Thank you to all who were able to join in the Town Hall Meeting on Sunday following [theBridge] and who have called or e-mailed to share your concerns and/or offer your support.

For those who were unable to be there in person, we were able to record the meeting on CD. These are available by contacting Curtis (e-mail him at curtis@gspc.org or call 562/493.2553 x115).

We were able to discuss a number of important elements regarding not only [theBridge] worship service, but also the future of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, including the other two worship services, Children’s Ministry, as well as our open staff positions.

Andy Biochino, a representative of GSPC’s worship team, took copious notes of the questions and comments made at the meeting:

• How do we connect the evening congregation with the morning congregations?
• How do we connect with other church activities that often occur in the morning?
• What about children’s ministry for kids at the Bridge?
• How do we know if more people are interested in attending in the evening?
• Could the Bridge grow more at the current time by personal invitation rather than changing the time to evening?
• The morning Bridge meets a need, and evening services have failed in the past. How about creating an evening service in addition to the existing morning Bridge service?
• Would the children’s sermon be reinstated at 10:30 if kids return to that service when the Bridge is moved to a different time?
• The Bridge isn’t broken — why are we trying to fix it?
• Will the church have a staff person to market and reach out to the emerging generations?
• The 10:30 service isn’t kid friendly.
• Will a Sunday evening service be coordinated not to conflict with youth groups?
• Curtis said: The Bridge isn’t attracting youth or reaching out to the community. The Bridge should be a place for people discouraged by “church”.
• The Bridge has been effective at bringing a variety of people and new members together, thanks largely to the efforts of Curtis and the Pastors.
• Will the evening sermon/message be the same as the morning services?
• Is Saturday evening a consideration?
• Would people walk away from church if the morning Bridge service wasn’t available?
• Sunday evening would be an opportunity for people to worship when they get back in town from being away for the weekend.
• Who will be the primary speaker at an evening service?
• Pastor Paul said: As followers of Christ, worship shouldn’t be all about us. Reaching out to new people may require some sacrifices.
• There’s a fear of losing connection with the church family as a whole (among all the services on Sunday morning) if the Bridge is moved.
• Curtis said: Adding a fourth service won’t allow it the critical mass it needs. It’s difficult for our church to host two services at the same time.
• We need to support the current Bridge people we’ve already reached.
• Some of us have family members that will not attend a service any time other than Sunday morning.
• Could 8:00 and 9:30 services with the Bridge at 11AM work?
• A Saturday service at 5PM would still give people time to do other things afterwards that night.
• Older people attending the other Sunday morning services will lose a connection with the younger generation.