2 services on Sundays

We have a challenge in front of us, and it’s a good one!

We need to create more space on Sundays and in Community for all those the Spirit is bringing our way. We are seeing more people than ever on Sundays — both believers and not-yet believers — and we want to open wide our arms with gospel hospitality. 

If you’ve tried to find parking in the neighborhood or come late and been forced to the back of the balcony, then you know the challenge we’re facing.

The need for more space is especially true in our kid’s classrooms. On many busy Sunday mornings, it is not uncommon for us to close one or two classrooms as they reach maximum capacity, turning kids away.

Here are four options a church has when facing this kind of facility challenge:

1. Stop inviting people to come, circle the wagons, and enjoy ourselves. This will never be our answer.

2. Plant a new church and send people out. We’ve planted churches in Post Falls and CDA, and we’re planting in Cheney this year. We’d love to send people to join those churches, and we intend to keep planting in our region and beyond! But that doesn’t solve the pressing need on Sundays now.

3. Move to a larger space. As you know, we were recently given a building, and we’re deep into the renovation process. Unfortunately, the space is smaller than our current rental space at SDA, and it won’t be ready until the end of 2026. We’ll definitely need 2 gatherings by the time we get there!

4. Add an additional gathering time in our current space. Through months of prayer, thought, and discussion, the leadership team has decided adding an additional worship gathering is the right decision for the growth we continue to see and the expansion of our ministry impact. It has not been an easy decision, but we believe it is the right one.

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

— Romans 15:5-7

While any change can be challenging, we believe the benefits of moving to two gathering times will greatly outweigh the difficulties we might encounter:

1. Two gathering times help us to better accomplish our mission.
   Ultimately, the purpose of Soma Spokane is to make disciples and plant churches. If we are unable or unwilling to provide space for people to gather, worship and hear the Word of God, we have misunderstood our purpose! Moving to two gatherings will allow us to create much needed space for people to experience gospel renewal, connect in community, and get equipped for everyday mission.

2. Two gathering times help us to better love and serve our children in Soma Kids.
   Our growth has brought us to a barrier in how we handle our children’s ministry. As numbers rise, volunteers are tasked more with crowd control than one-on-one conversation or small group leadership. We want our children (and volunteers) to experience an amazing Sunday morning, and that means having enough space to engage each child.

   
   Additionally, many of our children’s classrooms are over capacity, and we are regularly asking some parents to keep their children with them during the service because the rooms are too full.

3. Two gathering times will allow people to serve and not miss the worship gathering.

   Adding a second service will allow people to serve at one service and still join a worship gathering on the same Sunday. We hope the culture of “Receive in one, Serve in One” will become a regular part of our DNA as we fulfill the command: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil 2:4) We’ll still aim to ask everyone to serve about once/month – ask your Serve Team Lead for more info on how 2 services impacts your role!

4. Two gathering times will allow more people to serve and use their gifts.

   Two services will create many more serving opportunities for people, and will also stretch others by encouraging them to sacrifice a little more. Either way, it will cause all of us who are willing to be moved out of our comfort zone to be used by the Lord in service to others. Growth, connection, and Holy Spirit empowering rarely happens in our comfort-zones!

5. Two gathering times will maximize our resources.

   Two gathering times will allow us to be good stewards of the resources that God has given us by using our facility and resources to their greater potential. The move to two services will have very little impact on our overhead expenses, but will simultaneously double our Sunday capacity for ministry.

6. Two gathering times will provide new opportunities.

   We’re moving Gospel Basics — our foundational level discipleship course — to midweek, where we can offer food, childcare, and programming for the whole family. While we’ll continue to encourage every member of the Soma family to be engaged in community, adding a Wednesday evening “equipping night” will create opportunities for everyone — new to Soma or around for years — to engage in seasons of development.

February 1, 2026 will be our first Sunday with two services – times will be 9 & 11 am.

No, our worship gatherings will remain the same and the two services will be identical in form and format. We love what God is doing in our worship gatherings, and an emphasis on God’s Word preached, God-honoring worship music, prayer, and a time of reflection and communion will remain our focus.

Yes. One of the primary reasons we are making this move is to add more space for our kids. To be able to offer this ministry at both services, we’ll need more people to join in to love and serve our kids together. If you’re not part of the Soma Kids team, reach out to Joel Adams (joel@somaspokane.org)!

Initially, we’ll offer Middle School Breakout only during the 11am Gathering.

This is a real concern that we have labored and prayed over. Our desire is not that everyone would know one another but that everyone in our church is known, developed, and sent on mission. In this season, being connected in community — and worshipping and serving together on Sundays! — will become even more important. Also, 2 services will actually make the gathering feel smaller, with more ability to connect with friends new and old!

Maybe. While many churches can encounter lower numbers in the summer, we have not recently found that to be the case. This past summer we grew — a lot! We also know that the change back and forth can be very challenging and want to minimize that as much as possible.

This is always a possibility. We are adding a second service as a means to steward the growth Soma has been seeing recently, but the trend of growth has been slow and steady for many years. Our average Sunday attendance in 2023 was 250; in 2024 it jumped by 32%, up to 331 people. And then, in the last few months of 2025, Sunday attendance has averaged 425 people, and over 100 of those are kids! If we continue to grow by 30%, we’ll exceed 550 people by this time next year — just as we prepare to move into the Portico.

Yes! One of the ironies of a church growing larger is that often times a smaller number of people do a greater amount of work. This is not good! We want as many people helping and engaged as possible, and this change will provide ample opportunity for that. We will need more help with media (sound, audio, video), worship, Soma Kids, greeters, safety, hospitality, prayer, etc. There’s room for everyone to help and serve!

If you don’t have a Serve Team role, visit somaspokane.org/serve and see the opportunities available. We are always looking for more people to use their gifts to serve others.

• Celebrate the opportunity! God is doing good things among and through our church! Find someone to tell about what God is doing, and invite them to join you on a Sunday!

• Be there on Sundays! If you have been gathering with us on a semi-regular basis (once or twice a month) we’d love to have you join us more regularly during this transition.

• Find a way to serve! Consider how you may be able to adjust your schedule in order to be present and able to serve. We truly need all hands on deck. Many of you are new to Soma and some are recovering from past church experiences. We love the fact that Jesus is meeting your needs and you are finding healing here. There may be many of you who are ready to re-engage. Now’s the time.

• Practice hospitality! You can help expand our gospel welcome by how you engage on Sunday mornings. Introduce yourself to one new person or family each week, linger between services to connect, or invite someone out to lunch after service. Don’t wait for someone to reach out to you – initiate!

• Commit to financial generosity! This transition increases our staffing needs significantly, and we’re taking some financial risks in anticipation of the continuing growth (in addition to rehabbing a 100 year old building on the side!). If Soma Spokane is your family, we need your joyful generosity. Set up recurring giving at somaspokane.org/give. 

Finally, If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to one of us on the Leadership Team to sit down and discuss those. We have tried to answer the most frequent questions people will have, but if your question has not been answered we would love to have the opportunity to do that in person.