When's church? How do I get there? Can I bring my baby? What should I wear?
These are all great questions and we want to make it as easy as possible for you to join us on Sunday for worship. If you still don't find the info you're looking for, please don't hesitate to contact us!
What to Expect
1. The first thing you'll experience is a warm welcome from our congregation. We are always excited whenever someone comes to visit.
2. Our worship service is conducted in a very simple style and is unaccompanied by musical instruments (a longstanding practice of Presbyterian churches - if you check out these posts you'll learn more). Whatever your first reaction might be to this, we would encourage you to experience this stillness as a call to reverent worship and not to think of it is as the absence of sounds. We live in a world cluttered with a cacophony of noises, and our times of public worship together are made more profound through their simple clarity and times of stillness. We want you to hear the voice of God in His Holy Word and to meditate on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
3. We hope you'll notice is that the worship service follows the form of a dialogue. When Christians worship, we are in a dialogue with our Holy God. He speaks to us in His Holy Word and we respond to Him with our singing of the Psalms, our praying together in prayers of confession and supplication, and our giving of gifts and offerings to the Lord.
4. Our singing is quite different from what you might be used to if you've been to church services elsewhere. We are a psalm singing congregation, which means that we sing the 150 Psalms in a metrical setting (music speak for 'psalms arranged so we can sing them'). This practice arises from the conviction that God has given the Church the Psalms so that they might form the very means by which our praises are brought before God. The Psalms are inspired worship music and they express with immense richness and breadth of expression the emotions and experiences of God's people.
Children
We encourage parents to bring their children into the worship service and we make it a priority to include them in the singing, prayers, and the instruction from the Word of God. The children are incorporated into the service and we hear their sounds as a testimony of the zeal for life the Lord gives to children! It is a joyful noise even when it doesn't feel like it.
There is also nursery room at the back of the Church for mothers to take their children if they need a quiet space during the service.
Transit & Parking
Bus: Translink buses run up and down Main Street and King Edward and there are several nearby bus stops that will bring you close to our building.
Skytrain: There is a Canada Line Skytrain stop at Cambie & King Edward that is relatively easy 20 minute walk.
Parking: There is a parking lot next to the church building that is available for your use. You can also park on the neighbouring streets.
Clothing Choices
You might wonder, "How should I dress? " Neither informality nor formality are virtues in and of themselves. Rather, dress in a manner that prepares you to worship with both body and soul. The way we dress affects our mental state – no one puts on formal attire if they want to relax! – so you should ask yourself, “What kind of clothing will best prepare me to receive God’s word and respond to it with reverence and joy?”
5. The fifth thing that you can expect is a sermon (message) that is faithful to God's Word and chiefly concerned with the explanation and application of God's Holy Word to you and your life. Going back to the truth that our worship service is a dialogue with God, we believe that God uses preaching to communicate His glories and grace to us. We believe that the preaching of God's Word is a life-bringing and life-renewing activity because the Holy Spirit is the One who applies that Holy Word to our hearts. Our pastor and visiting preachers will read from the Bible and then spend 30-45 minutes preaching on that passage.