What to Expect

What to Expect on Sunday
It’s not easy visiting a new church for the first time. For some people the hardest part is getting out of the car in the parking lot and walking to the main entrance. As you walk you’ll probably have a number of questions running through your mind: Will they be friendly? Will they know that this is my first time? Am I dressed appropriately? Will they ask me for money? Will my kids enjoy it? Do I have to participate in everything or can I just sit and watch?

Hopefully, these questions will give way to an experience at Garnett that is pleasant, encouraging, and challenging–all at the same time. Our goal is for you to leave our assembly feeling like you encountered the presence of God in a memorable way.

If you’re nervous about joining us for an assembly or if you’re just curious, then keep reading for an overview of what usually happens on a typical Sunday morning at Garnett. That way, when you walk in, you’ll already know what to expect.

When you arrive at Garnett for the 10 am assembly, you’ll find plenty of parking in the lot on the west side of the building. As you drive up you should see a large “Welcome” sign over a group of glass doors. That’s the main entrance. As you walk in, you should be met by some friendly people (we call them “greeters”) to say hello, answer any questions you have, and direct you to the Worship Center.

We have separate preschool worship for ages 3-5, and that’s in what’s called “The Barn Room” in the Children’s Hall. Grades 1-4 are in Room 300. If your kids are shy or if you’d rather they remain in the assembly with you, they’re welcome to stay, but most kids really enjoy the activities in Children’s Worship, which is available to children ages 3 through the 4th grade. They can stay from class through worship and you can pick them up after worship.

Security is incredibly important to us. We’ll give you a child ID card for you to use when you pick up your child. We commit to doing everything possible to keep the area secure with trained children’s ministry volunteers in the area with children. We also have attended nurseries for children up to two years old. You can check them in before the assembly begins if you like. For a few weeks in the summer and a few holidays, we do not have Children’s Worship, so children are welcome to stay in the assembly. The attended nurseries will be open year-round every Sunday.

You’ll notice that everyone is dressed comfortably, in anything from “office casual” to jeans and sneakers.

If you arrive early, you’re welcome to have a cup of coffee at the coffee bar where you’ll also find additional information about our church. As you enter the Worship Center, you’ll be given a copy of the announcement sheet. You’re welcome to find your seat or have help from one of our ushers. If you want, you can fill out a guest card and give it to an usher, put it in the collection plate or the card basket or take it to the coffee bar. If you fill out a card, we’ll contact you soon after the assembly to thank you for attending and ask if there is any way we can be of service to you. We want to know more about you and tell you more about our church. One way we do that is by giving you a computer disk with a lot of good information and audio sermons to tell about our mission.

We also encourage anyone with a prayer request to write it on a yellow card. During the assembly you can pass the yellow card to an usher or give to anyone leading the service. We promise that your request will be added to our prayer list and prayed for. Prayer is so important to us that we usually have a dedicated time of prayer near the end of the assembly. If you want us to pray for you, you’ll have a chance to respond by coming to the front of the worship center and we’ll do just that.

We usually begin with a song or two and then we have a few announcements. Then we spend some more time singing. We pass collection plates for an offering but this is for our Garnett partners to contribute regularly and not intended as a way to urge you as a guest to give. After learning more about the life-changing ways Garnett is reaching into our community and world, we believe those who choose to become partners with us will want to give generously.

A message from Scripture is given weekly, which lasts about 30 minutes. And every week we take Communion (also known as the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper) together. Communion is the celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the salvation we enjoy because of Him. Sometimes we take communion in our seats and sometimes we get up and go to tables set up around the worship center and take it in small groups. All are welcome to join us in communion, but don’t worry about sticking out if you don’t take communion. We all understand that taking communion is not something with which everyone is comfortable or for which everyone is ready. We’ll honor and appreciate your choice to participate or not to participate in this element of our assembly.

The assembly will usually come to an end around 11:30 am. Believe it or not, if you’re actively participating in the assembly, it will go pretty fast. After the assembly, you can pick up your kids from Children’s Worship, and then we hope you’ll stay around and get to know us, and let us get to know you. That’s about it. I hope you’ll stop by this Sunday. If you have any additional questions, email us at garnettinfo@gmail.com.

So that’s worship, but what then?
Our “win” or goal for worship is to have a hospitable place where you can hear and see the story of Jesus in clear, enjoyable yet challenging ways so that you can respond and be changed by God to be who He wants you to be.

A next step for you is going to a Bible class on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. The “win” for Bible classes is to create an engaging environment for Bible study that stimulates participants to read the Bible on their own. We lead four kinds of adult classes on Sundays mornings at 9 am: a women’s class for in-depth Bible study specifically empowering women to be disciples of Christ. A men’s group that encourages men to be like Jesus and avoid pitfalls such as sexual temptation on their journey. A Bible class for men and women of all ages taught be a mature Christian teacher who specializes in explaining the Bible text and challenging us to live it out. A topical class that often focuses on families, parenting, Christian life in the world today. On Wednesdays we have a Bible class on a certain part of the Bible and it meets in “The Great Room” in Hallway 2. All other classes meet in Hallway 6, the far East side of the facility.