Having observed the American church for the past 25 years, I am particularly interested in a method that more and more churches are employing to reach new people: multiple worship services. From a five-year comprehensive study of multiple worship services by Church Growth, Inc., we learned that growing churches are more likely to offer choices of when people worship, how they worship, and where they worship.

    Among growing churches (those that have seen at least a 10% increase in worship attendance for the past three years), 41% were currently offering multiple services, and 61% said they planned to add a new service in the next 18 months. Just over a quarter (26%) of plateaued congregations were offering more than one worship service, but only 14% expected to add a new service. Not surprisingly, few declining presently have multiple services (17%), and hardly any (3%) plan to add a new service.

    This study monitored churches representing a spectrum of sizes and denominations all across the country. The results of adding a new style worship service are instructive:

    •8 of 10 churches experienced a 15+% growth in attendance, giving, and/or conversions.
    •81% of the new services continued to exist if the preacher remained at the church for at least two years.
    •Only 23% of the new services continued to exist if the preacher left the church in the early stages of the new service.
    •7 of 10 Saturday night services had been cancelled within two years after their inception, compared to 2 of 10 Sunday morning services.
    •68% of the services that were changed from "traditional" to "blended" did not exist in their "blended" state two years later. (They had either reverted to their original format, changed to "contemporary," or had been discontinued.) Only 11% of the churches that departed from their original blended format reported the change as "positive/pleasant."
    I have become convinced that approximately half of the 325,000 churches in America could--and should--consider starting a new service in the next 24 months; regardless of the number of services they now have! From our experience, 80% of these churches would see growth.

    • New services reach the unchurched better than established services. Starting a new-style service refocuses a church on a target audience it is not presently reaching.

    • New services minister to more people. Churches that offer one service at one time of day on one day of the week are offering one choice: take it or leave it. The more choices people have, the more people will say "yes" to one of them.

    • New services reach new kinds of people. Churches that try to accommodate the interests, needs, and tastes of more than one target group with just one service usually reduce their attendance rather than increase it.

    • New services help a church break out of its life cycle. The secret to new growth in a declining church is to start a new life cycle. A new service is one of the best ways to do this.

    • New services help denominations grow. Most researchers agree that starting new churches is the most important strategy for denominational growth, but starting new services--in existing churches--is the second most important strategy.