Well that is not exactly true. There are some great parts of Neighbourhood Church that we will not let change. In fact we will fight to make sure that they always remain. Things like being connected to great and life giving churches in our city and province. Our effortless ability to be casual and build relationships like our very existence depends on it. Our dependence on prayer in our daily lives and church body. The attention to the revitalization of our cities downtown and even dreaming about what God can do next in front of our eyes. Lastly but certainly not least, our dedication to worship and the gospel, as we use the tools and talents God has given us to build his church in our city.
That sounds like a lot of things! You might even wonder what is left? There is one small detail that is left. This is a detail that helped frame the beginning of Neighbourhood Church but did not define our culture. This is the detail of time. As we look toward the future and what God wants to do. We asked ourselves as a leadership, Holy Spirit, what do you see in our future? At first we were hesitant with what we felt God was saying, but over a short period of time we grew increasingly excited to partner with God on this change. We believe for the long term sustainability of Neighbourhood Church, and for the effectiveness of accomplishing our vision and mission as outlined with our core practices a change needs to take place.
With all of that said here is the single change that is taking place. We are moving our Saturday night service to Sunday at 11am. This will not happen immediately but instead during our church weekend on September 13th. Just let that sink in for a moment.
Have you ever felt conflicted on going to church and going to a family event, or a birthday party, or even just spending time with friends? I know that this is a common trend we are seeing. This change will enable us as a church to use our time better building relationships, reaching out into our city and keeping our vision at the centre of who we are. This also gives us the cultural opportunity to put church back in the place of importance that it deserves.
This change is going to be BIG! It might even be stretching for some of you, but I promise you that if we partner together into this Holy Spirit directive, we are going to see God do some mind blowing things this coming year at and through Neighbourhood Church.
Michael and Amberley
Lead Pastors – Neighbourhood Church
michaelfischer.co 