Dear Winter Park Family, As you know, we gathered for one worship service during the last three Sundays in June. This trial period emerged from three congregational conversations we carried out in April. During these conversations a big question surfaced: what would one worship service look like containing both contemporary and traditional elements? So, our congregation agreed to give it a go. Since our last Sunday together in June another big question has emerged: what’s next? In my last “Paul’s Perspective,” dated May 9, 2024, I acknowledged then that I was unable to see the future, and therefore did not know exactly what our next steps would be after the trial period. However, I suggested then that we would likely engage in further discussion. And so that is now the plan per our most recent church council meeting. This Sunday, July 28, we will carry out our regularly scheduled business meeting at 4pm in the sanctuary. And as a part of this meeting, we will discuss the congregation’s impressions of our trial period. Please begin to think now about what you would like to share concerning our three trial worship services that brought together both contemporary and traditional elements. As we prepare to carry out this post-trial conversation, I have a few guidelines to offer. These guidelines come from the work Lou Ann does with congregations, throughout our state, in conversation about various important and sensitive issues. She refers to these as guidelines for healthy dialogue: 1 – Be fully present 2 – Listen generously without interrupting 3 – Ask clarifying questions rather than drawing assumptions 4 – Treat everyone as made in the image of God 5 – Breathe and think before speaking or responding 6 – Work from a position of positivity, not negativity Please note there will be no vote taken on changing our Sunday morning worship structure at this business meeting. The goal, here, is simply to enable our people to express their thoughts about our three Sunday trial period. And then to allow our people to hear the thoughts of others about our three Sunday trial period – it is important that we listen to one another. And it is my prayer that as we listen to one another, we will sense the very voice of God providing us with direction. In Christ, Paul

Dear Winter Park Family, We are deep into our conversation about the possibility of adjusting our Sunday morning structure from two worship services to one worship service. This is a major discussion that stirs up strong emotions for many of our people – as it should because the two morning worship services structure has been in place for 28 years now. Change, even the possibility of change, causes anxiety and fear. It happens to all of us who are wrapped in human skin. I have been intensely engaged with this sensitive issue since Advent 2023. There have been many conversations with individuals in my church office, several conversations in my unofficial office at a local restaurant, emails and texts, and our recent three congregational conversations as well as last Sunday night’s business meeting. One of the results of our three congregational conversations was that some people would like to know what one worship service looks like for Winter Park Baptist Church. Therefore, at our most recent business meeting, it was decided to carry out a trial period. Please mark your calendars now as we will participate together in a single Sunday morning worship experience on June 16, June 23, and June 30. We will gather for Sunday School at 9am and worship at 10:15am on each of these Sundays. As we enter this trial period, I want you to know three things. First, I want you to know my interpretation of where our congregation is now on this issue. Second, I want you to know why I find the single worship service model theologically preferable. And third, I want you to know that I will serve as your senior pastor, with full heart and conviction, no matter the decision the congregation makes about our Sunday morning worship structure going forward. In the light of all the conversations mentioned in the opening paragraph, as well as email exchanges and conversations with our church council and personnel committee, I find the traffic light helpful. There is more than enough positive interest in the possibility of a single Sunday morning worship service to conclude that our congregation is not seeing a red light. However, there is also more than enough hesitation about a change to our current Sunday morning worship structure to conclude that our congregation is not seeing a green light. Rather, our congregation now sees a yellow light. It is no surprise that we would not be unanimous on a sensitive issue such as this. Therefore, we need to proceed. However, we do so with caution. When I came to Winter Park, I knew there were two morning worship services in place. And I thought nothing of it. While I had not served as pastor to a church with two morning worship services before, I was aware that many churches have two worship services in place on Sunday mornings and have done so for years. In my career as a college professor, I was very accustomed to giving the same lecture to a different group of people. So, I would just do the same with the Sunday morning sermon with Winter Park. Easy enough. However, within my first few months of Sunday morning worship leadership, I began to develop concerns in relation to both the experience of two worship services, and my understanding of the teachings found in the Bible. Last Sunday’s worship services serve as a superb example of the fact that the people who gather for each service have different experiences with God. Last Sunday, our church agreed to partner with the families of two children to raise these two children in Christian faith. The folks in the 8:30am worship service did not participate in the dedication of the child we dedicated in the 11am worship service. And the folks gathered for worship in the 11am worship service did not participate in the dedication of the child dedicated in the 8:30am service. So, I introduced each child to only a portion of Winter Park Baptist Church. In the 11am service, my good friend and colleague Anita Thompson was with us. I was thrilled to introduce her to the congregation I now serve. However, the 8:30am people did not get to meet Anita. On any given Sunday, the folks in the 11am service do not get to experience that abundance of children that are often in the 8:30am service. And when there is drama in the 8:30am service, the 11am people miss that. When someone joins the church in the 11am worship service, the 8:30am people may hear of it later, but they do not experience the thrill of the moment. And vice versa when someone joins the church in the 8:30am service. When the Gardner-Webb University concert choir was with us during their fall break, the 8:30am people missed a great blessing. A pastor who recently made this same discovery after leading two worship services for 15 years says, “In short, the church is a single gathering of people. A separate gathering of people, even if it’s for the next hour in the same space under the same leadership, is … an altogether different spiritual experience.” Not everyone agrees with this of course. However, I identify with this pastor’s observations after leading two worship services for 10 months now. I also see this principle in Scripture. The apostle Paul is fully persuaded that Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians should eat together. Though we probably think little of it, eating with someone is an intimate experience. In the ancient world you eat with people you accept. Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians emerge from very different cultures. They have different likes and dislikes. However, they are now united in Christ because in Christ the dividing wall of hostility between them has been removed (Ephesians 2:11-16). In fact, on one occasion, the apostle Paul rebuked Peter when Peter, a Jewish Christian, refused to eat with Gentile Christians (Galatians 2:11-16). I take it then that if Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians are to engage in the intimate activity of eating together even with their cultural differences, Christians that make up a local congregation should worship God together even with their differences. Please know that the decision to alter our current Sunday morning worship structure is not mine nor the ministerial staff. It is the decision of the congregation. To make any permanent change to our Sunday morning worship structure, a vote of the congregation is required. Of course, I do not know exactly what will happen after the trial period. However, I would imagine further congregational dialogue before any vote is taken. So, let’s carry out this trial period during the last three Sundays in June with the caution of the yellow light our congregation now sees. And let’s see what God does and where God takes us. And whatever decision the congregation makes I will count it a privilege to serve as your pastor. In Christ, Paul