When One Is Not Enough: Creating a Second Service

When members of All Souls UU Church, Kansas City, Mo. (400 members), began having trouble finding a place to sit on Sunday morning they knew it was time to face the future.

There are two solutions to crowded Sundays--expanding the building or adding a service. For All Souls, the solution was adding a service.

Planning began a year in advance. The change occurred in January. There were the usual concerns--fears of losing friends when the congregation "divided," fears the excellent music program would suffer, and fears that there wouldn't be enough volunteers.

What happened, said the Rev. Jim Eller, senior minister, is that adding a service created more energy on Sunday morning. More people volunteered, the choir participates more often than it was asked to, and, with more going on, more people are coming to church. Average Sunday morning attendance rose from 180 to 230.

"There's a fullness to the morning that wasn't there before," he said. "We have a sense of abundance rather than scarcity. And we have more connecting points and more opportunities for growth and community."

All Soul's early service is 8:45 to 9:45, there's a community forum from 10 to 10:50, and the late service begins at 11:15. Religious education for children and adults is during the forum hour, and there are activities for children during the early and late services as well. Coffee hour goes on all morning in a multipurpose room down the hall. About 70 attend the early service and 160 the late one. The forum and adult RE, in the middle, draw from both services.

Michael Servetus UU Fellowship, Vancouver, Wash. (250), went to two services four years ago and provides lifespan religious education during both services. "If you can't offer full-service RE during both, poll the parents," says Jack Slingerland, a worship committee member. He recommends: