First Time?
What to Expect
Sunday Morning
Our Sunday morning service is a blend of many elements. Some people wear jeans and polo shirts, while others dress a little more formally. A few wear the “Sunday best”: jacket and tie for men and a nice dress for women. However you choose to dress, we want you to feel comfortable. Our preaching minister, Jim, claims to be allergic to neckties, and therefore, only wears them rarely. We’ll be happy to see you.
Sunday morning service begins with a greeting from the stage and singing a song. We then sing several songs, some of which may be hymns and others will be more modern music. Our praise band leads the singing. Most Sundays, the praise band is composed of a pianist, a percussionist, one or two guitar players, and several vocalists. Don’t worry about hymn books as the words are projected on the wall.
After those few songs, Jim (or a guest speaker) will get up and give the lesson. Jim is pictured speaking on this page. After the majority of the lesson, we take communion and take up an offering. Someone goes to the stage and explains the importance of communion and the offering and pray for those parts of our service. Communion is the part of the service where we remember what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross. We conduct this memorial by eating a small piece of unleavened bread (like a Matzah, but smaller) and drinking a small cup of grape juice. The bread reminds us of Jesus’ body which was nailed to the cross, and the juice reminds us of the blood which Jesus shed. Four men pass trays of the bread and cups containing the juice back and forth down the pews. After communion, the explanation for the offering is given, and the same four men pass trays to collect the offering and the connection cards (these have an important function for our Wednesday night service) in the same way the communion trays were passed. After communion and offering, Jim stands back up, says some closing thoughts, and gives people an opportunity to respond to the message. After this, Jim prays for us and dismisses us.
After the service, people generally stay and chat for a while. It’s a good time to reconnect with friends.
Children’s Services
During our Sunday morning services, children have their own worship services. Two and three year-old children participate in “Wee Worship”. Four and five year-old children are in “Beginner Worship”. Children learn about God through Bible stories, music, crafts, and activities.
Junior Worship
Junior Worship is the service for children in elementary school (first through fifth grades). Junior Worship is modelled after the adult service, and includes worship through songs and teaching.
Wednesday Evening
Our Wednesday evening services begin with dinner at 5:45 P.M. We collect a small fee ($3.00 for adults and college students, $1.00 for children) to cover the cost of the food, but if it is your first time with us, the meal is on us! Because we do cook for this service, it’s important to let us know you are coming. Either mark the appropriate box on the attendance card during Sunday morning worship (and get the card in the offering plate or the basket by the door) or contact the church on Monday or Tuesday and let us know how many people you will be bringing.
Towards the end of the meal, if any announcements need to be made, they are announced. After the annoucements, we are dismissed to our classes (both adults and children).
