What to expect at THE WELL
Let's face it, church can be intimidating.
Right?
Especially if you're thinking about attending a church for the first time. Seeing as THE WELL is a brand-new church we're going to have a lot of people coming for the first time.
That might be you.
If you're considering checking us out, we meet at 10:30am every Sunday morning HERE.
-There will be signs on the street showing you where to turn.
-There will be a big sign on the side of building so you can go, "Aha! THAT must be the building!"
-There will be someone at the main door--with a name tag--to welcome you and point you in the right direction.
-You'll walk down the hallway, through a set of double doors and into our 'sanctuary'.
You'll see about a hundred chairs, a big screen and a simple black backdrop.
-You'll hear music playing off an iPod, a set list custom made to match the sermon series. The set list will change per series.
-We'll be getting ready for the service, praying, make last-minute adjustments to the powerpoint, sitting and thinking--somewhere Todd (our founding/preaching pastor) will be underlining his sermon notes and most of the people will be in the foyer, because...
-There will be coffee and muffins (home-made for as long as we can) out at the front door. The coffee will be fair-trade organic and the cups will be recyclable.
-In the sanctuary you'll see an area the LEFT with colorful carpets, wood blocks, coloring books and Asterix and Tintin comics on it. This is where you can chill with your kids if you want to keep them with you for the sermon. Naturally, they'll need to play quietly so that the rest of the people can focus on the preaching but if they're old enough and want to hang in their 'kids spot' they can do so once the sermon starts.
-When we're getting ready to start, the screen will change to a main pre-service graphic that you'll come to recognize as the 'signal' that things are about to start. You'll grab a seat and someone will walk up to the main stage area, take the mic and...
-They'll welcome you to THE WELL and do a quick reading then pray. The reading will connect to what our theme or focus is going to be for that particular Sunday. As that person is reading you'll notice one of our worship leaders taking the stage, plugging in their guitar and starting to play the first song quietly. The reader will finish and...
-The worship leader will step up to the mic, invite you to stand--you can feel free to stay seated if you want but standing helps you 'participate with your body' which will 'set you up' to be a little more receptive to what's going to happen as we worship than if you stay seated.
-We'll sing two songs.
-When we're done the first two songs Todd will take the mic and invite the kids to come on down and join him in the kids area. The kids will sit on the carpet and Todd will introduce them to what they're going to be doing that day in kids church. The key story and theme they'll be studying will be 'teased' and then they'll pray together.
-The kids (up to seven years old) will head off to their kids time. There will be three (3) rooms for this. The 'nursery', for newborns through to toddlers will be immediately on your left in the main hallway (you'll have passed it--on your right--on your way into the 'sanctuary') and there will be two classrooms (coming FEB 2010) to start (eventually three) down the stairs (again that you climbed up on your way in) to your left. These classrooms will have two people (each) in them--trained and screened by our team--to welcome your kids. When the sermon is done we'd love for you to go get your kids so they can join you for communion and our last worship set.
-After the kids have left, Todd will start preaching. The sermon will be 50-60 minutes and will be taken straight out of the Bible. We'll typically preach through an entire book of the Bible, alternating between Old Testament and New Testament books. Todd is known for his emotive and passionate style and for talking quite quickly and sometimes shouting (though he's trying to calm down in his old age). You can sample his preaching by visiting our sermon ARCHIVES.
-When the sermon is over we'll have a time of communion.
(there aren't always apples on the communion table)
If you are a follower of Jesus, you'll be invited to take a piece of bread and dip it in a bowl of red wine and eat it. You'll do this by walking to one of the stations for it we've set up in the room. As you take communion we'll ask you to GIVE generously to help support THE WELL on its mission. If you're just visiting, DON'T GIVE, we're just happy to have you pop by.
-While communion is happening we'll sing one or two more worship songs.
-As the last song ends, someone will step up to the mic, thank you for coming, speak a final blessing over you (the high-priestly blessing from the Old Testament) then dismiss you.
-As soon as you've been dismissed, the music (from the iPod) will start up again, people will start mingling, tearing down our set, and heading off into the rest of their Sunday.
Sound good?
Then they'll come back the next week with their friends and neighbors...
Can't wait to see you.
TW
