Most independent minyanim do not have the resources, whether human or financial, to meet for all services. Minyan leadership must therefore decide which services to offer and how often. A number of factors can go into this decision.
* Reasons for fewer services:
o Each additional service adds to the strain on the volunteer minyan leadership. A rotation of volunteers must arrive at shul on time, stay through cleanup, and assign davening, leyning and teaching in advance. Gabbai burnout must be kept in check when possible, either by involving more volunteers or by limiting meetings.
o Most independent minyanim focus on striving to maintain quality davening and leyning . At some point, knowledgeable daveners and leyners could be spread too thin and interfere with the quality of davening. At the same time, the best daveners and leyners should not participate too often for fear of either burnout or too much repetition, limiting the inherent creativity of a range of service leaders.
o Financial resources can limit the number of services as well, especially in communities that pay high rent for their space.
o Fewer services can make each meeting feel more special; meeting more often can decrease momentum.
* For example, Kehilat Hadar's average Shabbat morning attendance dropped somewhat when it went from meeting biweekly to meeting three times a month. Some community members find that the novelty wears off with more frequent meetings, and that there is less urgency to attend on any given week. It is possible that this drop in momentum occurs most in the switch from 2 to 3 meetings per month. It might not be as dramatic if an minyan goes from 1 to 2 or 3 to 4 meetings.
* Reasons for more services:
o Limited services (such as once a month or less) reduce the ability for natural community bonds to form.
o Primary Jewish communities have always met every Shabbat or more. Once these minyanim become primary communities for the Jews they serve, it is possible that additional meetings may be desireable.
o More services force the community leadership to extend beyond a small core in order to thrive.
* Striking a balance about how often to meet:
o If a minyan does not meet for all services, there is a concern that increasing the frequency of services might leave community members more in the lurch on a minyan's "offweeks." For example, if a minyan meets twice a month, people have the option of belonging to a synagogue or other community and attending services twice a month there as well. Once a minyan meets three times a month, people may feel less at home at a different synagogue or community on the offweeks.
o Once a minyan meets every Shabbat, there is an expectation that it become a full-service community.
* Deciding which services to hold:
o Friday night services are a natural place for a new minyan to start, since the "start-up" costs are low: you simply need a place to meet and 1-2 daveners. (no Sefer Torah and leyners). However, Friday night minyanim rise and fall on the strength of their davening (typically Kabbalat Shabbat).
o Shabbat morning services have much higher start-up costs, but have the advantage of a set time in which most people are free (Saturday morning vs. Friday night, which fluctuates with candlelighting time).
o Once a minyan regularly meets for a given service, either Friday night or Saturday morning, adding other types of services poses additional challenges. Minyan leadership must not only transfer resources but must also attract many of the same people to both types of meetings, which can be a challenge in terms of people's schedules and of stylistic consistency.
o There is a tradeoff: sticking to one type of service can often best serve a core group, whereas offering differnt types of services will be attractive to the greatest number of people and broaden the minyan's reach.
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