Beginning Sunday, Mount Zion Baptist Church in Flowery Branch will open its doors early for an 8 a.m. service.

This is the first time the church will have two services; one early and another at 11 a.m.

"The Lord kept pressing on me to add another service," said the Rev. Emerson Ross. "Some members had to work on Sundays and they hate that they had to miss the service ... it was just an opportunity for a lot more people to hear the word of God.

"The more you hear God’s word, the better the community will be."

Ross, who came to the church in May of last year, said some weeks the sermon will be the same for both services and some weeks the service will be different.

Sunday school and new members’ classes will be at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday. The Marriage Enrichment class will be at 9:30 a.m. the second Sunday of the month and the Singles Empowerment class will be at 9:30 a.m. on the fourth Sunday.

Mount Zion Baptist Church is located on 4000 Thurmond Tanner Road in Flowery Branch. For more information, call 770-967-3722.