Recently we added a Saturday night service. As a result, I’ve seen my preaching improve. My staff has even remarked about the positive change they’ve seen.
First, my previous routine looked like this on Sunday mornings.
- Get up at an insanely early hour
- Spend 20 minutes on my stationary bike trying to wake myself up
- Review my message
- Take a shower and shave
- Rush to eat something
- Arrive at church in a rush for the service run through
- Preach two services feeling stressed
- Go home and take a nap
Now my Saturday routine looks like this.
- Sleep a bit later
- Mess around in the morning
- Eat a leisurely lunch
- Take a nap
- Review my message
- Arrive an hour early for the service run-through
- Preach one sermon with less pressure
- Go home, watch TV and go to bed
And Sunday …
- Sleep later
- Eat a leisurely breakfast
- Arrive an hour before the service to discuss any tweaks with my staff
- Feel very relaxed
- Preach at 2 services
- Go home and take a nap
As a result of this change, I’ve seen these benefits.
- I’m much less stressed with preaching my first message on Saturday and thus less stressed for Sunday.
- I’m more relaxed on Saturday which carries over into Sunday.
- Because I’m more relaxed, I’m more able to be truly present with others before and after the services
- Because I changed my day off to Mondays (vs Saturdays before) I mentally have something to look forward to the next day, that day of rest.
When we decided to start a Saturday service, we took eight months to research, prepare and recruit. We felt very concerned about how it might affect our margins. To our surprise, this change has done wonders for our energy and our margins.
If you are considering a Saturday night service, I don’t recommend it unless you do your homework. But if you do take that step, you may find some unexpected positive consequences as did we.
And, by the way, our attendance has jumped over 10% as well.
A nice mailer if you are considering such a service.
Also, Ten Keys to Starting a Saturday Night Service here.
