Where Sunday Night Thrives
Summertime means peak attendance at the Sunday evening service of Raccoon Presbyterian Church, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. The normal figure of 40 to 50 more than doubles during July and August.
That's because they take the service outside.
An inexpensive pavilion has been built on a farm, complete with piano and chairs brought from the church, only eight minutes away. Corn grows in the field 20 feet to the left. Signs along the road and posters in town store windows direct visitors though the western Pennsylvania hills to the site.
"Our evening together has two parts," Pastor Robert W. Bradbury explains. "The 7:00 service includes a good deal of music—from our choir, from my own five children, who all play instruments, and from visiting groups. We line up pastors from the area to speak along a common theme throughout the summer, and they often bring musical talent as well as other parishioners with them."
Following the service, a campfire is lit, and 80 to 90 percent of the crowd lingers to talk, roast wieners, share cups of coffee, and sing some more in the twilight. "It's a good fellowship time for young adults," says the pastor, "and for all of us."
One summer schedule even included a minicrusade in late July with a guest musical group: afternoon concert, covered-dish supper, then the evening service.
"Not only is an outdoor service less threatening to some who might not come to a church building," Bradbury says, "but with the backdrop of farmland and God's beautiful scenery, it is also a fitting location for worship at the close of the Lord's day."
Community Christian Church in the small town of Barnes City, Iowa, preserves its indoor 6:00 service—but shortens it the last Sunday of each month to head for the park a block away. ...
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