If you were at CLC-Tinley Park this past weekend, you heard the announcement about our newest ‘experiment’ with our weekend service schedule starting in September.  Here’s the change: instead of meeting on Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 9am and 11:15am, we will now not meet on Saturdays, but instead have worship services on Sunday at 8:15am, 10am and noon.  But here’s what you really need to know:

• Everything we do at CLC (in terms of programming) is an experiment.  For too long, too many churches have treated methods like the message/values.  The message must never change.  The values must never change.  But methods should constantly change, as people change and culture changes, to insure that the church remains relevant.  (How many churches have you known who are perfectly designed to reach people like they reached people in the 1950’s?)
• One of the advantages to experimenting with methods is that it enables us to make discoveries we can never make sitting around in discussion meetings.  Who knew that more people would attend church if they had other options besides one morning service…. until someone tried it?  Who knew that people could sing better if their heads were up, seeing words on a big screen, than if their heads were down, looking at a hymnal with small print….until someone tried it?  Who knew the people could receive teaching via video on a big screen, rather than from ‘live’ preaching….until someone tried it?  We know that Saturday services as we’ve tried them have not enabled us to continually reach more people each weekend, so now we’re going to try to accomplish that with three Sunday services.  If that doesn’t work, I can promise you already we’ll try something else!
• By offering this as an experiment for a trial period, it removes the fear of failure….which I suspect keeps far more of us from stepping out to do what God is nudging us to do than you may realize. 

Tomorrow I’ll share some of the convictions that drove this decision.  Meanwhile, don’t forget to invite someone for this weekend with General Sada!