Starting a Second Service

Starting a Second Service - Part 1
By Dan Reiland

When is it time to start a second service? Should I start a second service or build a bigger building? Should the second service be the same as or different than the first service? What impacts does a second service have on the ministry and culture of the church? What times should the services be? Does a second service create a second church? What if I start a second service and it doesn't work?

I have been asked all these questions and more. And I can tell you with confidence that, in general, starting a second service is a good idea. If your primary worship space holds 500 and you average 79 in attendance, then no, you don't need a second service - at least in terms of size and space. But you may need a completely fresh approach to your style of service that a second service would afford you.

One pastor said to me; "We run one service right now with about 38 people and the church building seats 300. We don't need a second service we need a memorial service!" We laughed together for a moment, then got pretty serious about the heartache of a small church struggling to survive, and what we could do about it. In that case the answer was not starting a second service. Let me offer you a few caution flags to assess how your church may or may not connect with this idea.

Caution Flags:

Starting a second service isn't a solution for bad leadership.
A friend of mine, who is a good pastor, is leading a church that suffers from a number of problems. He was convinced that if he changed the style of worship in his three services (each service a different style) and added a fourth service, with yet another style of worship targeting a different demographic of people, that his problems would be over. His goal was to have something for everyone. But, trying to calm the turbulence by pleasing everybody is a recipe for disaster. And that's just what he got. He made the changes and his problems were not only not over, they got worse.
Surface level changes do not remedy systemic problems.
If things are not going well in your church in general, starting a second service won't help solve the problem. The truth about local church ministry is that, as important as the Sunday worship experience is, it isn't everything. If a church is led by a competent leader, and people are finding Christ as Savior and maturing in their faith, a flawless and exciting worship service isn't the end all of ministry. In the churches I consult, 80% of the effort and energy, if not more, is put into the worship service. Only 20% of the effort and energy is put into everything else. In other words, if the worship service is looking good and the sanctuary is packed out, everything is great. Not a good plan! It is important to think about the big picture and build a balanced ministry.
Starting a second service isn't a remedy for a lack of evangelistic fervor.
It is true that starting a new church is the best plan (dollars to conversions) for evangelistic success. However, that principle doesn't carry over for starting a second service, unless you already have a good visitor flow and evangelistic vitality.

Keep in mind that starting a second service isn't just about space and size, but really about mission and values. So, be sure to answer the question of why. Why do you want to start a second service? Is it to get more people to come to your church, or is it to reach more people who don't know Christ? The strategy for each of those answers is radically different.

Starting a second service isn't the answer to revive a church with power struggles.
This happens more often than I care to admit. Small and medium size churches who are experiencing control issues and power struggles have attempted to solve the problems by the "divide and conquer" strategy.

It is unwisely believed that a church can solve power struggles by creating two places where control can be exercised and power can be wielded separately. That never works. Keep in mind this is more subtle than it appears in print. For the most part, these are good people who love God. They are passionate about their opinions of how to run a church, and they are giving of their time and money to make it happen. Unfortunately, this subtlety also allows immaturity and lack of wisdom to crimportant thing is that it is worthwhile. Part 2 will offer a practical plan for starting a second service.

This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland's free monthly e-newsletter 'The Pastor's Coach' available at www.INJOY.com.