What to Expect
Visiting new places can have the tendency to be intimidating, especially when one does not know what to expect upon arrival. Our desire is that your visit to The Gathering Community Church would not be uneasy, so here we have provided a brief overview of what generally goes on at one of our Sunday services.
A Worshipping People:
Preeminently, we at The Gathering see our Sunday service as a time of worship, a time to celebrate the beauty and greatness of Jesus Christ in a communal setting. As we believe that God is at work in all of our lives, during every day of the week, our Sunday service serves as a time where we as believers in Jesus can gather together and celebrate what God is doing in all of our lives. With this in mind, everything that we do on a Sunday service is encompassed in the act of worshipping our great God.
Singing-Worship in Song:
We generally spend around 15-20 minutes singing songs about and to God. For us singing is a sweet outlet, a liberating means, of communicating our gratitude and love to God for who He is and what He has done. Don’t worry about not knowing the words to the songs, as they will be projected on a large screen in the front of the room.
Sermon-Worship through Teaching:
After a time of singing, one of our trusted leaders will then proceed to give a message from the Bible, which we at the Gathering hold to be the ultimate authority in all matters of life, faith and practice. The message ranges anywhere from 30-50 minutes and can cover a large array of topics, all of which include practical application. The goal of this teaching time is to grow as the people of God in regards to every facet of our daily lives, helping us all to grow at every level: the practical, the spiritual, the emotional, and so on.
The Lord’s Supper-Worship in Communion:
We celebrate Communion (also known as the Lord’s Supper) every Sunday as a means of remembering Christ’s death on our behalf. Anyone who professes Jesus Christ as Lord is invited to participate in the Communion meal in celebration of Christ’s sacrifice for His people. No one is forced to participate in this part of the worship service, so don’t feel awkward or obligated to partake if you don’t want to.
Personal Time-Worship in Prayer and Fellowship:
After the service (and at several junctures throughout) there will be intermittent times where we will pray for one thing or another. Prayer is where we as God’s people talk with God, either in asking Him to do something, or in simply giving Him thanks. At the end of the service the leaders of the Church will be available to pray for any needs that you may have afterwards. Again, this is not anything obligatory: you will not be forced to say any prayers publicly, nor privately; it is simply an intrinsic element to our service that we invite all present to partake in.
Don’t feel rushed to get out of the building afterwards! Many people often hang out till we absolutely have to leave (we meet in a school and thus have to leave at a certain time, generally around 5:45-6:00). We would love to get to know you more, so please feel free to linger as long as you would like.
Further Information:
For answers to any specific questions that you may have regarding the service or anything else about The Gathering, please feel free to contact one of our church leaders. We would love to see you at one of our Sunday gatherings, so please feel free to drop in on any given Sunday!
