Although Eric's post isn't specifically about it, he does mentioning using his Saturday night service as "part of preparation for Sunday mornings."
If you have multiple services, do you find yourself doing this? Does it at all shortchange the people in the first service... and shortchange could be in all kinds of areas?
Hey Patrick -
Just noticed that you had linked to my post. Thanks for finding me!
I wanted to take a moment to expand a little more on that comment. I don't know that I intentionally use one service to prepare for another. But I've discovered that the act of being in - and leading - worship on Saturday has an effect on my leading on Sunday morning. Those two weeks that I was not in worship on Saturday, Sunday morning was a little more hectic and I felt more disconnected. It's probably a sign that I need to change my Sunday morning routine a little!
Does this shortchange those who attend that Saturday night service? I can see where the language I used (that this is preperation for another service) would indicate that. But I don't think it does - at least not in my case. Our Saturday night service is pretty small and a slightly different style than the Sunday morning...more casual. The congregation gets a leader who is relaxed and less worried about his performance, and the leader (me) gets a chance to lead without some of the pressure that comes with the main Sunday morning worship service. When Sunday arrives, I have less to worry about because I've "been down this road" already.
At least, that's how it works for me. Hope that helps and some conversation is sparked. Would be interested to hear more.