CHRISTMAS & THE NEW YEAR

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

We have meaningful and fun Christmas services planned as we wrap up the year with our Kids Christmas Celebration on Sunday, December 18 at 9:30 and 11am and our Christmas Eve celebration with three identical services either on Friday, December 23 at 7pm or Saturday, December 24 at 3pm or 5pm.

NO SERVICE ON CHRISTMAS DAY OR NEW YEARS DAY

This year both Christmas Day and New Years Day fall on Sundays. We’ll take a break from in person services on Sunday, December 25 and Sunday, January 1 to give all our teams a chance to rest and enjoy the holidays with family after a fun and full end to the year. Online options will be available to start the New Year.

NEW YEAR, NEW SERVICE TIME

Beginning Sunday, January 8 we have a couple of significant shifts to our Sunday gathering. First, we are transitioning to one service at 10am. Second, we’re inviting all kids to join us in service at the beginning as the band leads us in worship and singing before going to their Journey Kids classrooms during the message time.

In short, we’re excited for these changes in the weeks ahead, but we know change can be hard so we’re going to bribe you with sweet treats every Sunday in January (and yes, of course, there will still be great coffee!)

THE “WHY?” BEHIND THE CHANGES

TOGETHER IN TRANSITION

Recently, we announced the transition of Journey Northside to become it’s own, independent, autonomous church in collaboration with Journey Church down by the mall. We’re excited for the future of our church as we grow and take more ownership of our mission. We have a great team helping in all phases of this transition and there is so much to celebrate.

We want to make sure in the months ahead that we are communicating clearly, effectively, and with the goal of unity in this next season. Though our our two service times over the past several months have been pretty equally balanced, having the split times can make it seem like almost like two separate groups. For right now, we have the space to be able to combine so we want to be together: worshipping, laughing, praying, growing. Being together in this transition will help give us a better sense of who we are and where we’re headed. Same team, same church, same mission, same gathering.

BUILDING ON STRENGTH

Jesus loves kids and kids love our church! Show up any given Sunday and it seems like half the people in the building are kids! It’s so good, so fun, so crazy, and so healthy. Most churches long to have the kind of young vibrancy that we have. So much so, that we’ve grown the sense that we’re actually missing something on Sunday morning by just checking kids directly into the kids area each week.

Therefore, we want to build on our strengths. We want kids participating in all phases of our church. We want their voices, smiles, hearts, wonder, joy and energy to be encouraged throughout our community. We’re inviting them to sing and worship with us every week maybe more for us than them. And that’s the thing, so many of our kids already DO spend the beginning of service singing with us. Age appropriate lessons are important for everyone, so there will still be dedicated time in kids classrooms but where we’re able we’re building on our strengths and doing things together.

SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

We have dreams and hopes for great impact in our community as we share the hope of Jesus with a hurting world. There are so many stories just this year of the way God is changing lives in our midst. The reality is, though, that it takes a lot of people to make it all work! It’s not an exaggeration to say that with two services each Sunday, it takes dozens of volunteers to make it all work (and that’s not including everything that happens during the week!)

We’ve been in a season where the majority of that work has been done by a small group of dedicated volunteers and we’re so grateful. They’ve been giving their time, talent, and energy generously and selflessly. However, we want to work towards sustainability. To the point: we need more help. In the meantime, as we build up our teams and train new volunteers this season of transition, going to one service time will help ease some of the burden being carried by our teams. We want to be prepared, ready, and able to sustain long-term growth.

FAITH THAT SUSTAINS

Lastly, we want to build on what works. We have so many young families at our church and one of the major questions is “how do we help our kids grow and develop strong faith that will carry them into adulthood?” There’s a lot of research on this, but the bottom line is—we have to show them, we can’t just tell them. We’re fully aware how important the “fun” factor is in Journey Kids and our kids love learning together. We know that for many of the parents in our community, an hour on Sunday is some of the only time they get to themselves each week. We know it’s such a blessing. We want to maintain these realities, while increasing the level of conversation and observation. Don’t just tell them, show them. Don’t just ask them, watch them. On and on the list goes of important things kids pick up by participating with adults in worship. The bottom line is we want to help model it for our kids. It’s one of the best ways to help build faith that sustains into and throughout adulthood.

THE BOTTOM LINE

This isn’t a decision that we’ve made quickly or easily. There’s been a lot of prayer and conversation leading up to this. Change is a big deal. It can be a little crazy and chaotic. But we’re pursing this for the good of our community. We’re asking you to be patient and gracious with us in this transition. There will be things that work great and things we need to adjust at the end of the day. Our service times will go a bit longer (think 75 minutes instead of the usual hour). At the end of the day, however, this will be so good. Same team, same church, same mission, same service and all together! You’ll get a better sense of who we are. You’ll see more generations together. We’ll develop better and healthier teams. And we’ll be well prepared for the future.

BUT WHEN WILL THIS CHANGE, CHANGE??

That’s always a great question! We don’t hold any of our plans too firmly as a church and are always willing to change and adapt to best live out our mission. We see this change more as a season than a permanent shift, one that will take us through our transition to autonomy and through the summer. We’ll dream about more and new service times, but we’ll get there when we have the teams in place so that more people are playing a part in the mission to reach more people. The best is yet to come!