A new way?

Here is a thought-in a society which is changing is it not time that we, who want to pass on, indeed who have been mandated to pass on the eternal, unchanging gospel, thought about our paterns of doing church and whether or not they should be changed?

Here is one example that has occurred to me , more than once in the last few years: our society patterns have changed to a point that they are unrecognisible from what they were when I was young. Whebn I was going out with my wife, when we were in our late teens, her parents expected her to be home by 11pm. If we were not home by that time or if we spent too much time in the care outside the house she would bring the milk bottles out! Today our young people are not going out until 11pm and they are returning in the wee small hours. When thuis happens on a Saturday night/morning they spend the next morning catching up on sleep while we gather for worship. Sunday jhas become a day for shopping or for relaxing at home or for washing the car and doing those things that did not get done during the working week or they are working: the chances of them coming to church, no matter how dynamic the services are are pretty remote.

One of the key times of the year are the summer months, when the children are not attending school and their parents are desperate for something to relieve the boredom after the first few days of the holidays and what do we do? We shut up for the smmer until September when the children are back at their desks. Why do we not turn everything on its head? Would it not make sense for us to make the summer more of a priority in terms of outreach and evangelism? Not just for a week or two but for the whole summer. Yes everyone needs a rest but why not have that rest in the heart of the winter when nature tells us to rest and the nights are cold and dark? That's what the animals do and thats what happens to the flowers and the trees why would we not do that also. Would this not be more strategic as well as more benificial for the workers who always feel exhausted by Christmas. Would it not make sense to prioritise the holidays like this?