WHAT TO EXPECT ON YOUR VISIT
At Bishop Janes UMC, we firmly believe in welcoming all, serving the world through missions, and growing closer to God through educational and discipleship forming opportunities. Immediately upon entering our church doors, you will see a "Welcome Center" under a Red Sign, this is a great place to come learn more about the programs and offerings at our church. We have newsletters to tell you about current programmings, and brochures for most of our small groups. Our goal is to meet people where they are, accepting people as they are, and growing together in a faith. We recognize everybody is at a different place in their personal faith journey, and we hope to find ways to incorporate each individual into our church family in ways that are meaningful and appropriate for them.
All of our services are open for everybody, and our communion table is available for anybody who seeks to live a life of discipleship with the Lord, and repent of sin. We recognize nobody is perfect, we aren't either, that's why we're here, to help each other out.
CHILDREN: We believe children are a blessing from the Lord, and are invited to be with us in every aspect of our church life. We recognize they may be a little noise or fussy during a service, it's just part of who they are. They are welcome to stay in the service, or go to nursery/sunday school, as you feel most appropriate. We welcome families to stay in the service together, and worship. In this way, we are all family! Clipboards with biblically based activities and coloring sheets are available at the entry, if you feel that would be of assistance.
COMMUNION: We practice an "Open Table" which means you do not need to be a member of the methodist church or any church to receive communion. We simply ask that you respect the sacrament, seek to live a life of discipleship of Jesus Christ, and seek to repent of sin. In this way, as we come before the Lord to receive this sacrament, we recognize that we all fall short, but we lift each other up, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and grow together as a community of faith. Another way of putting it, the Communion table, is a table of common-union with Christ.
PASSING THE PEACE: In most worship services we will "Pass the peace of Christ." Liturgically, this is a time that symbolizes our mutual forgiveness before the Lord through the Life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but also represents our interpersonal forgiveness, "as we forgive those who have trespassed against us." Sometimes this looks more like a simple greeting, and if you are new, expect people to introduce themselves to you. As time goes on, hopefully we can all see how the Peace of Christ is working in and through our entire community.
QUESTIONS: If you would like to talk with the Pastor before or after a visit, please reach out to him by email, at pastor.matt@bjumc.org. We want your visit to be a positive experience, whether you are passing through town, looking for a new church home, or just exploring faith. We want to work with you, to help grow and nuture you in your faith journey.
