The traditional people in the church that had predated the pastor were feeling left out in the blended service of contemporary and traditional. If they added a traditional service, these members would get a chance to “fish or cut bait.” They were either going to prove God was in their format or not. And I also felt that the contemporary group could become a pure bred model instead of a hybrid, becoming more effective.

I have known for a while that most church leaders do not really see the unseen very easily. Usually things have to be done before the majority of people can say, “Hey, this has potential.”

The board was split in this church over adding a new service. I am always amazed at how serious church leaders can make innocuous deacons. They presented their theories that the services would both be smaller, and that the income would drop if they moved in this direction. They also said the pastor would have to give more attention to one service than the other.

I started by asking if any shopped at grocery stores that were open around the clock. One, of the leaders said he shopped for his groceries on Saturday morning at 6 am at his store because the crowds were small. Another said his kids often ran to the store for them for late night snacks.

“See we all like options, and people like options in their spiritual schedule as well,” I said.

Nearly all of these leaders nodded, showing that they understood. I also began to tell them that about 45% of their church at least were gone each week for a variety of reasons, and if they had more slots available, they would see more frequent attendance of their members, actually growing their morning attendance with two services.

My last point to them was that their fears were signs that they weren’t really hearing God’s heart. I asked, “Do you think God can’t help things if this is a wrong step? Or do you think God can only work in one service if there are only a lot of people in the pews? I don’t.”

The room was silent for a moment, and then I went on. “Adding a new service is a way of acting out faith and stopping fear. You are afraid of failure and scarcity. Why don’t you take a step that says, ‘There is no failure possible only discovery’? And that way, we will always have more than enough. I learned an adage from AA: ‘Fake it till you make it.’ If you act like God can do anything in your midst, you will believe it and see it.”

The second service was approved and the new format as a success.