KELSEYVILLE – The Kelseyville United Methodist Church, located at First and Main in Kelseyville, will move its worship time to 3:16 p.m. on Sundays starting Sunday, April 18.

The congregation chose “3:16” as its new start time based on John 3:16 (chapter 3, verse 16 of the Gospel of John), one of the most widely quoted verses from the Christian Bible.

This verse has also been called the “Gospel in a nutshell” because it is considered a summary of the most central doctrine of traditional Christianity: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [God's love for the world is so overwhelming that even giving up his own son was not too great a cost to ensure that no one need succumb to death. All those who put their trust in him can have boundless life instead.]

The Kelseyville United Methodist Church was formally established in Kelseyville in 1871. Pastor Paul Joseph Yang is the current pastor of the church and also serves as pastor for the United Methodist churches in Lower Lake and Upper Lake.

The new worship time will give both local and visiting members of the faith community an alternative to the traditional Sunday morning or evening service. The church will be combining traditional and contemporary forms of worship to create a new and exciting experience for participants.

“Taking the risk of starting worship in an unusual time slot is something the church was willing to try in order to reach out to those who are unable to attend worship at the tradition Sunday morning service,” said Dorothy Braun, chair of the church's administrative council.

“The church membership actively reaches out to the community with its popular thrift store and many community groups use its facilities during the week,” Braun said. “The new worship time will create new opportunities for Kelseyville United Methodist's membership to reach out and serve the community as it has for close to 140 years.”

For more information about worship and volunteer opportunities at the church please call Eileen (707-279-4078), Dorothy (707-277-0570) or Mary (707-263-4780).