The loss which comes from now waking up for church

In general, if you’re young and somewhat independent, the likelihood of you attending church in the evening increases.

As the years pass by and you progress through the life stages - especially marriage and having children - your chances of migrating to attending church in the morning rises.

The reasons are sometimes purely logistical.

You don’t want to stay out late on a Sunday night since you’ll have work tomorrow.

Your schedule over the weekend is more available on a Sunday morning.

Your young kids can’t stay out too long after sunset.

Your church only has a children’s ministry for your offspring in the morning.

Due to the point above, there will be others in the same life stage as you in the morning.

But, the transition from the evening service to the morning isn’t always one that is navigated well.

And leaving the later service for the earlier one can come with an associated grief.

You lose connections - both pastoral and friendships.

You lose routine - everything from “your” car spot to “your” seat.

And, while you also gain from the transition in the morning - a wider mix of ministry options, a wider spread of generations, usually an increase in attendance - the losses from the evening are still real.

While I was in ministry, it was usually unspoken - but expected - that inevitably the young adults who were married would migrate to the morning service.

But, often, these losses don’t get acknowledged.