Sometimes I visit other churches. I know – it’s not easy visiting a new church for the first time. Sometimes you feel like a stranger in a strange land. Do I belong here? Am I really welcome? Will the people be unfriendly? Will I have to get a hug from someone I don’t know? Will I be conspicuous? Will it be easy to leave if I don’t enjoy it? Will they ask me for money? Will my kids enjoy it? How should I dress? Am I welcome if I don’t believe what they believe?
As a leader at Community Church, I want to make your visit an enjoyable experience, easy, stress-free, relaxing. We’ve tried to make Community Church “user-friendly” for people, whatever their background, including those who have never been to church before. In fact, a lot of our people were not regular church attenders before starting at CC. So you’re in a majority when you visit! If I were visiting a new church for the first time, I’d like to know what to expect, so here’s a brief overview.
When you arrive at the Farm Centre, 420 University Ave. for our 10:00 am service, you’ll find a parking lot with loads of room or park next door in the Sobey’s parking lot beside the FC building. Use the main entrance in back.
Inside the front door there will be some friendly people (we call them “greeters”) to say hello, answer any questions you have, and show you around if you like. We’re kid friendly here, we believe they matter to God and we are happy to hear them as well as see them.
You’ll notice that everyone is dressed comfortably, in anything from “office casual” to jeans and sneakers. If you see a slightly distracted guy wandering around with glasses and a beard, that’s probably me. Some people arrive early and catch up with each other. Some people get here right on time and some even get here 15 minutes after our ten o’clock start.
When you come into the Centre you’ll get a copy of the “CC News” if you want one. It’s full of announcements as well as explanations of what we’re up to. Take a read through and you’ll notice the locations and info on our small groups that meet through the week. These are mostly open groups that you’re welcome to come and check out and find out what we’re really like. These groups are a great source of encouragement and friendship.
The service usually begins with some upbeat music that we sing along to, followed by a prayer and a welcome. There will be a brief intro leading to communion (also called the eucharist or the Lord’s supper- essentially, sharing a little bread and grape juice together as symbols of the love of God we experience through Jesus). If you believe in Jesus you’re welcome to share in communion with us.
After that there’s another brief intro about our offering. Each week we pass around offering baskets as part of our worship. It’s an opportunity for us to invest in the lives of the people around us, those who will some day fill the empty seats and invest in what God is up to all over the world. As a visitor we want to be sure you know that you are our guest and there’s no pressure to put anything in the basket. No worries, nobody shaking a basket in your face or looking at you sideways if you don’t put something in. While the offering baskets are passed around a few announcements will be highlighted from the front.
Around this time we let our Kidz Ministry team take our young ones, ages 4 up through grade 6, into their own space for their own activities so the morning is fun, meaningful and memorable for them. There is also a staffed nursery for those little ones under 4.
Then I, or another speaker, will begin ‘the preach’. I usually speak for about 40 minutes, and I do my best to make the messages interesting, enjoyable, and relevant to daily life. The message will be based on the Bible, and I will often include interesting quotes from contemporary people, songs, cartoons (seriously…) or movies. If I do my job right, you’ll hear solid Christian theology in intelligent, understandable, relevant terms. And hopefully, you’ll laugh at times and maybe feel a tug at your heart too.
At the end of the message there will be an opportunity for some kind of response. It could be singing another song, coming up to some leaders at the front who will pray with/for you if you like or some other action that seems appropriate for that mornings theme. This is always your choice though. If you prefer you can just sit back and enjoy the songs the worship team is leading.
Speaking of the Worship Team, they do a great job leading musically, with a contemporary feel. It’s much more Magic 93 fm than it is ‘Old Time Gospel Hour’. You’ll have some new tunes to hum all week long.
The service will end before 12 (and believe it or not, the time will fly). I hope you’ll come up and introduce yourself to me afterwards.
After the service, your kids will return from Kidz Church and then we hope you’ll stay around and meet some people. Church is about God and worship, but it’s also about community and friendship, so we hope people really experience warmth and friendliness at Community Church.
That’s about it. People often tell me that they really felt comfortable – “at home” are the words I hear most frequently. I hope you’ll stop by this Sunday. And if you do, please come over and say hi.
Thanks for stopping by!
