A MESSAGE FROM THE REV. J.C. AUSTIN: REFLECTING ON OUR REFLECTIVE TIME
At this point, we are about one month into our Summer Worship schedule and format. It seems like a good time to invite you to send in any thoughts you have on both what you appreciate about it and what you might want to do differently.
As you may recall, this is the second summer that we have done an 
intentional “Summer Worship” schedule and format; this year, we incorporated some of the feedback we got from last year, but as an “Experimental Church,” we are always looking into what the next iteration of something should be. You can send any thoughts to info@fpc-bethlehem.org.
Perhaps the most notable change is the inclusion of the Sermon Response time this year. This is a standard part of the 9 a.m. Holy Ground service during the year, and probably the element of that service that has gotten the most positive feedback.
This stands to reason, as research on the worship preferences of Millennial and Gen Z Christians consistently states that what they want most from a worship service is not a particular style of music, but an informal atmosphere and an interactive dynamic to the service; they do not want to simply be talked and/or sung to for the duration of the service, which is typical of both traditional worship and the kind of contemporary service that relies on a rock concert ethos.
It is thus no surprise that we have seen an influx of people to the 9 a.m. service over the past year who are under 40 years of age. Given all that, we wanted to incorporate it in Summer Worship both to preserve that element for the 9 a.m. attendees and to give the traditional service attendees a chance to experience it.
While the Sanctuary is not the best physical space for this experience, we felt it was still worth the attempt. So, we are looking for feedback on that part of the service in particular, regardless of which service you normally attend during the year.
This Sunday, however, we have decided to forego the reflective part of the service in order to accommodate the celebration of Communion in the service. We plan to do the same on Communion Sundays in August and September, as well.
But if you can give us timely feedback on the Summer Worship Service now, we may incorporate your thoughts into services later in the summer. We are especially eager to hear from those of you who ‘attend’ our livestreamed service, to know how we can make that experience more meaningful for you.
So I invite you to respond quickly and thoughtfully, and I look forward to reading your responses!
Grace and Peace,
J.C.