Where things are heading

We've had two services so far, one on Feb 6th, and the other on Feb 20th. The second service went really well, running a lot smoother than the first one. We also had 3 more people come, who again, had never been to church before. The overall size of the congregation also grew. So even though we've only had two services, it's growing in every way possible!

We're coming up to our third service, which will be on March 12th. Up to now, I'm still looking for guitarists who can play for this one, but I'm sure it'll all be good. The theme for the next service will be God's Heart, and writing the short introduction/talk, is proving to be the biggest challenge yet. But again, I've found with the last two services, that somehow, everything seems to fall into place 5 minutes before I'm due to talk. Maybe saying that is tempting fate though?

The music side of things is great, so people say, and as each service goes by, I'm learning how to lead worship more effectively. The band, although we've got a core group of musicians who play every service, I'm still looking for a few other people who are able to play each service.

I've received a lot of good comments about my 'talk' after the worship, people have told me they learn a lot from it, which is great. The group discussions however, haven't really had anything positive said about them from many people. There's about two people who have said they learn things from the discussion, however, they both said they enjoy the talk more. Many other people say they don't learn anything at all from them, and some people who come actually feel uncomfortable sitting through them. I've talked to many people who have said they won't come if they have to sit in groups, even if they know they're not expected to talk. So in that respect, the group discussions are keeping many people away.

In an ideal situation, I'd like to see my 'talk' last a few minutes longer. During that time I'll be able to go into more detail about the theme. Additionally, I'd like to use the media - e.g, I'd use a short film clip, and then talk about how the clip relates to the theme. This is one of the ways I'll be able to relate the theme to modern life. This would also allow the talk to run for a few minutes more. Doing all of this, without the group discussions, will probably not last as long, so the service will either finish sooner, or we'll see what else would be worthwhile having. At the end however, I'd still like people to have the opportunity to discuss their ideas/thoughts in groups, just like we do now, however, it will be optional, and will probably take place in another room. This way, people are free to join the group if they wish, but people who feel uncomfortable in groups will not need to join. Like I said though - this is an ideal situation, there's probably many problems with me doing that, so a lot of prayer is needed to see whether God wants me to lead this in a slightly different direction, or whether He wants it to stay the same.