What to Expect

If you attend our service you might find us similar in some ways, and different in others, than churches you have already attended. Although there are many kinds of churches they fall into three major categories -- or streams, of worship.
 

At St. Patrick's we blend these three streams into one river of worship. Our worship is biblical, liturgical and Spirit filled, ancient and contemporary, holy and joyful. Why not visit and let us know what you think.

First Time Visit

I know - it's not easy visiting a new church for the first time. Sometimes you feel like a nonmember visiting a country club. Do I belong here? Am I really welcome? Will the people be unfriendly, or too friendly? Will I be conspicuous? Will it be easy to leave if I don't enjoy it? Will they ask me for money? Will my kids enjoy it? How should I dress? Am I welcome if I don't believe?

As pastor, I want to make visiting St. Patrick's an enjoyable experience, easy, stress-free, relaxing. Many of the folks here at our church were in the same place as you not long ago, a first time visitor.  I'd like you to know what to expect, so here's a brief overview.

When you arrive at the church you will park in back of the building and enter the back glass doors.  There is an elevator and stairs which will take you to the main floor where the sanctuary is located.  Follow the signs.

What about the Kids

Upon entering, there should be some friendly people (we call them "greeters") to say hello, answer any  questions you have, and direct you to the area where we worship. We invite all children to enjoy our KIDS service with Kathie Baker, our Pastor of Children.  We dismiss children grades K-6 after the praise and worship, and they return just before we have communion together.   Since kids are shy, they're welcome to attend the adult service with you, but most kids really enjoy K.I.D.S. service.

What do I Wear   

You'll notice that everyone is dressed comfortably, in anything from "office casual" to jeans and sneakers. We want everyone to come as they are, so dress however you feel comfortable. When you come in the sanctuary, you'll be given a copy of " The Bulletin" which has the week's announcements and upcoming happenings.  

How Long

The service begins with us entering into worship with a few prayers that greet God, and as a church asking God to forgive us for any sins we have committed the past week.  There is no reason to come to church feeling bad and staying that way for too long!  Then we have some upbeat music, followed by readings from the Bible.  Preaching from the Bible follows.  The sermon lasts for about 20 minutes, and I do my best to make the messages interesting, enjoyable, and relevant to daily life. The message will be based on the Bible, and I will often include interesting quotes from contemporary people, songs, or movies.  If I do my job right, you'll hear solid Christian theology in intelligent, understandable, relevant terms. And hopefully, you'll laugh at times and maybe feel a tug at your heart too. We then have communion.  I'll close the morning service about 80 minutes after it began (and believe it or not, the time will fly). For those of you looking for some extended worship time, try our weekly home fellowship groups, we have more time for worship and fellowship there

What Else

When you arrived, you received a visitor card that we like you to fill out and put in the offering plate.  The visitor card is used to let us know who you are and how you found us, there are area for you to check off concerning our various ministries.  We ask you to put the card in our offering basket as they are passed around. As for the offering basket all we want you to place in there is your visitor card, you are our special guest this morning.

Communion

Every week we celebrate Communion. Communion (also known as the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper) is a Christian celebration that tells everyone the Gospel of the Jesus Christ and gives people the opportunity to offer God thanks and praise for sending Jesus to give us a new life and forgiveness. If you're a committed Christian, you're welcome to share in communion with us, and if not, you can just sit back and enjoy the music, because our Worship Team will be playing and singing during this time. Speaking of the Worship Team, they do a great job leading musically, with a traditional and contemporary feel. You'll have some new tunes to hum all week long.

After the Service

After the service, we hope you'll stay around, meet some people and enjoy some refreshments. Church is about God and worship, but it's also about community and compassion, so we hope people really experience warmth and friendliness at St. Pat's.

That's about it. People constantly tell me that they really felt comfortable - "at home" are the words I hear most frequently. I hope you'll stop by this Sunday. And if you do, please come down and say hi, and tell me that you found out about St. Pat's on the Internet.

Thanks for your interest.

Fr. Kevin Baker, Pastor