If you haven’t heard the music coming from the Fellowship Hall after the traditional service, or hung around to see all the tables with coloring pens and crafts, you could easily miss that our newest ministry in years at LCC is slowly growing. Starting September 18, we launched a new worship service to appeal to all ages and provide worship for those who have long asked for contemporary music and a different format.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing about this new worship is that most Sundays we have visitors, and often they are young families with children. Several returning or new families are now making this their regular service. The families appreciate having an informal space where their kids’ busyness is actually encouraged and enhances the atmosphere! Some of our older members also really like the informal attitude and the different preaching style and prayers.

This service is very different from other contemporary worship offerings in our area. The kids are not sent to their own separate rock-band based worship, but stay with the gathered community except for Children’s Time with our education team. It is not a concert-style presentation, but everyone is seated at tables and invited to interact and contribute. People are encouraged to talk, feel free to refill coffee, or grab a bite during this informal worship.

When the Contemporary Task Force planned this new experiment and the Council approved it, we worried about getting just 15 to 20 folks to come. Instead, we average worship in the 30-something numbers and occasionally have more than 40 gather. For the equivalent of a new church start, those are very encouraging numbers. Please pray for this new ministry.