Let’s be honest, first times anywhere can make us feel a bit uncomfortable, right? It’s no wonder a first-time visit to church can make us feel anxious! So if you’re planning on coming along this Sunday, here’s some useful information that might help:
What won’t happen
Firstly, you won’t be smote by lightning! Truly. For some reason, quite a few people think that God’s just waiting to zap them the moment they set foot in a church. I promise you that all sorts of people have walked through the doors and to date we’ve had no smitings.
You won’t be made to stand up or be identified, and you don’t have to know anything about God or Jesus or the Bible: there are no pop quizzes here.
What will happen
There will be some people out the front that will say ‘hi’ and point you toward the auditorium. Once inside, you can sit wherever you like; families with young kids tend to fill the space on the left as you walk in. Whether you have young kids or not, you are most welcome to join them… or you can just head to the other side of the auditorium for a little peace and quiet.
On any given Sunday we use a number of different kinds of media to communicate, so on the morning you come there might be a movie clip, some songs, an interview with someone who is sharing something about their life, a children’s segment, a prayer, a reading from the Bible, and a talk given about the topic we are addressing that day. Services usually run from 60 to 70 minutes.
About 20 minutes into the service the kids head out to Kids Church. But if this is your first time, you may want to keep your kids with you in the main service – that’s fine! Or they can head out with the other kids for a little learning and a lot of fun. You are more than welcome to join them in Kids Church as they get settled in.
After the service, stay and have a coffee with us (and, if you’re lucky, a bickie!). If you stand around looking awkward for long enough, someone will come up and talk to you (we promise). If you have kids, you might want to head into the play room (opposite the auditorium). Our parents tend to congregate there after the service to chat and watch the kids play. If you don’t have kids, perhaps avoid that room (!) and stick to the foyer area.