Rector’s Update: The Evening Service at Restoration
Dear Restoration,
A Prayer for your Devotions and your Table at Thanksgiving:
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us.
We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.
We thank you for setting us at tasks that demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments that satisfy and delight us.
We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he conquered death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.
Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.
Thank you God, for all that You have given to us and to our church.
Good Things Grow Here.
The Evening Service at Restoration: starting January 22, 2023 at 4:30pm
On Sunday, we announced that Restoration is preparing to launch an Evening Service under the leadership of Nathan Dickerson and Chris Lugo. We hope that through the power and grace of God the community that gathers to worship at this service will eventually move to a new campus and become a new church. I am so excited! It’s a Good Thing indeed!
I am attaching a document that was prepared by Nathan and describes the vision for the Evening Service.
Here are some highlights to build your anticipation!
The Evening Service will be a liturgy of Holy Eucharist with the same Scripture lessons and sermon topics as the morning services. People who worship at 4:30 will be fully able to participate in any Restoration small group.
Nathan Dickerson will serve as the primary preacher and leader of this service. Chris Lugo will be coming alongside him to assist in the service as well. The Evening Service will eventually have a person who is leading music and ministry to kids as well.
The service length will be shorter than the morning service: aiming for 75 minutes. When the service ends around 5:45, the sanctuary will transition to Apex for our youth and those who worshiped at the Evening Service will have regular opportunities to eat dinner together at nearby restaurants.
The Evening Service will offer Kids’ Small Groups for Pre-School and Nursery-aged children. Initially, school-age kids will participate in the whole service. As the Evening Service grows and as we develop someone to lead the ministry for kids, we hope to offer kids’ small groups for all kids 5th grade and below.
The Evening Service will have more opportunities for people to serve. We hope that volunteers might lead the Prayers of the People, lead the liturgy, as well as serving in all the other ways that make liturgy– ‘the work of the people.’
What’s Next?
- Nathan would love to chat with you about the Evening Service. You can reach out to him, here. You can also share this link from our website with others who might be interested in an evening opportunity to worship.
- We will have two Sunday gatherings where you can hear more about The Evening Service:
Sunday, December 18, at 10:30 (after the 9:00am) and at 12:30 (after the 11:00am) in the sanctuary.
Sunday, January 8, at 12:30 (after the 11:00am). This will also be our all-Parish Meeting to kick off 2023.
How can you pray?
First, we are asking God for 100 people to choose The Evening Service at Restoration as their primary time of worship each week. This would provide a vibrant community at 4:30pm and it would open up space in our 9:00am and 11:00am services. Would you join us in praying for everyone in our community who is considering this change of worship time for their household?
Second, we are praying that 200 people or more would join a team, under Nathan’s leadership, that would establish another campus of Restoration in the fall of 2023 and eventually become a new parish in our diocese. Would you pray for a new Restoration church plant in the next couple of years?
Third, pray for these guys, their families, and the team they are building. We love them a lot. I am so thankful for this new thing that is beginning to grow here.
Happy Thanksgiving, Restoration!
-David
