Appropriate Attire - Style of dress is not an issue. You are welcome here. “Professional casual” is the most common dress style. You will see people in suits and ties, dresses or simply jeans.
Information - In the the lobby we have an information desk. The friendly people there can answer your questions or find someone with the answers to your questions. If you have questions outside of service times, feel free to e-mail us at info@sandyadventistchurch.org or call the church office at 503-668-6144.
Sabbath School (similar to Sunday School) - starts at 9:30 AM and goes until 10:40 AM in various rooms in our facility. Some adult classes study the Bible using a prepared study guide (Quarterly - This is available free of charge and may be requested at the information desk or from the teacher of the class.) Other classes do a topical study. We also have classes for children, from infancy through youth. Maps to the location of various classes are available at the information desk.
The infant’s class "Beginners" (ages 0-3) requests a parent stay with the child.
Kindergarden, ages 4-6
Primary, ages 7-9
Junior, ages 10-14
Teen, ages 15-17
Collegiate 18+
A mission offering is collected during the classes, but guests are not expected to contribute.
Church Service- starts at 10:50 AM in the Worship Center and goes until aproximately 12:15 PM. Feel free to sit in any open seat.
Before you enter the Worship Center...
Please silence or turn off all pagers, phones or other electronic devices.
Mothers
We do have a Mother's Room with one-way glass, controlable sound and viewing into the WorshipCenter for mothers with nursing babies.
Parents
We do not offer child care during the service.
The information center has Pocket Pals available for younger children.
We also have another room for parents with small, restless or
ambitious children off the Worship Center with controlable sound and viewing into the Worship Center.
As you enter, you should receive a program which will give the order of service and general announcements.
A typical service consists of:
Our Praise Teams leading us in newer praise songs blended with beloved hymns.
An offering is taken, but guests are not expected to contribute.
There is a congregational prayer from the front, where everyone is requested to kneel.
If that is difficult or you are uncomfortable, please feel free to remain quietly in your seat.
If you arrive late, please do not enter the service during prayer, otherwise, feel free to slip in quietly and take your place.
Our pastor presents a Bible-based message with real relevance in today's world.
If it is not disruptive to the service, it is permissible to take a picture with flash, use a video camera or tape recorder.
Please check with one of our audio/visual team members before setting up a tripod in the Worship Center.
CD's of the service are available to you the following week for a suggested $1 donation.
You can place your order at the information desk.
You may also bring your USB memory stick to one of our audio/visual team members after the service and we can place the MP3 file directly on it for you to take home free if charge.
Guest Dinner - following the service (Three times a month), there is a vegetarian guest dinner in our fellowship hall where the food is as good as the talk. We are honored for our guests to stay by and enjoy a great home-cooked meal and allow us the opportunity to get to know them more. Members and regular attenders are invited to participate by bringing enough food to feed their family as well as some extra for our guests.
Special Services Child Dedication - usually occurs during the weekly worship service. Parents who wish to have their child dedicated, should contact the pastor and arrange a date for the service. Typically the child and parents are asked to come to the front and stand on the platform while the pastor shares some Biblical passages and prays for the child and parents. In reality, child dedication is the parents expressing the desire that their child will grow up to be a Christian and the parents publicly committing to raising the child in a Christian home.
Baptism - usually occurs during the weekly worship service. It initiates a young person or adult into the church. During the baptism, the person baptized is completely immersed under water by the pastor, following Jesus’ example. Baptism is a symbol of dying to sin and being raised to a new life with Jesus - symbolic of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. At times baptism is conducted in a nearby river. The typical dress is much more casual in those circumstances.
Ordinance of Humility (Foot Washing) - occurs four times a year during the regular worship services. It is practiced based upon Jesus example and instruction found in John 13. It is symbolic of washing away sin prior to the Communion (or Lord’s Supper) service. During the foot washing service, men and women go to separate rooms. There is also a room for families to participate together. If a guest wants to simply observe, that is acceptable. He may also sit in the Worship Center and quietly meditate as soft music is played.
Communion (Lord’s Supper) - occurs four times a year, following the Foot Washing service. Seventh-day Adventists practice “open” communion, meaning all Christians are welcome to participate, if they desire. The Congregation remains in their seats while deacons pass trays with small squares of communion bread (unleavened wheat crackers) representing Jesus' broken body for us. They also pass around small cups of unfirmented grape juice representing the sinless blood of Jesus shed for our sins. The bread and juice are symbols of Jesus’ death for our salvation. Each participant takes a piece of bread and grape juice and holds it quietly until the pastor indicates it is time to partake. After drinking the grape juice, the empty cup is placed in the cup holder on the back of the pew in front of you.
