Trinity's Praise Band provides the music for a Saturday night worship service specifically aimed at young unchurched families in the community.

GRACE Cafe provides families with a meal after Saturday night worship.

GRACEKids is Trinity's children's ministry that meets during the church's contemporary worship services.

For Dan Grissom, staff person responsible for contemporary worship services at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lisle, Illinois, their new Saturday night worship venue, launched in the fall, is the outcome of a church taking a hard look at itself.

"We actually had had a Saturday night service for quite a while at Trinity, but it wasn't flourishing," Grissom notes. "We wanted to do better, but didn't know what it would take to do it."

After Grissom spent a three-month sabbatical focusing on how to do contemporary worship that focused on God's Word, he had new inspiration for Trinity's services. His enthusiasm and vision, which grew out of a deliberate, thoughtful process, garnered support from members and staff alike.

After two years refining and retooling the Trinity @ 11 brand of contemporary worship, Trinity was ready to move it to Saturday night. In June 2008, the congregation applied for and received a $30,000 Ablaze! Mission Outpost Grant, part of which was used in the fall for their three, 50,000-piece direct mail invitation strategy for Saturday nights, as well as hand-delivered invitations to 300 people who had recently moved into the area.

"It was kind of like starting a new church," Grissom notes. "When we began to show our members what we were doing and why we were doing it, members were genuinely excited about reaching more people. They could see that this effort was not just about growing the church, but us making a difference in the world."

Antwain Walker, a Trinity member for more than 10 years, was among those who was ready for the church to do something different

"I began talking about it several years ago: let's have a contemporary service that allows us to open doors to different people, different backgrounds, all walks of life," Walker says. "I wanted to be part of a church that offers different services. What matters is that people come together to worship and serve God."

Walker is currently serving on Saturday nights wherever he is needed, whether it's bringing in a dessert for the weekly post-service meal, greeting people at the door, or serving as an usher or greeter.

Another focus of Trinity's Saturday night worship is to encourage guests to get involved with short-term serving opportunities.

"We have what we call connect time, where we talk about what's going on at Trinity, what's happening with 'weServe' and more," Grissom says. "It's all a part of our new emphasis on connecting to each other, connecting to the community, and serving, which we feel should be a normal part of Christian life."

The new start began in September 2008 with approximately 75 worshipers; that attendance has doubled and more. Grissom notes that of 12 new families recently welcomed by Trinity, three of them were attending Saturday night worship.