Any church business at Circle Church, including the annual meeting and elections, was held in this Sunday evening time slot. Planning for discussion groups and for the home worship services was also scheduled for the evening time.

Since beginning, our entire government system of the church has undergone reorganization, requiring each member to determine his or her gifts and then to register with one of several interest groups, called modules. Nine have formed and a given Sunday night was designated “Monthly Module Night,” with all these ministry-oriented groups meeting in different homes.

Quite often something was scheduled just for a specific group, such as the singles, who would plan the program to fit their needs. Another example occurred when just families came to the church office. They then proceeded in a group to view the magnificent display of Christmas ornamentation along State Street in the Loop and to sing around the massive lighted tree in the Civic Plaza. They then returned to the office to partake of hot chocolate and to watch the small children decorate the tree with the Christmas ornaments they had made. The comment was that we needed to do this more often.

Since our prayer emphasis took place within local geographic groups, there was often a need stated for requests on a broader basis. We then planned an all-church prayer meeting for a Sunday night, rather than during the week. In August, the area prayer groups met on Sunday nights to give one month with no midweek interference.

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No matter what type of Sunday sermon you need to create, David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Sharing together at the Circle Church evening services, we related individual needs in an unhurried manner to what had been read.

The open Sunday evenings were a most refreshing interlude, such as holiday weekends when students were away and family plans were in order. Especially appreciated were these times with the children and simply to relax.

On occasion, instead of having a service of our own, we will encourage our people to attend another church. This gives them a healthy perspective as to the value of other congregations, and also of our own.

On one occasion, members signed up with Pastor Hilliard to go to a black church and participate in that service. During an extended citywide crusade, such as one conducted by Billy Graham or Tom Skinner, we canceled all our evening services and encouraged attendance at their afternoon rallies.

Feeling keenly the presence of many internationals in our midst, we thought it would be helpful if we had a better understanding of their basic religious tenets. Instead of inviting Christian “experts” to share what they knew about these different world religions, we asked actual representatives of these faiths to talk with us.

Four Indian students represented Hinduism. Another evening a priest from the Chicago Buddhist temple came. And, on yet another occasion, a Muslim messenger issued a rather high-powered invitation. We felt the entire time had enhanced our appreciation of the thought patterns of our visitors from foreign lands. Later we were delighted by the presence of Father Mike Murphy, a seminarian, who dialogued with us for three weeks on Catholicism.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about? Or, what will you preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon? David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Hospitality needs to be extended, as well, on the level of the Christian community. Circle Church practiced this kind of ministry far above the average church.

I suppose much of this is related to the need expressed by the younger generation for “real” interpersonal commitments and by their re-emphasis on the material in preference for the human. We have had some quasi-commune attempts and would like to see this continue on broader levels. But mostly we have seen the life of our community extended and deepened by sharing meals together within our homes. Simply, this relates to Sunday evening in the fact that we often schedule Hospitality Nights for this precise purpose.

A few outstanding examples of hospitality in our previous traditional church experiences were so effectual in ministry toward my wife, Karen, and me that they literally transformed our attitude as to the value of this area of ministry. Yet prior to the establishment of Circle Church, to be entertained even as a staff member was the exception. And, members had little time open for one another.

A Sunday school class in one church employed an excellent solution to this dilemma. They systematically mixed their members, so that groups met in different homes for dessert and coffee after the evening service. It was effective, and yet it could have been even more so if the validity of the need to share community in hospitality had been recognized on a total church level.

This would have resulted in a consistent cancellation of the evening service, a mixing of all age levels, and the utilization of an extended period of time—the entire evening—rather than the weary moments which usually are experienced at the conclusion of the day of rest.

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Pastor, when “sermon prep day” rolls around each week, do you face the task of preparing another sermon with a frown on your face? If so, you’re not alone. Many pastors literally dread preparing their Sunday sermon. There just doesn’t seem to be an easy solution. The good news: David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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