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Sunday Worship Format
Because of our organizational simplicity, we do not have as many meetings and events as in a more traditionally structured church. So when we are together we want to make the most of it! Thus we have a somewhat lengthy Sunday gathering which is designed to allow for a variety of aspects of biblical community.
Our gathering begins at 10:00am with several minutes of greeting and fellowship. We then have about thirty minutes of praise and worship, which consists mostly of the singing of hymns and psalms and choruses, with prayer and scripture readings mixed in. We are committed to having as part of our worship a combination of traditional hymns, psalms, and contemporary praise choruses. Usually we sing two or three hymns and psalms, and four or five choruses. We welcome a diversity of instrumentation. Right now our singing is usually accompanied by either piano or guitar, although our emphasis is upon the voice as the primary "instrument" of praise.
We then have a short break while the younger children go to Sunday School. This break is followed by a sermon of thirty five minutes or so in length. Our pattern is to preach through a book of the Bible between September and May, and have special topical series in the summer. After the sermon there is another break, and we rearrange chairs for a time of sharing and prayer which we call the Open Time, which ends at about noon. During the Open Time the younger children may participate with everyone else, or, weather permitting, may go on a supervised walk or have some other kind of activity. After the Open Time we set up for a meal. Most people stay for the meal, which provides a good opportunity to get to know one another better.
You might think that a two hour worship service sounds long. Don’t people get weary? Actually, we like to think of our meal as part of our worship gathering, so really the service is more like three hours! But, as I have pointed out, there are breaks during which time people get coffee and stretch and talk together, much as in a traditional church that has a break between "worship" and Sunday School. The whole atmosphere is relaxed and somewhat leisurely, and time passes quickly.
In terms of dress our gatherings are informal and relaxed. On Sundays some men wear coats and ties, most wear slacks and dress shirts, some wear jeans, or shorts! The women too wear dresses, skirts, jeans, or shorts. We want you to dress in whatever way is most comfortable for you. Cell group meetings are informal as well, most people wearing their everyday clothes.
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