What to expect when you visit us
(page contents)
This page is dedicated to describing what you will see and experience when you visit us. There will be links to other pages that describe or more fully explain why we choose to worship the way we do (scripture references and reasoning.)
We do hope that you will see us as Christ’s disciples. The bible says in John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
We have a Sunday morning bible study class scheduled every
Sunday at
We offer worship again Sunday night at
Wednesday night we offer a bible study class from
Bible Class (Sunday Morning):
When you visit us on Sunday morning for bible class, you will enter through the double doors in the back of the auditorium. You will notice that we all have gathered on the left hand side of the room. The teacher, who is currently a man in his mid forties, will be standing in the front. The majority of our members at present are over 60 years old and some of them are even over 80. The teacher will be dressed in a button down shirt and slacks. Most of the older gentlemen will be wearing a suit and tie. Most of the younger gentlemen will not have a tie or suit jacket, but are still dressed nicely. The ladies usually wear dresses. We really aren’t concerned with how nicely you dress, but we encourage modesty.
The present teacher will start the class by joking with the class or sharing a recent experience. We hope that you will get the feeling that we are family and that we truly are interested in each other’s lives. The teacher does this to relax the class and get the conversation going.
The teacher will ask one of the men to lead everyone in a prayer. He only will ask one of the men who he knows is comfortable with leading the prayer. The prayers that are lead are one man speaking to God from his heart with the needs and focus of the whole class in mind. Everyone else will bow their heads and silently, mentally pray to God with him.
He usually will review a little and then will read the scripture that is currently under study. The class will be an open forum style, where everyone can speak up, making comments or asking questions. The teacher will ask questions and make comments to provoke thought and challenge traditional beliefs, so that when the class is over you will hopefully know more about the bible, and know why you believe what you believe.
The class discussion is lively and no one is put on the spot.
Class will end 15minutes before Worship, which gives you time to meet people, take a bathroom break, move to a more comfortable seat, check on the children (We have classes for all ages, including a baby class.)
Worship (Sunday Morning):
When you visit us on Sunday morning for worship, you will enter through the double doors in the back of the auditorium. Feel welcome to sit on either side of the room. The left usually fills up faster than the right. The majority of our members at present are over 60 years old and some of them are even over 80. Most of the older gentlemen will be wearing a suit and tie. Most of the younger gentlemen will not have a tie or suit jacket, but are still dressed nicely. The ladies usually wear dresses. We really aren’t concerned with how nicely you dress, but we encourage modesty.
The podium is in the front center of the room, on a raised platform, with a table in front of it. The table is on the floor level. It has some silver trays (two sizes) that will be used for what we call the Lord’s Supper, or Communion. Behind the podium, you will notice what appears to be a cut out section of the false wall and a nice painting on the back wall. This area holds our baptistery (a deep, rectangle tub that we immerse people in when they want to be baptized.
The service will start by one of the men welcoming everyone and giving some announcements and prayer requests. He will also give the page number of the first song, so you can find it while he is giving the announcements.
After the announcements, the song leader will take the podium and will either ask one of the men (who he knows is comfortable with leading a public prayer) to lead a prayer, or will lead the first song, then have one of the men lead a prayer. The prayers that are lead are one man speaking to God from his heart with the needs and focus of the whole church in mind. Everyone else will bow their heads and silently, mentally pray to God with him.
You will probably notice that there are no musical instruments used for the song service. All our singing is acappella. We have song books with the words and the music to assist everyone to join in.
After three songs have been sung, the song leader will make some comments about Jesus and remembering Him to prepare you for the Lord’s Supper. He will then lead a song that is focused on the sacrifice that Christ gave for us.
The song leader will sit down and three men will take a position behind the table and will pray for the bread part of the Lord’s Supper, then they will pass the smaller silver trays down each row, one row at a time per side. This is a quiet introspective time. The silver trays hold what looks like a saltine cracker. It is a special cracker that contains no salt coating or any leavening agents (yeast, etc). Each person will break off a small bit and eat it. Not everyone will do this, because this is a Christian “family” meal that has much meaning and symbolism. Those who have not yet chosen to become a Christian normally do not take any. If you are not a Christian and you want to do the same as everyone else, we are ok with that.
After the bread trays have been passed all the way back, the three men will return the trays to the table in the front and will say another prayer for the “fruit of the vine”. They will then pass the larger trays down each row. These larger trays hold small plastic cups with grape juice in them. Most everyone will take one and drink it then return the empty cup to the tray. This also is like the bread. It is for Christians to remember the blood of Jesus. We do not expect non-Christians to participate, but we are ok with it if you do.
After everyone is finished, they return the trays to the front table and pull out some flat silver “offering” trays. The passing of these trays is not part of the Lord’s Supper, but since the men are already up there, this is a good time to “pass the hat”.
It is important that you know that this is not a request for everyone to give us money. We as a church have committed to financially supporting various things (Paying for electricity, supporting missionaries, Christian schools, helping those who are in need, etc.). This is the weekly time we each submit our portion of that commitment. We feel giving is a blessing and an honor to do. We do not expect visitors to contribute, but if you feel that you will be uplifted by giving also, then we rejoice with you and will accept your gift.
