epicentre

We’ve designed a system which we feels gives us the ability to serve the most people with the least disruption of our existing schedule, while also minimizing the number of additional people who serve (we think we can minister to up to 100% more people with about 50% more people serving).

FAQ Section

Why are we doing this now?

Our conviction is that we need to steward and harness what God is doing in our midst now. We’ve been growing dramatically this year, have had people coming to Christ nearly every week, and believe that Easter brunch is going to accelerate our growth. We also felt that attempting to plan or implement these changes over the summer wouldn’t work because of people’s schedules. And this would then necessitate our waiting until October or November to make the changeover. It is our personal conviction that stewarding what God is doing now requires that we make the change now.

What does two services mean for parents and kids?

The new service will serve parents and kids. Parents who currently serve in Kingdom Kids ministries now have the ability to serve during the 2nd service and attend the 1st service, providing a place and opportunity to receive ministry. During the 1st service, the Kingdom Kids Worship Service will take place, providing children additional teaching beyond the normal Kingdom Kids classes which take place during the 2nd service. The Kids Worship Service will require less volunteers than the Kingdom Kids Ministry.

Some parents might be better served attending the 1st service since their kids wake up early. They have the option of attending an earlier service in time for a late morning nap. Other parents have the option of having their children in both the Kingdom Kids Worship Service and Kingdom Kids classes, which will provide a more enriching experience for their children.

For adults who serve in Kingdom Kids, the option of being able to attend worship service every week is a blessing! (For example, those who serve in Kingdom Kids classes can now go to the 1st service and not miss what is going on). This might cause some teachers to be willing to serve for longer terms (for example, for a month or two consecutively as Kingdom Kids teacher or helper), and this continuity for our children is going to create much deeper relationships in the class, thereby increasing the depth, care and love which our children experience at Epicentre.

How is the new Kingdom Kids Worship Service different from our existing Kingdom Kids classes?

The new Kingdom Kids Worship Service will start at 9:15a and will be a mixture of worship, preaching, and small groups. We will have Kingdom Kids ministry for infants through elementary school. Annie is in the process of creating the new Kingdom Kids Worship Service team. This new set-up allows everyone who serves in Kingdom Kids to be able to participate in our adult worship experience fully on the weeks they are serving. In the fall, we are looking at creating Kingdom Kids teams with greater consistency for our children.

Since the time slot is shorter, what’s being cut?

For both services, we have reduced worship by 5 mins and the sermon by 10 mins.

What does this mean for community life?

We understand that adding a service does change the context for how people connect with each other on Sundays. Lifegroups remain the primary way to grow in community life, but in addition to this, we know that Sunday connections are important! As a result, in addition to our ongoing lunch fellowship after the 2nd service, we’ve added a snack fellowship time between services to help those who attended the 1st service connect with those who are arriving for the 2nd service. Those who “go to a service, serve in a service” will also have the opportunity to interact, connect, and serve alongside more people.

What about intercession service?

The earlier time slot is necessitating some change in the implementation of our intercession service. We created the current intercession service because we value creating a place where our first ministry is to God. We want to create a “dwelling place” for the presence of God and for our seeking Him first and above all else. We’ve shortened the length of this time from the current 45 mins to 20, but will be incorporating some of those elements into the beginning of the 1st service worship time. We are also praying about options for creating more of that space in a time slot outside of Sunday mornings. We want to take that “God-first” value and deepen it as a corporate body, as well as in lifegroup, discipleship and in our personal relationship with God.

Which service should I attend? Do I need to go to both services?

We want this to be a win for everyone. Most people will not have a need to attend our worship twice J. However, some may find the rhythm of “go to a service, serve in a service” to be a great way to express their ministry to God. This might be particularly helpful for those who serve in ministries like Kingdom Kids or parking. In addition, being at Epicentre for both time slots might also be helpful when we want to do equipping classes in the future.

What are the financial ramifications?

In order to make it easier for our worship team and set-up people, we’ve decided to rent Cleveland on Saturdays to do sound and auditorium set-up. This means increasing our monthly current Cleveland rental cost from $4300/mo to $6000/mo. We are able to serve up to 100% more people for 40% more rent. We feel confident that our growth will more than outweigh this additional expense.

What does this mean for those currently serving?

If you are currently serving in ministries like SSMs or Kingdom Kids, there are no changes unless Jeff or Annie contact you, or unless you’d like to attend or serve at a different time slot than you do now. Ben will contact worship and sound team members. We are asking our emcees and intercessors to serve in both services, but they can leave or rest after they have finished their role. We are also in the process of creating a “lounge” for those serving in both services so that you will be able to serve and then rest when you are not “on,” primarily for worship team members and up-front roles.

How will SSMs take place?

We do have a need for more people to serve in this ministry but feel that it will be doable for us at this time. The chart on page 2 shows the changes in time for some ministries. The main change is that we will now need parking attendants for both services. 1st service parking attendants can would serve from 8:30-9:30a, and 2nd service, from 10:30a-11:30a. Food setup for the 1st service will be minimal as it’s preparing snacks.

What about parking?

We are both working on creating new signs and maps to direct people to the right places. In addition to this, we will have parking attendants to greet and welcome new guest and help facilitate orderly parking.

What do you know about the construction at Cleveland?

At this point, we don’t know very much. Actually, the school itself doesn’t know that much. We are working with PUSD and the school to clarify exactly what will be taking place, when and how this will impact us.