Yesterday was a first for the Living Stones Church. It was a big day in which we were kicking off a new message series entitled Bad Neighbor and going to three identical services. Here are some of my post-day reflections:
- I slept through the night Saturday. I worried I wouldn’t. Lately, I’ve been waking up at 2:30 a.m. and can’t get back to sleep.
- Initially, we worried about the size of the 5:30 service. So we made appeals to attend the 5:30 and even provided pizza for those who would go. It was the largest of our three services. So, we oversold it!
- We set a non-Easter attendance record. Of course, we did have some repeats (meaning people who went to multiple services, either to serve…or just experience it again). We had that with 9:30 & 11:30 too. I don’t know how other churches get a count that doesn’t reflect some repeats.
- Doug Harsch wrote a new song for us entitled 50 Ways to Love Your Neighbor. New lyrics to the 70s hit – 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. What was funny was watching the age divide of the church. Those of us who were older knew exactly what it was. Those younger…probably not.
- Carl Hetler delivered the welcome as Mr. Rogers. Loved it. Especially the sweater and slippers.
- That band was great!
- Confessed in the sermon that I’m not winning any “neighbor of the year” awards…yet.
- It will probably take a few weeks to get used to the dynamics of each service. I remember that happened when we went to two services as well.
- Gave out I Love South Side stickers and sold t-shirts for $5. They went like hotcakes! (what does that even mean?)
- I greatly appreciate ALL of our volunteers for making the day a success. Many of them worked really hard.
- I also greatly appreciate the LSC staff who worked hard all week to prepare for the new series.
More to come…just some quick post-sunday thoughts.
