Megachurch unveils 30-minute-long worship service
flockwoodby Frank Lockwood
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
It’s a sitcom-length Sunday worship service.
A Sweet Half-Hour of Prayer.
And it’s attracting time-sensitive seekers to The Church at Rock Creek Sundays at 12:30 p.m.
The Little Rock Southern Baptist megachurch is billing the new 30-minute-long event as a “great solution” for time-starved Arkansans with busy schedules.
This week, the church mailed advertisements hyping the frills-free service to 85,000 homes across central Arkansas.
“It’s a fast-paced service,” pastor Mark Evans said in an interview. “It’s designed to be a real jump start focusing on connecting people with God.”
About 250 people attended the first service, called “RC:30,” when it debuted on March 9. A similar crowd showed up this week.
A typical service features roughly 8 minutes of contemporary praise and worship, 15 minutes of preaching and 5 minutes to pray and take an offering.
Evans delivers what he calls a “condensed” sermon, but he says a quarter-of-an-hour is sufficient time to communicate gospel truths.
“It’s not an issue of watering down. It’s an issue of being more succinct in communicating what the Bible says,” he said.
The church will continue to offer two hour-long services on Sunday mornings and another hour-long service on Monday nights.
According to the mailer, The Church at Rock Creek aims to attract people who “don’t go to church because it is boring and irrelevant.”
It promises visitors “an engaging message, compelling worship music and creative worship elements.”
The approach has proved successful. When the church started 12 years ago, it had two dozen worshippers. Today, between 4,500 and 5,000 people worship there, Evans said.
At RC:30’s inaugural service, “We had six families that were our first-time guests. They’d heard about it by word of mouth,” Evans said. “I was just elated by the response.”
For most of Baptist history, half-hour-long Sunday services — designed to accommodate crowded schedules — would’ve been an anathema.
The Baptist Faith and Message, a key statement of Baptist beliefs, urged Christians to devote “the Lord’s Day” to “worship and spiritual devotion…refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments…”
But in 2000, Southern Baptists revised the Baptist Faith and Message. Among other changes, it no longer denounces work and “worldly amusements” on Sundays.
Evans said Sunday is “ a day not only to connect with God, but to connect with family and connect with friends,” he added.
The hope is that unchurched Arkansans will be attracted to the new service, Evans said.
Officials at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. declined to comment on the new worship format.
But Lutheran theologian Walter A. Maier says the Scriptures give churches flexibility when it comes to scheduling services. “Actually, the length of time is not something prescribed in the New Testament one way or another… It’s up to the people,” said Maier.
Mid-week noontime church events, including Lenten services, are frequently a half-hour long so that workers can attend during their lunch break, Maier added.
Short church services fill a need, according to Victorious Life Church pastor Kevin Harrison.
VLC, located along Interstate 35 just south of Waco, Tex., launched its own 30-minute service on Sep. 16.
The Assembly of God congregation typically attracts about 40 worshipers for its shortened service, Harrison says, including a nurse who works an all-night shift before attending and truck drivers who occasionally pull off the Interstate. People with health conditions who can’t sit still for long periods of time show up, Harrison said. So do business owners who can’t afford to be away from their shops for long periods of time.
Some of those who attend the short service eventually transition to the longer more traditional service, Harrison said. “This is a starting point for people who wouldn’t have come otherwise,” he said.
The Pentecostal church, located in the shadow of Baylor University, has drawn some criticism for offering the short service, Harrison said. “Quite frankly, there’s been a lot of negative talk about it, but we feel like this is something God put in our hearts and we’re going to see it through.”
Short services aren’t a challenge, “as long as you plan thoroughly,” Harrison said. “I had a professor in college tell me, ‘Anybody can preach 45 minutes. It takes somebody who plans and prepares to say something in 10 minutes.’”
Harrison predicts the 30-minute service will eventually catch on at churches across the nation.
But Father Joseph Bittle of Little Rock’s Holy Trinity Orthodox Church says it’s not a trend his congregation will ever embrace.
The Divine Liturgy, Holy Trinity’s main Sunday morning service, lasts at least 90 minutes. A 45-minute-long Vespers service on Saturday night and an hour long Orthros service early Sunday morning are also held, but they are designed to supplement — not substitute for — the Divine Liturgy.
These rituals “took their final shape around the 11th century” and they’re lengthy for a reason, Bittle said. “The Church, in its wisdom, knows that it takes time for us to bring our hearts and our minds to a place where we are truly present for worship.”
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March 19th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Get em in, get their money, get em out!
March 19th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I wondered when someone would try this. They have tried every trick to draw every person into these mega-churches, and have finally resorted to one that’s hard to disagree with: You only have to put up with our “worship leaders” and “worship music” for eight minutes.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I wouldn’t think you could fill one up and empty it in a half an hour.
March 20th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Do they have a drive-thru window?
March 20th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Hey Jack: I think they might have a no deposit-no return window.
March 20th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
What is that, the fast food equivalent of eternal security?
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:15 am
No, but if you listen carefully, you might hear “It’s the real thing” sung in the background
March 24th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
There are a lot of churches that have half hour television programs, and I don’t hear anyone railing against that. I understand the arguments against a half hour service if that’s all the church offered, but I don’t understand the “all or nothing” attitude when it comes to exposure to Christianity. From the point of view of an unchurched person, a half-hour service is a lot less intimidating than a 2 hour one.
A good church does a takes people to a deeper level in their Christian walk. That means moving committed people from a 2 hour service to a 2 week mission trip but it also means taking uncommitted people from a yearly Easter service to a weekly half hour service. It’s just an earlier step in the journey.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Easter is a pagan holiday and God hates it along with all who celebrate it. Secondly, this is not a church we are talking about here. The Bible calls it a whorehouse! Elizabeth, see how this church and your own does on my New Testament scorecard: http://www.bartmcqueary.com/scorecard.pdf Be sure to post your score.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Eternity is longer than any two hour sermon. Any person who is intimidated by a 2 hour service-is going to the wrong church, try another one.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Bart,
I am glad I do not go to your church. Such intolerance!! It sounds like some of the snake-handling churches in the Appalachian Mountains. Anyone can take scripture out of context and twist it to say what they want it to say. Even the Devil quotes scripture. I am a Southern Baptist and attend a so-called “mega-church.” We are a family that gathers at times other than what is set as worship times. We have Sunday School to teach the children and adult new Christians about God, Jesus, and the Bible.
You know, the Bible also says one should not judge, lest he be judged himself. Think about it. I know where I am going when I die. Do you?
March 25th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Someone said once that no one ever went broke by underestimating the taste of the American public. Re this discussion, it might be added that no one ever went broke by feeding seekers only 30 minutes of pap spread a mile wide and an inch deep.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Cheri says: “Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah!”
You attend a whorehouse! How did you score? -100? -200? How much does your pimp make? That’s what you would call the “pastor.” $75,000 a year? $100,000 a year? Are you a silver whore or a gold whore? That of course is determined how much money you bring to your pimp, not how you live your life!
Perhaps you can explain how I have “twisted scripture.” That ought to be good!
You’re going to hell when you die, Cheri! Everyone is going to be judged! You foolish woman! Are you saying that I can avoid judgment from the great God Almighty by not judging anything on earth? Am I to walk around like some damn fool with my mouth hanging open and not utter a single word about right and wrong? Is that what Jesus did? NO! NO! NO! The Jesus Christ I hold to be the savior of mankind flipped over tables and threw people out of temples! He told people that they could not be saved. He said that very few people are going to go to Heaven.
What, in your filthy arrogance, makes you think that you are one of the Elect? What are your fruits? That you attend some giant whorehouse church?
One day, Simple Cheri, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to grab you by your throat and chokeslam your miserable butt into hell! There your “mega pastor” will be waiting for you. You will start clawing at him as the fire consumes you and your eyes burn like coals! The cursing that will come out of your mouth would make a priest blush with shame! And forever you will curse one another in torment only taking the time off to curse God for putting you there.
So how’d ya score?
March 25th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Cheri: has it occurred to you about now that bart is a bachelor, and he is the only one who attends his church? According to his score card, any woman can sit butt naked in it as looooong as their head is covered, they are just fine.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Bart, your descriptions of hell always remind me of the sermons of Jonathan Edwards, if they’d been done by a professional wrestler.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Bart’s ravings require no reply from me. He shows his true colors through his posts. I know that I am saved. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and He lives in my heart. I will be with Him in Paradise come Judgment Day, with “many crowns to put at His feet.”
March 26th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Well Cheri, you are in for one HELL of a surprise!
March 26th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Not if she’s one of the elect and you’re not one of the elect, Bart, in that case she’ll be in heaven looking down on you. Sound theology according to Fred. You would if you could but you can’t so you won’t, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.
March 26th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Peach, I didn’t notice this before, the expression’s actually “BUCK” naked but I believe I like your version better. I suppose all the hot air coming from the pulpit is why that poor butt naked member doesn’t catch cold.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
What evidence is there that she is one of the elect? That she attends some mega whorehouse? She screams about “tolerance” to fags and dykes? There isn’t a shred of evidence that she is one of the Elect. All evidence points that she is going to burn in hell. What are her fruits?
March 26th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Brother John: That would be that Appalachian “Bubba” slang I never got rid off. But-t does sound better.
Bart: you seem to have forgotten that Jesus was the first MEGA-pastor; how do you think he would feel about you calling his Sermon on the Mount speech as coming from a mega whore-house? vile, rotten- bad egg, decandant peach
March 26th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Mega-pastor… listen to you! That will be exhibit A on judgment day for you rotten peach! All of you that sit silently while she blasphemes the Son of God will also have to account for it!
March 26th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Bart, you are absolutely incapable of understanding the doctrine of predestination, which you claim to believe. If people are predestined to be saved or not saved, it makes no difference what they do or say. There’s no trial, no exhibit A.
Get some counseling, for your own good.
March 26th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Loony Larry! You will know the Elect by their fruits. What they do and say, how they behave, shows you if they are truly predestined for Hell. Attending some awful whorehouse mega-church is not a good sign. YOU are the one lacking the understanding.
March 26th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Bart, you can’t even keep track of your own babblings. You’re constantly telling people what to do and what not to do, which, according to your theology, is meaningless. Why do you waste the effort when everyone’s fate is predestined?
That’s a rhetorical question, Bart. You don’t have to answer. Spend the time looking in the Yellow Pages under “Mental Health Professionals.”
March 26th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Ole Bart here would be quite humorous, if only he wasn’t displaying just how completely LOST he is.
P.S. “butt naked” sounds better.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:09 am
BTW, I never said my “mega-church” preached tolerance of homosexuality or adultery. We do not - both are an abomination to God. I know that whatever sins I have committed in the past (which I admit are many), and whatever sins I commit in the future (which will also be many), have already been forgiven and washed away because God gave His only Son to die for my sins at Calvary. As Jesus said to the woman who was caught in the very act of adultery and was to be stoned by her accusers, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” See John 8:2-11 KJV for the complete story. I am not an adulterer, but this can be applied to any situation where someone is accused of being a sinner. Bart is obviously a devout Calvinist.