Sacrifice: work or church?

You know, recently I have been thinking about something pretty hard. I was reading some of a book called, Organic Church a few months ago and there was a story about a man who worked overnights on odd days at his job. Because of his line of work he was unable to attend church services on Sunday mornings, and thus felt a disconnect from God's family. He brought this up to another co-worker, and this man found that he wasn't the only one who felt this way. So to remedy this he began gathering with others who couldn't meet at "normal" church hours in a parking lot of a 24-hour grocery store at something like 2 a.m. on Tuesday nights (or something outrageous like that). I admire this guy, and it really got me thinking about how churches are set up, because I relate to his circumstance. This last Sunday was the first time I was able to attend church in 6 months because of my work schedule.

You turn on the TV, visit CNN.com, or listen to any news/casual conversation these days and all you hear about is how piss-pour the economy is. There are millions of unemployed folk (some of which are just taking advantage of everything because they are lazy -- different story for a different day) who would take just any job to make ends meet. For example, my step-mother. She worked at a bank for several years and she was let go due to cutbacks at the beginning of this year. Her unemployment lasted several weeks/months until she got a job at Target. It's definitely not her ideal place to work, but hey in a bad economy (as people say we're in) a "job is a job." So we have millions of people, like my step-mom, who have lost their convenient jobs with "banking hours," and now have been potentially thrusted into working for "The Man" for less money and perhaps an unset, inconvenient schedule. This essentially means they may have to sacrifice their church attendance to make ends meet. That's a choice that ends in a guilt trip either way.

I never have understood why a large majority of churches gather at the exact same time as each other: Sunday mornings between 8-11 a.m. and Wednesday nights, or something extremely similar. New churches and "church plants"open their doors all the time. I get flyers often in my mailbox about a new church that "does things different," and is opening for their first meeting "this Sunday at 10 a.m." The modern church is one of the most nonsensical things I have ever seen, in-part because doing this turns these gatherings into a giant competitions for members; a giant battle to get the largest number in their buildings, and offering monies to keep their doors open. Yet, how is this tending to a potential need in a bad economy for those who can't attend services often, or if you're like me, at all?

Look, I understand why churches meet on Sundays. Yes, it's "the first day of the week," (even though my first day of the week is Friday) and considered the modern "Lord's Day." School, people lucky enough to have "normal hours," school sporting events, etc. I get it. But what about the people who have fallen victim to a bad economy and/or our jobs demand us work hours without a chance to attend any church -- especially one of these new churches that do things different (yet at the same time as everyone else)?

I just bought a house 2 blocks from an abandoned grocery store. Who wants to meet at odd-ball hours in the parking lot, and do things really different to meet with those who don't get the chance to meet with God's family consistently, if ever? They/I need something...