After the Lord’s Supper, the song leader will lead one more song, and then he will ask you to place the ribbon book marker on your song book to the chosen song that everyone will sing at the end of the up coming sermon. This is often referred to as the “song of invitation”, a song to help people respond to Christ’s invitation to become a Christian or to allow anyone who want to respond to what the preacher said in the sermon. It is traditional to stand as you sing the “invitation” song to help you be more physically prepared to respond.
After the “invitation”, the song leader will lead one more song and then close the worship service by calling on one of the men (one comfortable with public prayer) to lead everyone in a prayer.
After the “closing” prayer, everyone will start conversing and moving around. The kids will normally leave to play outside or one of the other rooms. It is at this time that most who have not met you yet will want to greet you, welcome you to our assembly and try to find out a little about you. We want to get to know you, but we also have our own shyness to overcome. If you present a closed front to us, we will try to respect your desire for us to not pry. If you are open, we will enjoy getting to know you. If you come more than once, I am sure that you will find us friendly, helpful and loving.
Worship (Sunday Night)
When you visit us on Sunday night for worship, you will enter through the double doors in the back of the auditorium. Feel welcome to sit on either side of the room. The left usually fills up faster than the right. The many of our members at present are over 60 years old. Most of the older gentlemen may be wearing a suit, with or without a tie. Most of the younger gentlemen will be dressed casually (Dockers or jeans). The older ladies usually wear dresses and the younger ladies will be dressed in nice casual clothes, from dresses to jeans. We really aren’t concerned with how nicely you dress, but we encourage modesty. The evening service is more casual than the morning service, but we still have the frame of mind that we are worshiping the God of all creation.
The song leader will usually stand up in front of the auditorium and announce the first song number. You will probably notice that there are no musical instruments used for the song service. All our singing is acappella. We have song books with the words and the music to assist everyone to join in. He will not stand behind the podium, but rather he will stand just in front of the audience. After leading the first song, he will call on one of the men he knows who is comfortable to the leading public prayer to lead a prayer. After the prayer, he will lead 2 more songs, and then ask you to mark your song book with the provided book ribbon at a specific page number. He may refer this song as an “invitation” song. The song leader will then sit down and the preacher will stand up behind the podium and give his lesson. The lesson will be between 20-30 minutes. At the end of the lesson, he will invite anyone who feels they need to, to come up to the front bench and we can pray for you or baptize you, or whatever is appropriate. Everyone will stand and sing the marked song as the song leader takes a position in the front again. After the song, he will have everyone be seated.
The song leader will announce a page number to help anyone who did not have a chance of taking the “Lords Supper” in the morning. If they haven’t, then they can come to the front bench during the song and they will be given that opportunity then. One of the men will take a position behind the table with the silver trays, say a prayer and pass the smaller tray to those who have taken the front bench. You will notice that everyone remains very quiet during this time so as to not distract those who are participating in the “Lords Supper”/”communion”. The man will say another prayer and pass one of the larger trays. For more information about this ceremony, please see above.
After the “Lords Supper”, the song leader will give a few announcements, with additional prayer requests and announcements coming from the audience. He will then lead a closing song and ask one of the men who he knows is comfortable with leading public prayer to do so and that is the end of the service. It usually takes about 50 minutes from start to finish.
Please stick around a little so we can get to know you a little and so that you can get to know us some.
Wednesday Night Bible Study
When you visit us on Wednesday night for bible study, you will enter the auditorium from the back. The classes start right away, so children can go to their classes and adults to their class. If you are not sure where the kids are supposed to go, Please ask and we will be happy to help. The children’s class currently is held in the “Fellowship Hall”. That is the third door from the parking lot. The baby class (0-2 yrs) is in the nursery room (which is not currently marked, but we can help you. The current teacher is a registered nurse with lots of pediatric experience).
The adult class usually sits on the left hand side of the auditorium. Dress is casual. Many of the members are over 60. The class starts by the teacher having a song leader lead one song, then having one of the men who normally leads prayer, lead a prayer. You will probably notice that there are no musical instruments used for the song service. All our singing is acappella. We have song books with the words and the music to assist everyone to join in.
The class then gets under way. We sometimes watch a video presentation from well known bible training institutions (like Sunset International Bible Institute) or we have the teacher teach the lesson without video assistance. If we are watching a video, we will watch it, and then have an open forum discussion about what we just saw. If it is just the teacher teaching, the whole class if an open forum discussion, where everyone can make comments and ask questions and the teacher is not always the one to answer the questions. We have a lot of knowledgeable bible students and the teacher is often times more a facilitator than a “teacher”.
After the teaching part is over (usually 45 min after we start), the teacher or another man in the congregation will give a short “devotional” lesson that is not interactive (a really short sermon), and then we all stand and sing a song that the song leader has picked out. After the song everyone sits.
The song leader will cover a few announcements, with additional prayer requests and announcements coming from the audience. He will then lead a closing song and ask one of the men who he knows is comfortable with leading public prayer to do so and that is the end of the study.
Contents: