Saturday Night

We here at Northgate are set to launch our Saturday night service this Saturday (10th) at 6 PM. This is an opportunity for people who can't or don't want to go to church on Sunday. It is an opportunity to see God at work as we 'make room' in our schedule so that people can come into relationship with Jesus. Here is one story from a church in Edmonton that bucked tradition and started a Saturday night service. Look at the themes of relationship and outreach seen in this story. This is the kind of fruit that we are looking for! Please read it (takes about 2 minutes), be encouraged and pray about the upcoming Saturday service and who you can invite!

Recently released from prison, Whitnack was trying hard to go straight. Although he’d started to turn his life around and was going to church, Saturday nights were always a danger zone. Typically, it was a time spent drinking or getting high with buddies.

On a whim, Whitnack checked out Summerside Community Church and checked into Saturday night worship.

It was a good move.

In an interview, the 34-year-old journeyman plumber said he really enjoyed the high-energy music and was put at ease by the fact most worshippers were his age or younger.

But what really touched Whitnack was the way a couple of complete strangers came up and invited him to join them for card games at someone’s place after worship.

You know you belong to a church when God meets you at the door. And that’s what happened at Summerside: God met me at the door; welcomed me with both arms.”

“Summerside gave me another option,” said Whitnack, who added that the church has helped him so much he’s introduced a former inmate friend to the Saturday night church.

While Sunday remains the day for worship, more churches are experimenting with new forms and new times for worship, in an effort to draw more people.

“It can be stressful getting up early for church Sunday morning,” observed Whitnack. “You’re always in a hurry; you’re always late. Saturday night just seems more convenient.”

The success of Summerside with its Saturday night worship has prompted some of the larger evangelical churches in town to offer Saturday night services of their own – usually upbeat services aimed at the young. Other churches are considering the move.

Pastor Ray Wiens, Summerside’s founder, said he deliberately chose Saturday night because he wanted to reach into the community. This Easter Saturday, Summerside will celebrate its third anniversary.

“The theme in our worship is celebration,” said Wiens, who moved here from Whistler, B.C. “We take the view that life is good and God is good and we need to take every opportunity that we have to celebrate goodness.”

The celebrating doesn’t end with the final Amen. Most churchgoers get together after worship for group activities like swimming, going to the gym, watching movies or just enjoying a meal and conversation. Social activities often run late into the night.

“Nobody will come to church on Saturday night because they’re busy doing other things,” one minister bluntly told Summerside PastorWiens.

“In Edmonton, Saturday night is party night,” another skeptic observed.

Rather than be deflated, Wiens said he decided that if Edmontonians want to party on Saturday night, “We’ll bring that party into the church.”

As a result of its success, Summerside plans eventually to build a church on 40 acres of land it owns near the city’s southern boundary.