one congregation that spirit bear and I belonged to used to go to evening services in the summer. It was great! You could go away for the weekend and still be at church Sun. night.

Our Sunday School for children continues, and we also run a Vacation Bible School. We don't have a choir, but then we never do except for at Chrstmastime. We have our usual fellowship times for coffee and lunch, our families continue to attend, and our Wednesday night Bible Study continues.

Rich blessings.

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MC jae

I find church to be a lot more relaxed in the summer. We don't tend to have meetings. No choirs sing during the service - instead we have guest musicians. Instead of coffee time, we only serve juice. We do offer children's programming - this year, the youth group is taking that job on (in past years, we have hired a programmer - this year we are paying the youth instead).

It's not that God takes a vacation - it's just that people do.

Regular worship. Kids aren't here, so no children's time. And we don't join with outher congregations to share worship. We found that cost us several thousand dollars in foregone givings in the two years we tried it.

We go to a smaller scale service, usually lay-led and in a circle (one of the joys of having chairs rather than pews) with sharing or rituals rather than a sermon. The RE committee usually puts together some kind of summer program for the kids who come. So,quieter and smaller scale than during the regular church year but definitely a service.

Mendalla

We share with another downtown UCC - five Sundays each.  Offerings don't seem to be a problem - many of our people are on PAR, and envelop givings go to the home church.  Only the loose offering goes to the host church - and I presum it balances out. 

But I wonder why the children's programs are cancelled.  Some kids don't go away all summer - and they might like a change from being at home all the time, something to look forward to.  Seelergirl won't come if there isn't a children's program - not necessarily divided into formal classes but something all can enjoy - making cookies for fellowship hour, or going for a walk down to the river, or painting a mural on the wall (or outside on the parkinglot. 

When I'm doing supply, I always plan a time for the "Young and Young at Heart" and if there are no children, and I'm tempted to skip it, I get told that they want it. 

But cancelling everything but regular worship - and cutting that short and not having a choir - is like telling the people 'you might as well stay home'.  I'd prefer to have guest preachers, new music with maybe guest musicians, maybe a farmer coming in to talk about the relationship of agriculture and religion.  Not necessarily regular worship, but something that would make people glad they came.  And lemonade, or ice cream, are good for fellowship on hot days - especially if you have a shaded lawn.

The services are the same time, there is still a choir, although some members may be on holiday. The choir is important, since many parts of the service are sung. The singing is a capella, so no worries about the organist being on holiday.
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I can't remember about the children (not having young ones myself). Even if it isn't summer, the children don't spend the whole time at Sunday school. Since there are no pews and it is a big open space, the toddlers tend to wander around during the service. Parents bring toys and coloring books to keep them occupied.
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There is a sit down lunch afterwards as usual, but of course there are fewer people.
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They try to get a priest for us while the regular one takes his vacation. If they can't, the deacon does a partial service.

Our city has among the oldest populations in Canada. The number of children has declined by 10% in the last five years while the number of seniors over the age of 65 has increased by 10%. The kids usually depart for the beach or elsewhere in the summer.

In Victoria, over a quarter of the population are seniors - making it the oldest "major" city in Canada, according to StatsCan. Of course, kids here also do other things in the summer like going to the beach and going camping. That said, many kids come to visit Grandma and Grandpa - who subsequently bring them to church on Sunday. Our congregation, and many others in the area, want for there to be a place for them to come on Sunday morning. We've made it a priority to hold a space for them on Sunday mornings, both in worship and Sunday School, even if no children show up.

Hi crazyheart,

I will be going back to NL for several weeks.

In the meantime it will be business pretty much as usual at Waterford.

There will be no formal Sunday School we always have volunteers at the ready should children show up.

The choir will not sit as a choir on the dais.  They will attend and sit with their families when they are not on vacation.

There will continue to be coffee fellowship though I think they actually pass on the coffee and go for something cooler.

Attendence of members will be regular for the regulars and normal for everyone else.

I will attend both the morning and evening services in St. Anthony and resist any invitations by that congregation to preach as I'm in Northern Newfoundland to relax and be fed.

Grace and peace to you.

John

In our community, grandma and grandpa don't bring the grandchildren to church in the summer. They head for the beach, instead. Church is too hot and not air-conditioned.

And I do hope you take time for some whalewatching while in St. Anthony.  I know Paul Alcock and family, and have spent some time with them during previous summers.

Enjoy your time in NL...unfortunately I don't get to go this summer, but hopefully next year.

