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, your 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 evenings 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? We occasionally 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 welcome to attend. 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 to greet newcomers, 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 –  is 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 in 2010 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.