Major Changes Coming to Wednesday Night Services
Church of the Messiah is excited to announce that there will be major changes coming to our Wednesday night, mid-week services beginning this Wednesday night, November 6th. The most significant change is that the Youth Group will be taking over Wednesday Nights. The Youth will have the run of the service from 7 o’clock until 8:30 in the main sanctuary while everyone else attending church in the evening will be attending Bible studies elsewhere in the building.
When Church of the Messiah first relocated to our current location in 2013, we began having Wednesday night services which had previously been impossible while we were worshiping at Jacksonville University. In 2018, Casey Harlow was appointed as the Youth Pastor of Church of the Messiah and our Youth Group began meeting during our regular mid-week services. As our Youth Group has grown, however, fitting everything needed for a youth meeting, into the time we had previously allotted for the Youth simply became unmanageable. After prayer, and in consensus with his Rector’s Council, Fr. Looker made the decision to cede the mid-week services entirely to the Youth Group. This decision gives them triple the time that they previously had for their meetings and more than enough room to grow and thrive.
We will still have childcare for children who are younger than fifth grade and we will still honor our commitment to be out by 8:30 so that everyone can get home in time to prepare for work and school the following morning. While this means that Wednesday nights will not regularly be Eucharistic services, we will occasionally join with the youth in having special Eucharistic services. The first of these services will be November 27th, when we celebrate Thanksgiving.