BROOKINGS – Summer is a time for rest and relaxation, for family vacations and excursions.
This much-needed break from work and school is welcomed by most, but it also makes summer a challenging season for churches, whose pews seem emptier than they did a few months ago.
And for most churches, there is a noticeable difference once school ends and the weather improves.
In the spring, typical attendance at Brookings First United Methodist Church stands at an average of 550. During the summer, the average is about 300, and the number returns to normal in the fall.
A change in programming plays a slight role, according to the Rev. Wade Miller of UMC: They don’t do their mid-week service during the summer.
“It is a challenge and it is a reality that we all kind of face. In a former church, the church I came from, the pastor there decided during the summer to cancel their summer services and are purely doing it Wednesday,” Miller said.
Working with schedules
To an extent, churches have to work with the congregation and the schedules they make during these months.
As Pastor Michael Mordtvedt of Ascension Lutheran put it, “People are very busy, and I certainly understand that. We want people to take vacations and all that. It’s not like it’s all a problem. With people’s lives, that’s just part of the reality.”
Part of that reality is a slowdown in programming at Ascension, with no Sunday school and one fewer Sunday worship services.
According to his numbers, Ascension averages as many as 320 in attendance on their Sunday services, but that number dropped to just fewer than 200 in June.
It’s a similar story at Bethel Baptist, but most of the absent worshippers are college students. They usually number around 30. For the others, there’s a give and take where some families leave for a vacation, but others bring visiting out-of-town family members along to church with them, boosting attendance numbers that way.
And regular attendance to a church service is an important part of one’s spiritual life. The Rev. Josh Robertson, pastor at Bethel Baptist, said it’s a chance to get together with likeminded people and encourage each other, pray for each other, and help each other live out a godly life.
It also serves as a chance to gain a deeper perspective on Scripture and who God is.
Funds still needed
It is also a reality that utilities and salaries must be paid and mission work funded, and fewer worshippers at a Sunday service also result in a dip in funds for the church. But some churches have found ways to make giving convenient enough with electronic options to work around even the most hectic of summer schedules.
It’s important to keep funds coming in because some churches also have some high expenses during this time, such as summer mission trips and other costly activities.
For example, UMC sent a group of children to a church camp with the church agreeing to pay 65 percent of the costs to attend.
UMC has had a means of giving electronically for years, with options to give once or twice a month available.
Alternatives such as this help smooth out the summer finances a bit, but careful planning must be done.
“You don’t plan month to month because giving patterns are never that equal,” Miller said. “We’ll have probably 20-30 percent of our income come in November and December. That’s even after giving away our Christmas Eve offering to mission projects. … But during the summer, you have to plan for it.”
They do that by trying to keep a three-month reserve “just to be sure cash flow is what it needs to be.”
Mortvedt encourages congregants to consider setting up through Thrivent automatic withdrawals so that giving remains stable even if they’re frequently gone.
Even though stability in church finances is desired, Mortvedt added that he and other church leaders don’t want giving to become viewed as obligatory, something to be guilted into doing.
“We want people to give because they believe in the mission of the church,” he explained.
Vacations will happen
As Mortvedt said, even if this all creates challenges for churches, it doesn't mean people should neglect vacations with family out of guilt for missing church. Vacations have their place, too, and they can present a time to refresh a person's spirit and experience God in a different way than they typically do.
People are going to go away: that's the reality of it, and the idea is to plan ahead and work with the congregants as best as they can with this reality in mind.
“It’s kind of a given, so we try to program around it, be attentive to different ways that would make it easier to worship in the summer if they desire to,” Mortvedt said.
That’s done through changes in worship scheduling so that they happen at hopefully more convenient times, and they have a few outdoor services. To provide another time for worship for those absent during the weekend, they’re now starting to do Wednesday evening services, which they hope will be popular enough to do again next summer.
Churches also might communicate in different ways, not relying on a mention from behind the pulpit to get out word of church happenings. Email, Facebook, maybe even mailings might be emphasized more, Robertson said.
Taking time to vacation is not something to be outright discouraged.
Mortvedt, who enjoys backpacking, knows that these activities can be a real boost to people’s spirits and their mental and emotional health. It’s only when it distracts one’s spiritual life that it becomes problematic.
Plus, there are some perks that come to a church with the season in spite of the challenges.
It’s a more relaxing time for everybody involved in church activities.
“I feel like it’s a time to breath a little bit, and I think it’s a time for all of our team leaders to breath a little bit, to reflect. In the middle of the year, there’s not always a lot of time to reflect and evaluate how these ministries are going; summer creates that opportunity to reflect and evaluate the year of ministry: What went well, what didn’t go well, what do we need to change,” Robertson said.
Things also become less formal, allowing for some more creativity.
“You can play with a service and do something maybe you wouldn’t normally try during the school year,” Miller said. If they try out a new program, there isn’t as much of a worry about turn out, either. “Generally, you’re planning some fun stuff anyway, so it’s like whoever shows up, let’s have some fun together and have some ministry together in neat ways.”
Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.
