The worship service in South Londonderry starts at 10:00am Sunday mornings. Most people arrive between 9:45am and 9:55am, although some come in a few minutes late. Most people dress pretty casual. They wear jeans and a sweater. Some wear a dress or a collared shirt. We come dressed as we are. You will notice a fair amount of children. They make noise, and we love it. There's coffee and tea in the back room. Feel free to drink it during the worship service. There are usually one or two people standing in the entrance who will say hi and give you a bulletin, which is an outline of what we will be doing in the worship service.
The worship service begins with announcements. Our pianist plays a prelude, which helps us to settle down for worship. After that we have a Call to Worship, which is a way to focus ourselves on God. Next is musical worship. We sing a combination of traditional hymns and more contemporary songs. We have the words projected on a screen in the front of the room. We end the musical portion with a prayer of thanksgiving and confession, which leads into us all saying the Lord’s Prayer (The words are printed in the bulletin.). Then we have an offering. If you’re visiting, you need not feel obligated to put something in the plate as it’s passed along. We want our regular attenders to participate. Next, there’s a children’s message. It’s a time for the children to hear about God, and we end the time with a prayer for the children. The children age 7 and under go to children’s church at this time. As they are leaving we sing a praise song or hymn.
Then the Scripture is read, and next comes the message. This is a time in which one of our pastors takes a passage of Scripture from the Bible and explains what it means and how it relates to our lives now. We sing one more praise song or hymn. After that we have a time where we can share praises (the good things that God has done) and prayer requests. It is followed by a prayer.
On the first Sunday of the month we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, which is open to anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. If you’re not sure or just checking us out, please don’t eat the bread or drink the juice. No one will think it’s weird.
The service ends with one of our pastors sending us off with a Benediction, which literally means "a good word." You’ll notice that many stay around and talk afterwards, because many people want to know what’s going on in other people’s lives and like spending some time together.
(If you're interested in what happens up at Stratton, go here!)