5:15 FAQs

Sunday nights will hopefully allow us to welcome more students and young adults, as well as returning weekend travelers. The 5:15 p.m. start time will make things workable for families with children on a school night.

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about this service:

Why are we starting a new worship service?

First, worship has always be a key part of our mission at Centenary. For several years now, there has been a rising passion in our worship. This new service will expand the opportunities we have as a church family to express that growing heart of love for God. Second, over the last couple of years, Centenary has extended our reach to people outside of our church through initiatives like Alpha and Celebrate Recovery. The 5:15 Service can be a time and place when these new friends might feel more at home. We pulled together as a congregation to build The Foundry with these kinds of possibilities in mind. Centenary is blessed with the ability to "speak" in just about any kind of musical language, and we have committed ourselves to respecting and learning from that variety. This new service just puts a bigger, more concrete expression to our hopes as a church.

Why Sunday nights, and why 5:15?

The staff and lay leaders who have worked on this new service over the last year-plus landed on Sunday nights hoping it might be a more appealing day of the week with students and young adults, as well as returning weekend travelers. The 5:15 start time will make things workable for families with children on a school night.

Will The 5:15 be completely different from our Sunday morning services?

In some ways, yes. Evening-time will feel different. The Foundry will be a contrast to our sanctuary, offering a more informal atmosphere. We’ll use large-screen projection for words and sermon supports, so there won’t be a printed bulletin for this service. But the core content of The 5:15 will be the same as our morning services. Whatever the biblical focus is that morning, and whoever the preacher is, these will almost always be the same at night. We’ll follow the same rhythms of the sacraments, church seasons, and other uniting aspects of our worship in all of our services.

What about the morning services? Will The 5:15 have any impact on our current worship pattern?

As the new service begins, the 8:30 a.m. service on Sunday mornings will begin to take on a more intentionally traditional form, drawing more from the use of organ music, time-honored hymns, and other familiar liturgical elements. The Sunday morning schedule will remain unchanged at first. Going forward, lay leaders from our Sunday School classes and other groups, working together with staff, will team up to track growth and change in our weekend patterns and to develop good responses. And there will be other slight adjustments. For example, we will be having our annual Hanging of the Greens service on the Saturday night (December 1) before the first Sunday of Advent, avoiding a conflict with The 5:15. As some shifting occurs, we may begin using ropes to customize the seating capacity for our morning services, which we have done for many years. But changes will be gradual with much ongoing communication.

What about kids? What will be provided for children and youth at The 5:15?

We’re glad to offer full children’s ministry during The 5:15 from birth through 5th grade. The Mine will be the same for all four of our services, both morning and evening. This service will likely be more appealing to middle school and high school students, and we hope families will enjoy the opportunity to worship together. Our weekly high school Encounter will occur after The 5:15 Service each Sunday night.

How can I get involved?

We invite you to join The 5:15 team! Opportunities abound for ushers, greeters, set-up and tear-down teams, technology and drama, welcome team, café, and in children’s ministry. If you would be interested in helping out, contact Cheylin Schrock at 269-2800, ext. 287, or by Email: Our best involvement right now, however, would be to support this major new initiative with our prayers and our invitation to friends. Let's anticipate great things from God at Centenary this fall.