship service behind. It is my conviction that our church can better fulfill the Great Commission if we do.
Great leadership Kevin! As church leaders, it is on us to do whatever it takes (while holding to scriptural mandates) to reach the lost and equip the saints.
Sunday PM church is a method of ministry that is not prescribed in scripture. In my book that means it is a tradition. In my ministry context of South Florida, Sunday PM is not a viable method of ministry.
However, we do use Sunday PM for Student Ministry and other training events. We as church leaders have the responsibility to create a clear pathway of spiritual formation for our church. I would highly recommend Geiger’s and Rainer’s work Simple Church for those church leaders who know there need to be a change in your ministry template, but are unsure what to do…
By the way, as a Pastor who is a pastor’s kid. Family time is of paramount importance. I understand the premise of that MacArthur article, but too much time at church creates an inwardly focused church. Your neighbors only see your two lights as you drive to church.
*tail lights
Thank you for your encouragement, Mike. I appreciate MacArthur’s ministry and his commentaries have been very useful to me. I believe, like him, that families should prioritize worship attendance. But criticizing people for not coming back Sunday nights is carrying things a little too far. Maybe those of us in “full time” vocational ministry lose sight if what it’s like to be a family with both parents working long hours.
I think if I were to cancel a church service it would be on a Wednesday night. I’ve seen this happen and more folks attended both services on Sunday. I also know of a church who changed their Wednesday service to Tuesday night. The church grew leaps and bounds. Other church members didn’t know how bad they had it until they visited this particular church on Tuesday night. The church was packed on Tuesday nights. The pastor didn’t teach on Tuesdays but preached his sermons.
I think in your area a church would be smart to get the word out they have a Wednesday night service especially if the other churches aren’t having one. It could be a blessing in disguise to have a mid week service. I guess it depends on the situation. It could be a blessing in disguise to have a Sunday night service, especially if the word gets out that your church is the place to be on Sunday night. I would suggest to break tradition and let the Spirit be free to have his way. Not just a 40 minute sermon, maybe a shorter one, have a time for testimonies and good Spiritual singing with hand clapping music and song.
It should read “A church would be smart to have a Sunday night service.” A blessing in disguise to have a midweek service on another night.
Paige Patterson surprised me about a year ago. He said, “If I were a pastor of a church, large or small, urban or rural, I’d have Sunday morning worship and Sunday evening worship. I’d also have Monday evening worship, Tuesday evening worship—worship every night of the week. People’s schedules are so crazy these days. There are lost people who only have one night a week free, and it can be any of those nights. I’d have a service every night so that no matter which night is free for the interested lost person or the new believer, they could attend.”
His idea was not that every believer would attend every service. Not even, I don’t think, that the same pastor would work over every service. I don’t know that it was a fully developed idea at all (although most of his are). It was an interesting perspective, and one that runs counter to others.
I addressed my congregation on the subject of Sunday Evening worship just last Sunday. “I’ve been your pastor for eighteen years,” I told them. “In planning my preaching schedule and in looking at what part of the whole counsel of God I have covered in my time with you, I realize that I will never live long enough and you will never keep me long enough to accomplish this task. Right now I’m preaching the Book of Psalms on Sunday Evenings. It is highly unlikely that I will ever be able to do this on Sunday Mornings. If you love the Book of Psalms and want to experience the preaching of it, I recommend that you come on Sunday Evenings.”
I know quite a few churches that are now doing Saturday night services. It seems to help with people who have schedule conflicts for Sunday morning. I would love for us to reach the point of considering something like that.
I had a cousin named John L. Smith (who pastored larger membership churches in Montgomery and Birmingham, and was DOM in Bessemer, Ala.). He once told me that at his first church, in the Chattahoochee Valley that spans Alabama and Georgia, was a rural church. Most of the men came on Sunday morning looking very uncomfortable in their cheap suits, tight collars, and clip-on ties, and after a while, he decided to start a Monday evening service. He said it was not only successful, but those men coming in their bib over-alls and open collar shirts sent a message to the community: we are real.
In other words, it was not about whether or not there was an evening service or what evening it was on. Instead it was about understanding the community and the culture, and “reading” both of them in such a way that the church can respond in a meaningful way. I wish I was as effective as he was!