We're more relaxed in the summer - no choirs, and the minister usually preaches from a portable lecturn on the floor - rather than up in the pulpit etc.  The preaching often departs from the usual lectionary focus, and follows a multi-week theme.  No children's church programme, but the nursery is still usually staffed.

 We start the service with a hymn sing - usually about 4 hymns - one or two preselected, and the others chosen by those present.  A different member of the congregation (usually someone from the choir) leads the singing.   Our usual organist/pianist is off for July & August & we have a supply person who fills in. 

Lemonade, coffee, tea as usual after the service.  Our church is fortunately air conditionned!

My church tends to have very low numbers in the summer as well.

We share holidays with another United Church: they come to ours for 5 weeks, and we go to theirs for 5 weeks. The ministers take turns for a five week holiday.

But the buildings aren't air-conditioned, and a lot of people take a summer vacation from church.

I like to visit other churches in the summer. Since I teach Sunday School at mine, I'm not often free to go to another church during the school year. So I take advantage of my freedom in the summer to visit other churches, both in my hometown and while travelling. I like getting ideas from what other churches do. I tend to write notes on the bulletin: from how they do announcements, to the service itself, to the coffee hour. I'll find someone willing to give me a thorough tour of the church, and tell me how they do Sunday School, choir, etc. I get fresh ideas to take back to my own congregation.

A big disappointment for me was a Sunday morning during my trip out west.  Nothing else planned - my travel companions were having a lazy morning - so I checked WonderCafe and found a UCC within walking distance.  I got there - and the doors were closed.  (A little note on the window said that the congregation was meeting on Thursday evenings - it might work for them but not for visitors.)

We don't have AC. We do have ceiling fans.

Rich blessings.

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MC jae

In my current congregation, services continue through the summer, same time as usual (10:30am), and they are reasonably well attended, considering the season. We do move out of the sanctuary and into our hall (all the church is on one level, so there are no mobility issues, and the hall is on the west side of the building, so it doesn't heat up as fast as the sanctuary on the east side). Like MC, we have ceiling fans. Last year we tried using  "cabaret" seating, meaning that card tables were set up with 4-5 to a table, facing front. This allows people to get something to drink (usually water or lemonade) and bring it with them to their table, and there's something to set their hymnbooks on, rather than on the floor (although we set up a portable projector for hymn lyrics, which most people prefer to the hymnals. So not many hymn books get passed out). At first, our worship committee was sceptical, but cabaret format was a hit with our worshippers, so we will continue with it this summer.

We still have a choir in the summer, but no Thurs. night rehearsal. Instead, less ambitious music is chosen, and the rehearsal takes place just before the service. Being in the hall means the major musical backup is the piano, although I usually supplement this with my clarinet, as I also do during regular services. It makes it easier to pick out the melody line that way. (although I'll be away this weekend vacationing not too far from DKS - I'm usually "Have clarinet, will travel", but I suspect that for most churches, it's too difficult to fit in guest musicians on short notice).

For the month (or more) that our minister is off, the services are lay-lead. The only thing that's different here is who is delivering the sermon. There is no Sunday School (does anyone have a better name for that?) as our usual staff person is on vacation July/Aug, although there is an area with tables and drawing supplies at the back of the hall that can be taken advantage of.

I have been known to call it church school. It is to convey that children and the church are not just Sunday phenomenas. Very hard to have people change their way of thinking this one through.

In UU, the usual term is Religious Education or RE for short. We then break it down into Children's RE (= Sunday/Church School) and Adult RE (various adult programs). A bit dry sounding, but generic enough that it doesn't ruffle too many feathers.

Mendalla

never heard this before Mendalla. Interesting.

In our congregation, we've started referring to Sunday School as Children's Worship.

WE call it Kid's Ministry.

During the summer we don't have a formal setup but we do have people there each week just in case there are children that do not want to stay in for the whole service.

In the summer, our Sunday School gives way to what we call Junior Worship.  Instead of being divided into classes for lessons, any kids that come are welcome to join a youth leader (who is offered an honorarium) for simple crafts, games, etc. -- a much less structured time for the few who attend.

We are a two point charge – we go down to one service.  Our Sunday school finished mid June – starts up again in September.  All church activities go into Summer mode.   We starting singing all the “old” hymns etc….  Its camp time – most of our congregation have cottages/camps – we have a few visitors.  This model has always bugged me – but now that I am in my 50’s I appreciate the time I can spend at camp rather than worrying about church politics etc.  Our attendance drops by 75 percent starting in late June and doesn’t pickup until September.   If we were in a bigger community it would make sense to close the whole thing down and go to another church (give the clery vaction if they haven't arleay booked summer)….