What to Expect
Here are a few questions that might help prepare you for your first visit with us.
Do you have children?
No. If you are coming without any children, it is as easy as following the crowd into our meeting room. We have a "Connections" team that will be on hand to help point you in the right direction and answer any questions about Redeemer. Once you come into the meeting room, you are free to sit down or mingle and get to know people before the service starts.
Yes. Again, the "Connections" team can answer any questions you might have once you arrive. If you do have children, we want to clarify how it will work when you visit Redeemer, and why we are doing children's ministry the way we are doing it. The how it works is below, and it changes depending on the age of your child(ren). Why do we do it this way? We want families to worship together and for your Sunday morning to be a complimentary part of the spiritual instruction and leadership you are providing to your children.
1st grade and up
Children in the 1st grade or higher are included in our main service, and they can just come to the service with you. We have younger children's (Kindergarten-2nd grade) and older children's (3rd-5th grades) bulletins as well as worship kits (including pencils, crayons, and worship action cards) available during the service that will give you and your children guidance on how to participate and stay focused.
Pre K - Kindergarten (Transitional Worshippers)
If you have children in this age range, you can either pre-register them for their class or you can wait until the appropriate time in our worship service when the children are dismissed. We will sing a few songs together as a church family and then the children will go to their classes. If you come late or want to go with your child, you are free to register them at this time. We take great care to provide for their security through our registration process as well as their instruction in the Bible. The goal for this age group is transitioning them into staying in the service full-time, so for this reason some of these children may stay in the service for the duration, and we have younger children's bulletins and worship kits for them.
Two and Three Year Olds (Foundation Learners)
Children in this age group may also be pre-registered before the service or registered when they are brought to their class at the dismissal point of the service. This class will be full of age appropriate, active learning of basic Biblical truths.
Birth-24 months (Nursery)
We want to encourage even the youngest members of our church family to participate in worship with prayer and song. However, we understand that everyone has a bad day sometimes, so for this reason, there will be teachers in the nursery from the beginning of the service to care for children that just can't make it that through that week! Parents can make this decision on a week-to-week basis. Registration can be done before the service or when the child is brought to the classroom.
Do you have to be a Christian to attend?
Redeemer's Sunday mornings are all about the gospel, and it applies equally to Christians and non-Christians. We like to think that its a great environment to hear Christians speak to one another about the value of Jesus and what this means for our lives.
What about the music?
We are progressive musically and are led by a gifted musician and song-writer, Joe Morrow. We love new and old songs. You'll see the richness of Christ-centered songs and hymns that will both teach and stir your affections.
What about the preaching?
We preach through books of the Bible and short, topical series. We believe in the exposition of Scripture, which means we desire to communicate the content of a particular text to instruct the mind and affect the heart. Our lead elder is Dusty Thompson, and he does the majority of the preaching.
What else happens in the service?
Preaching and singing take the majority of time of the service, but the Scripture directs us to pray, read Scripture, and take communion when we meet together. We will regularly do these as well as give people opportunities to give to our church in order to faciliate our ministries and meet the needs of those in our community.
