The sentiments of Oliver Rice’s article (en April), encouraging church members to be punctual, will resonate with any pastor.
I have lost track of the number of Sundays that my wife has turned to me at 10:31am as the service begins and whispered: “Where is everyone?” The answer is that they’re on their way. By 10:35am the numbers have doubled. By 10:40am almost everyone is there. The problem is, we started at 10:30am.
It’s mildly embarrassing to have to apologise to newcomers, who of course are never late: “It may feel like there’s no one here this morning, but don’t worry, they’ll stream in just after the service starts!” And they always do.
