TWO services faqs:
Curious why we moved to two services on Sundays? Hopefully the following answers can help give some insight!
What times are the two services?
8:30 AM and 10:15 AM. Those times may feel unusual, but after several rounds of surveys - and considering the number of young children in our church - they appear to be the best fit for our congregation.
why go to two services?
There are practical reasons, but there is also a more foundational one. Practically, a church often begins to feel full - especially to someone visiting for the first time - before every seat or parking space is taken. A common rule of thumb is that when the sanctuary, parking lot or kids ministry regularly exceeds 80% capacity, the experience can begin to feel too crowded and uninviting. Our sanctuary has crossed that threshold repeatedly. Our parking lot has been below 80% capacity only seven Sundays in 2026, even with more than 20 cars parked at the middle school next door. On four Sundays, every available space was taken. Our kids ministry is also at its functional capacity, with several classrooms regularly reaching 95% capacity or more.
These numbers represent real people and real experiences. We know of first-time guests who have driven into the parking lot and left without getting out of their cars because the experience felt stressful and overcrowded. But the deeper reason for beginning a second worship service is simple: God continues to bring people. When we started Athens 5 years ago, we prayed for people to know Jesus for the first time and for others to experience him more deeply - but we had no presumptions of what God would do. Since then, he’s steadily gathered more and more people at Athens without us doing any intentional marketing or growth strategies. In the future, we’d love to intentionally start new churches, sending groups of people out to plant other churches. For now, our first step of multiplication in response to God growing our congregation is to begin this second worship service.
What other changes are accompanying two services?
So many, some that we are about to humbly learn from experience. But three immediate changes come to mind:
1) Our elementary students will worship alongside the rest of the church before being dismissed around the announcements and sermon. Those who are newer to Athens may not have experienced this rhythm, but it was part of our Sunday gatherings in previous years. We believe it is important for children to sing with the whole church and experience worship across generations. These moments can help shape their understanding of what it means to belong to the family of God. A two-service schedule may create some new tensions with this rhythm, so please be patient with us and help us recognize and respond to them.
2) We will need more volunteers than we have had previously. We will not need double our previous number of volunteers on a Sunday morning, but the increased need is not insignificant. Many new attenders have already signed up to serve, and many volunteers will be serving at a higher frequency than previously, as everyone now has the opportunity to attend one service and serve at one service on those Sundays.
3) A renovated - and larger - lobby will be completed soon. The larger lobby is not simply a functional response to a growing congregation. It is also an investment in something central to our philosophy of ministry. The reality is that “church" should be less an event-to-attend and more a family-to-belong-to, and our people embody this every Sunday by 30-40% of you staying for 20-40 minutes after service is dismissed connecting, talking, and wrangling children. It’s beautiful. And we need it to continue. The increased lobby space with cafe and seating areas will facilitate this between and after services. So please linger and use it!
Why attend one service and serve at one service some Sundays?
“Church" is much more than singing songs and listening to a sermon, but we believe it is also not less than that. Christian friendships, generosity with our time and money, and faithfulness in our personal devotional lives are all essential parts of a flourishing Christian life. Still, we believe the worship service is something like our “main meal” - a place where we gather as God’s people to hear His Word read, preached, and sung alongside one another. We know attending one service and serving during another will be a stretching commitment. For families with multiple young children, it may not be realistic every single Sunday they serve. We offer this not as a burden, but as a meaningful rhythm worth pursuing to care for your own spiritual health while also helping others worship, connect, and experience the life of our church.
