{"id":1826,"date":"2008-05-08T20:55:21","date_gmt":"2008-05-08T20:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=1826"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:25:35","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:25:35","slug":"6272","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/05\/08\/6272\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly \u2018Early Worship Days\u2019 Service Designed for Seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"

TACOMA, WA (May 8, 2008) \u2013 At a time when many churches craft their worship services and programming to reach a younger audience, Praise Covenant Church<\/a> here has been holding a special service once a month for seniors.
\n
\n\u201cSaints who have attended church most of their lives hearken back to the grand old hymns,\u201d says Doug Stave, pastor to the church\u2019s senior adults. \u201cHowever, most growing churches fill Sunday morning worship time with praise choruses, because these contemporary songs attract youth and young families today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 500-member church wanted to make sure that the seniors were not forgotten, however, even as it reached a new generation. \u201cWe tried hymn sings but drew meager response,\u201d Stave says. \u201cA once-a-month worship time filled the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The one-hour service celebrated at 11 a.m. on the first Thursday of each month \u2013 and called First Thursday for obvious reasons \u2013 has a simple format and resembles the worship time seniors recall occurring on Sunday mornings when growing up, Stave says. Lay leaders call the people to worship, lead several rousing old hymns and gospel songs, offer prayers, announcements, and a hymn story.<\/p>\n

Guest musicians share \u201cold greats\u201d from the 1950s and 1960s by writers such as John Peterson, who composed more than 1,000 hymns and songs including, \u201cHeaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul.\u201d Stave then shares a message.<\/p>\n

As many as 75 worshipers gather for a prepared lunch in the church\u2019s fellowship hall following the service. \u201cWe have a great crew that always surprises us with their culinary creations,\u201d Stave says.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church started the service two years ago and attracts visitors every month, Stave says. \u201cWe hope other churches that have a significant number of seniors will hear about First Thursday and try the concept.\u201d<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TACOMA, WA (May 8, 2008) \u2013 At a time when many churches craft their worship services and programming to reach a younger audience, Praise Covenant Church here has been holding a special service once a month for seniors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMonthly \u2018Early Worship Days\u2019 Service Designed for Seniors - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/05\/08\/6272\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monthly \u2018Early Worship Days\u2019 Service Designed for Seniors - 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