How We Grew Our Church by Canceling The Worship Service

Church leaders often think of Sunday morning worship as the central event of the week. The preaching, the singing, the communal prayer—it's all designed to nourish the congregation spiritually. But what if we told you that growth, both spiritually and numerically, can happen by canceling that very service? This is exactly what we've experienced by turning our worship service into a service project.

For the past few years, we’ve canceled one of our Sunday worship services a year to pack meals for those in need through an organization called Servants With A Heart. Not only did this decision align with our church's value of supporting missions, but it also turned out to be one of the most impactful things we've done to build momentum in our church. Here’s how it all came about and why it might be worth considering for your church too.

Canceling for a Cause: The Birth of a New Tradition

The founder of Servants With A Heart is part of our church, which made the decision to partner with them for this unique opportunity a natural one. As a church focused on missions, the decision wasn’t difficult, though we did weigh the pros and cons.

Canceling a worship service for a service project can feel risky. Questions like “Will we lose momentum by skipping a Sunday service?” or “Will people feel a loss without being spiritually replenished through worship and the Word?” surfaced during planning. But in the end, we recognized that serving others was just as much an act of worship as gathering to sing and listen to a sermon.

The Spiritual and Practical Impact

The effects of canceling our service to serve have been profound. Not only have our people grown spiritually by living out biblical principles in a tangible way, but they've also connected more deeply with one another. By sharing the experience of serving, they build relationships and grow closer as a congregation.

Every time we do this, our people show up—joyful, excited, and eager to serve. They love it so much that they now ask when the next one is on the calendar. For them, these Sundays are a highlight of the year. And while we haven’t seen a direct correlation between these events and numerical growth, we have increased in size and momentum as a church.

Reinforcing, Not Changing, Church Culture

Our church has always prioritized local and global missions, so canceling service for a service project didn’t drastically change our culture—it reinforced it. By committing to practical acts of service, we continue to emphasize that church isn’t just about what happens within our four walls but about how we can impact the community around us.

This practice aligns perfectly with the mindset of the Modern Church Leader (MCL). MCLs understand that the Sunday morning service isn’t the only avenue for growth or spiritual learning. Serving, fellowshipping, and taking action are just as powerful ways to live out faith and discipleship.

Why Serving Is Just as Important as Sermons

A lot of pastors organize their entire week around their sermon. The sermon is the culmination of their efforts and is often seen as the pinnacle of the week’s spiritual experience. While preaching is important (very important!), there’s more to teaching biblical principles than standing behind a pulpit.

Sometimes, you learn more about the character of Jesus by serving than by listening to a sermon. When we serve, we follow the example of Christ, who consistently demonstrated love, humility, and self-sacrifice. James tells us that “faith without works is dead.” It’s important to lean into that truth. The Word is essential, but so is doing the Word—getting our hands dirty in service.

Practical Steps for Other Churches

If you’re a pastor or church leader thinking about canceling your worship service for a service project, here’s our advice: do it! You might be surprised at how eager your congregation is to participate and serve. Here are some practical tips for making it happen:

• Start with a cause you believe in: We partnered with Servants With A Heart, an organization that already had a strong relationship with our church. Find a cause or organization that resonates with your church’s mission.
• Prepare your congregation: Use the weeks leading up to the event to explain the "why." Share stories from previous years or introduce the cause through videos and testimonies. This will help overcome any hesitation or apprehension.
• Get your leadership involved: When your staff and volunteers are enthusiastic and actively participating, it sets the tone for the entire congregation. Have them serve alongside everyone else, whether packing meals or flipping burgers at a community event.
• Mix in some worship: On some service Sundays, we’ve included a time of worship before or after the event. Other times, we’ve simply played music in the background while we worked. Find what works for your church and the event.

Serving as a Catalyst for Growth

In addition to meal-packing, we’ve also canceled our worship service to serve snacks and meals at a large swim meet at our meeting location (we meet in the local YMCA for church). Most recently, when a men’s retreat was canceled, our men used the time to serve communities hit by a natural disaster. These decisions have helped reinforce that the church doesn’t exist solely for itself but for the world outside its walls.
While it’s hard to pinpoint the direct impact these events have had on our numerical growth, there’s no doubt that they’ve strengthened our church’s sense of community, mission, and purpose.

Final Thoughts: Faith in Action

Canceling a Sunday worship service in favor of a serving project might seem radical to some church leaders, but for the Modern Church Leader, it’s a no-brainer. We’ve seen firsthand how these acts of service not only deepen our congregation’s faith but also demonstrate that living out the gospel goes far beyond sitting in a pew.
It’s time to reimagine what Sunday worship looks like. Sometimes, the best way to preach a sermon is through action—serving the least of these and showing Christ’s love in practical, meaningful ways.

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