‘Why would you want to start an evening service? You’ve got your hands full as it is, haven’t you? Everyone else is closing down their Sunday evening works!’
That was the gist of the advice offered to the Christ Church Southampton elders from more than one source when they floated the idea of getting something going on a Sunday evening!
Despite that, as the ‘storm of the century’ gathered pace outside in October, with a local hotel in Portswood Southampton as its home, ‘The Six O’Clock’ was born.
A lot of work was needed to make it happen. There were all the logistical concerns of making a resource-hungry event happen in a rented venue every week. There was the operation of getting the word out and exciting the church and calling them to pray about the new meeting. There was the programming to address – there were already three church ministries going on during Sunday evenings. There was equipment to buy and store. The leaders also had to think through how to maintain the sense of a single church community when some of the church family would rarely see others. Also, another experienced minister needed to be recruited and supported.