The earliest records we have for Baptist churches, which are in the 1600s, indicate that Sunday services were pretty much an all-day affair–all day meaning the daylight hours. While there were exceptions in the 19th Century, for the great majority of Baptist churches, evening services date to the advent of electric lights, just as mills working 16 to 24 hours a day date to electrification. This means that evening services are tied to culture and convenience rather than to Scripture. Well guess what? American culture has changed again since circa 1900; now, unfortunately, those who are the most conservative (culturally) see evening services as “the way it has ALWAYS been.” The church I serve is 35 years old, and has never had an evening service, though we do Discipleship Classes in the late afternoon/early evening. At my previous church we had an evening service, and except the Music Minister and myself, no one under 65 attended.
We keep conducting a discussion as though the question is one of time of day. Certainly if that is the topic then no one is in any position to make any compelling case one way or the other.
My desire was that we give serious consideration to the fact that the changes we have made in our culture are not about time of day alone; they are about aggregate quantity of time, too.
So, let’s conduct the discussion along these lines:
Proposed: That we make a dramatic cut in the quantity of time we spend worshipping God together as a church. The Bromhead letter that you mentioned above serves as evidence that we have already cut the amount of time by a lot.
And let’s get real about it. The amount of time is actually a lot LESS than an hour a week, averaged across the congregation. A significant number of Southern Baptist congregants come every other week or every third week. For them, the quantity is more like 20 or 30 minutes per week, lowering the overall average.
Propose schedule changes that bring it all into the daylight hours without reducing the amount of time. Start a pattern of eating dinner together after morning worship and then having round 2 right after dinner. That’s absolutely more faithful to the pattern of the early church, it gets you out of the “electric light” time that you mentioned, it adds regular fellowship to regular worship, and it represents no overall reduction in the time spent worshipping God.
I like the Paige Patterson approach, though I admit I do not know if anyone will come. Every community is different so we must prayerfully discover what God wants for each church.
My difficulty in giving up a Sunday evening service is the opportunity to share God’s word – one more time with those who are hungry.
Schools get our kids multiple hours a day to pour a lot of garbage into them. The workplace gets a lot of the Christians daily hours to demand mush from them that is not of God. When the church comes to the point where we think making less opportunity for the Bible to be taught and God’s people to be equipped, we are losing focus on one of our madates – to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. We give them 45 minutes of singing, annoucnements, collecting funds then 45 minutes of preaching – is it enough? I do not see how.
Where does the house of prayer come into the picture? How much time do we give on Sunday mornings to prayer? When was thelast ime we taught our people how to pray – and stuck to it until they began praying.
Some people pray just to pray… other people pray to know God. I think that was a Manley Beasley quote.
The church does not need a time diet, they need a commitment buffet.
I think it is safe to say, many stop Sunday night services because the people are not interested in them any longer and we want to do something else anyway.
Confession – We do not have Sunday night services. This is the way it was when I arrived. We are though – multiplying our Life Groups. Our members are spread out across the region. Some as far as an hour drive. 1/2 of our members drive 30+ minutes to get to church. about 40 come by taxi and another 40 or so come by bus. The Metro doesn’t run that early on Fridays.
Nobody seems to be mentioning the fact that, by cutting out Sunday evening services, we can LENGTHEN the morning service/fellowship time. We spend from 9:30am to 2-3pm at church, beginning with Sunday School, then the service, then our fellowship potluck meal, then an hour plus of sermon Q&A. That’s five hours of quality time with the body, then we cut loose for the afternoon/evening. Everyone only has to drive once (average travel time is 20+ minutes, some drive an hour), and we can spend a lot more time slowing down, taking our time with the corporate worship, having a longer sermon, etcetera, because nobody is in a rush to get out the door for the noon meal. Having struggled all my growing up (and early adult) years with the concept of finding Sunday to be the LEAST restful day of the week, I’ve really grown to appreciate the model our church embraces.
I feel you get what you put into it; if the pastor and worship leader treat Sunday nights as “filler” and don’t seek to be creative then people won’t be excited about coming. In our church the Sunday evening service is entirely different in that we incorporate more guest speakers and concerts than we could on a Sunday morning. We have testimonies, special sermon series, and even movie nights where we show Christian movies most of our people didn’t see in the theater. In fact, when we showed The Case For Christ recently, our attendance rivaled Sunday morning! I would encourage pastors to not jump on the “Sunday evening services are dead” bandwagon, but get some creativity flowing and enjoy Sunday nights! Believe me, your congregation looks forward to other options & preachers from time to time.