First time?
What to
expect (FAQs)
How do I dress for church? Like any family gathering, styles of
dress are as different as the different personalities. Some of our members
dress formally (suits and ties for the men, dresses for the women), some
dress casually (nice blue jeans, shorts when it is warm), but most are
somewhere in-between. As long as you show respect for those around you and
especially for our Lord, it’s not a big deal.
How can I make sure my children are safe? We know how difficult it is for
families to leave their children with strangers, but rest assured, you
child’s safety is just as important to us as it is to you. Our church
safety policy (see below) requires that all nursery workers be approved and
all adults have background checks. We also have designed our buildings to
make it difficult for children to wander away and easy for anyone to see
what is happening in our nursery rooms. In fact, if you’d like to
stay with your children for a while to see that they (and you) feel
comfortable in the nursery or one of the Sunday School classes, we welcome
that.
What kind of songs do you sing? The easy answer is, we sing all kinds
of songs, but they have one thing in common: They are God songs, meant to
praise and glorify Him. Our congregation loves to sing, and depending on
the theme of the service or the Scripture being preached, we could sing
traditional hymns with an organ, contemporary songs with guitars and drums,
even an international song to highlight the worldwide church – or a
combination of these. In the mornings we often are led by a praise team
made up of singers of different ages, and in the evening we are usually
accompanied by the piano. We also have special music at times with
soloists, instrumentalists or our Sunday School children. One thing is
certain: our congregation loves to sing so we intentionally try to involve
as many people as possible in honoring God through the gift of music.
Do I need to give money? No, you do not. Participation in the
giving of offering monies is completely a matter of your choosing. Of
course, all churches have expenses to meet and collections are one way our
members can help our church meet these expenses. The main reason we have
collection each Sunday, however, is to demonstrate our thanks to our God
for all His blessing to us. You will notice that many of the offerings
actually go to causes and ministries outside of our own church. If you have
a heart for the ministry or cause, feel free to show that in whatever way
you wish.
Do you have a library? We sure do. It is the room in the northwest corner as
you leave the sanctuary and it is open right after the morning worship
service. We have a variety of Christian books, magazines and video
material, all of which can be checked out. If you would like more
information, catch one of our helpful librarians after church.
Am I invited to the church potlucks? Every other month, we try to schedule
a potluck after our morning service around noon. Our members bring
delicious hot dishes, salads and desserts, but the food is secondary to the
fellowship time that we share together. If you happen to attend on that
Sunday, you and your family are not only welcome to attend, but there will
always be enough food so you don’t have to worry about bringing
anything. Just enjoy!
How are visitors treated? We love to have visitors, whether
they are guests of our members, vacationers just passing through Lynden, or
people searching for the Lord or a church home. We welcome visitors in a number
of ways: our welcome team is available before church not only to greet
newcomers but to introduce themselves, we normally have a time of
“mutual greeting” during the service when everyone in church is
invited to shake hands and say “hi” to people around them, we
invite guests to share their concerns and joys with us by filling out a
prayer card and having the pastor mention it with the rest of our church
family’s prayers, and we have a fellowship time after the morning
service when everyone – and especially guests – and are invited
either downstairs in our fellowship hall or outside on our patio (during
the summer) for refreshments and a chance to meet our members.
Will you make me stand up during the service or embarrass me
some other way? We
wouldn’t think of it. If you have something in your life you would
want us to pray for, however, you will be invited to fill out the prayer
request card in the morning or mention it out loud during our prayer
request time in the evening.
Church Safety
The safety of our church family and
guests – and especially children – is of utmost importance to
us. That is why we have an in-depth policy manual that covers church
workers, both paid and volunteer, and protects from abuse those who come
into the church’s sphere of activities, as well as the church itself
– not to mention the reputation of Jesus Christ, our Lord. These
policy guidelines deal with the hiring process, supervision, reporting to
authorities, discipline, ministries for the various age groups, and other pertinent
areas. Copies of this manual are available at the church office.
Facilities
Worship center: The “church” building on the corner of Front and
Eighth streets has been the place of worship for our church family since
1920. It has been remodeled several times, the last of which was this past
year when we renovated it to make it more accessible to community members.
We have an elevator that goes from the ground level to either the sanctuary
level or the basement level where our fellowship hall is located. We have a
handicapped-accessible bathroom on the sanctuary level as well as
men’s and women’s bathrooms in the lower level.
Education building: Across Eighth
Street and with the sign out front is our
education building. In addition to classrooms for our Sunday School
children from 3 years old through middle school, we also have a large
fellowship room where we hold meetings and social events for the church
family and a variety of community groups. Our GEMS girls club and Cadets
boys club also meet on rotating Monday evenings during the school year in
the education building.
Church office: The “house” just north of the education building
and kitty-corner to the worship center is our church office, where our
pastoral staff and secretary have offices. While you can come in through
the Grover Street
door, most people park in the back and come through the “back
door.”
Nursery: One of the benefits of our newly remodeled worship center was
to move our nursery from the education building back into the worship
center. We have rooms for both infants and toddlers in the basement with
bathrooms and water fountains nearby.
Parking: Because most of our city’s businesses observe Sundays
as a day for worship and rest, there is plenty of parking on Sundays. In
addition to street parking around the church, there is a parking lot we
share with the bank, the Grandiflora parking lot and parking around our
education building and church office. Handicapped parking spaces also are
reserved on the west side of the church near the entrances.
Handicapped accessibility: The worship center and education
building are both handicapped accessible with ramps to get into each
building. The worship center also has an elevator that goes from the ground
level to the sanctuary level and the basement level to our fellowship hall
and nursery. Our sanctuary also has space in the pews available for
wheelchairs.
