There are so many beautiful things happening at IAC these days. Just this week, we’ve seen a Prayer Meeting with testimonies of inner healing, an over-flowing Welcome Dinner full of eager questions, Monday night gatherings of Nomad Students and 56, the culmination of the Leadership Development Cohort, Queen Palmer mentoring, ordinands discussing church-wide discipleship, a parent training on mental health and technology, a Bible Study on Shalom and Justice, Life Groups almost every night of the week, and more: there’s life welling up everywhere!
But all those smaller things add up to one big thing: we’ve run out of space at our table on Sunday mornings.
Even after sending out 65 folks with the Restoration Church Plant in September (praise God!), we remain over-full in the Sanctuary and the Kid wing on Sunday morning. While some of us might not feel the pinch, those who are visiting certainly do. I spoke with an IAC’er just last Sunday who recently traveled to another town and visited a church where they had to be ushered to an “overflow” room. Their first thought? “I wouldn’t come back here!” The way we steward our physical space is a reflection of our heart towards the stranger, and we desire that anyone who would come to IAC’s table would have space to receive the healing the gospel has for them.
Therefore we are shifting to 3 services each Sunday, starting Dec. 1 (the first Sunday of Advent) to make room at the table. Our hope and heart is to create opportunities for those who are new to our community to find their place among us while also creating new opportunities for connection for those already here.
After much discussion (and much helpful feedback on the Fall Together Survey – thank you!), we have decided to engage 3 services at 8am, 9:30am and 11am on Sunday mornings.
We recognize that the 9:30am service will be the most highly attended, and we are truly excited for the energy that service will bring! But we are also expectant for the gatherings at 8am and 11am. They will have graces all their own, including the ability to have deeper interaction with those worshipping alongside us. Please know that we are committed to having identical liturgy and music in each service and continuing courtyard time between services: we wouldn’t make this switch unless we felt like all 3 services can be fully IAC.
To be fully IAC, kids have to be involved! All 3 services will contain a full Kid Church offering, and age ranges for classes will differ by service based on anticipated needs. (Note: Be watching for information from Pastor Mady and Bonnie on the age-group specifics in the coming weeks). While we expect 9:30am to have the most families, 8am could be an excellent choice for those with very young children who desire to have a more expansive “family day” after service (or simply want to navigate the mid-morning nap time!). 11am will most likely feature smaller class sizes, which will be ideal for some.
Because of space concerns, we are asking as many people as possible to choose either the 8am or 11am service. This ensures there will still be room at the table at 9:30am: we don’t want to have to turn people away. We also desire both the early and late service to grow so that the table doesn’t feel empty. Those services will certainly feel different than the 9:30 service, but we don’t want them to feel “less than:” a strong start will help!
From talking with many of you, I know there are concerns with this move to 3 services. Please know that we have many of those same concerns as well! The weight on certain ministry teams (like Music, Tech, Kid, Welcome and others) is real. The best way to address this concern is for more hands to pitch in! As of last Sunday, we need 37 more serving opportunities filled for us to really thrive in 3 services: you can see what’s needed and sign up to help at springsiac.org/register under “Sent In to 3 Services”.
Others have expressed concern at the service shortening, which is a real issue: services need to last 75 minutes instead of the 90 minutes we’ve become accustomed to. However, we have been making real progress in streamlining our services without losing major sections of the liturgy or space for reflection. We are confident that – as we keep experimenting - God will give us time within the service to do the “work of the people” he’s given us to do!
Some have asked whether a service at another time might be more beneficial. The reality – confirmed by many, many churches who have done this before us – is that a service outside Sunday morning draws very few people who are willing and able to go to worship on Sunday morning. Evening services tend to draw others currently outside the church into worship: which is a fantastic ministry! It simply doesn’t meet our pressing need.
We also recognize that while we are continuing to plant churches, we can’t plant healthily at a pace sufficient to absorb the growth. Our next plant is planned for Sept. 2026, and we need to make room right now!
The greatest specific concern I hear about 3 services is staffing and sustainability. Increased General Fund giving over the next few months could increase our capacity to hire staff, but for the moment our capacity to hire is limited.
Regardless of what roles we might add, I don’t know anyone at IAC who believes that 3 services is a good long-term option for us as a church. At best, moving to 3 services will help us bridge to a new facility where there is space for continued welcome in 2 services. Rest assured that there will be many more conversations about this in the coming months as we draw closer to our capital campaign!
Underlying many of these concerns is a more general un-ease about the church growing larger. All of us want others to meet Jesus, of course! But growing larger can feel like a threat to things we’ve come to love about this family of faith.
Bishop Ken has spoken with our leaders several times over the last few years about the difference between our values and how we practice our values. The values of a church don’t change much over time, but the way we practice those values sometimes has to shift: if they don’t, the value itself sometimes gets lost!
For example, IAC deeply values relationships and invites people on a journey of not just watching a service but truly Belonging within the body. In a previous season, gathered worship alone could foster deep relationships and a sense of belonging. As we grow larger, gathered worship remains the hub of receiving and releasing the gospel together, but smaller teams and groups are becoming the places where we most deeply experience relational belonging. Luckily, opportunities for connection multiply in a larger church! As long as we remain focused on “growing smaller,” who we are as a church doesn’t have to change in the midst of growing on Sunday morning.
In the midst of all God is doing, I truly feel faith rising among us. God has been so faithful to this church for so many years. We have been through bigger transitions than this, and each time he has provided what we needed in volunteer leaders, finances, and a renewed focus on the gospel. I fully expect that the Spirit will bring new people among us that will help us navigate future transitions, whatever they may be.
Psalm 81:10 says, “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” We don’t fill ourselves as a church: that’s his job, not ours. But as we come to the table, opening our mouths to receive what he’s bringing to us, we can trust that he will give us all that we need, and more besides. Yes, we’re having to stretch a bit right now, scooting in to make room at the table. But I trust that we will grow up even more into the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:11-16) through the person who takes that seat next to us at the table.
In anticipation,
Pastor Ken, for the leadership of IAC