We announced a couple of weeks ago that we're starting a Wednesday night service at Calvary on March 9th. A few Pastors have asked about the strategy behind our decision. So I thought I'd lay out our reasoning as to why we decided to do this. 

First, we reach A LOT of new believers. That being said, new believers don't have any Biblical foundation. So while we offer our New Believers Class to ground them in the basics, there will remains a gap that isn't covered as quickly through Sunday teachings alone. 

Our Wednesday night format is different than Sunday in that Wednesday will be a fast paced, commentary style teaching of the entire Bible. This way, a new believer can learn the Biblical stories and the overarching theme of the Bible at a faster pace, thus accelerating their growth. 

Second, we want to create an outlet for more mature believers to grow. Wednesday night is going to be more in-depth, thus giving me the opportunity to talk about things I may not have a chance to teach on a given Sunday. Please note: there's no subject I won't tackle on a Sunday. However, Wednesday will give me more time to explore certain topics since I will be teaching for longer than a typical Sunday. 

Third, We have great up and coming teachers in our church. My goal is to allow these guys opportunities to teach and communicate. I look forward to continuing to develop teachers who can preach God's Word effectively. You can't do this without an outlet for them to teach. 

Here's the question some Pastors have asked me: "But aren't you committed to groups?" The answer is yes. We remain totally committed to groups and we still have a majority of our church participating in groups. However, there's a percentage of people who will not join a group even at gunpoint. But they will come to a mid-week service. My goal is to see people do more than just attend on Sunday. Some will choose groups. Others will choose Wednesday. The goal is to get everyone into an environment for further discipleship and development. 

Lastly, 25% of the U.S. population works on Sunday. That means, 1 out of 4 people in our community can't make it to a Sunday service no matter what we do. Doing Wednesday night gives those people an opportunity to attend and grow. 

This decision was not one that we took lightly. It was about a year in the making. But now that's it's made and we're starting in a couple of weeks, I can't wait!