Seekers' Service Model

The seeker services, on Saturday evenings at 5 and 7 and on Sunday mornings at 9 and 11:15, are meant to provide a safe place for unchurched visitors to hear the gospel in ways relevant to their lives. This is not primarily a worship service for Christians. A free-will offering, directed to members and believers, is taken at some point in the service, usually before the message.

The program for a weekend service is more detailed than that for "New Community" because seekers and visitors are more interested in seeing the order unfold. The following is an example of a service that took place at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. The Basic Pattern Prelude. The band plays some light jazz as people enter to talk and take their seats. Welcome. A vocal team member welcomes and greets everyone. He or she leads the congregation in singing a short chorus that is printed in the bulletin for convenience. Vocal Duet. A duet and small ensemble perform music ("Good for Me") that focuses attention on the coming message about modern marriages. They are accompanied by the band. Drama. Four drama team members perform a sketch about an older married couple who want to inject a bit of balanced perspective into a soon-to-be married younger couple. The accent is on humor. Scripture. A woman reads a portion of Scripture that deals with the marriage relationship and adds her own contextual comments. Song. Another song ("That's What Love Is All About") is performed, accompanied by the band. Announcements. In the announcements segment, the programming director of the church highlights important events and ministries at Willow Creek that would be of interest to seekers. Offering. An offering is then taken, but seekers and visitors are told that they need not contribute. This service is for them. Message. For his message, Bill Hybels begins a series that discusses and explores modern American marriages and the difference that God through Christ can make in them. He closes the service with a short prayer. (The message lasts approximately thirty minutes. The whole service is scheduled for one hour.) Discussion and Fellowship. Post-service discussion and fellowship in the auditorium and the new atrium is encouraged. While the gospel is not always overtly presented to seekers in this service, an evangelical approach to issues and programming, songs and drama, is fundamental.