It's not easy visiting a church for the first time. Sometimes you feel like you're visiting someone else's family reunion. Do I belong here? Am I really welcome? Will my kids enjoy it? Do I have to get all dressed up? Am I welcome if I don't believe?
As the pastor of Daybreak United Methodist Church, I want to make your experience here enjoyable, stress-free and meaningful. We designed Daybreak to be “user-friendly” for people, whatever their background, including those who have never been to church before.
When you arrive at Daybreak’s meeting place, in the Smyrna Mart Shopping Center near Acme (100C E. Glenwood Ave.), there should be some friendly people to say hello, answer any questions you have, and direct you to the worship area. If you have young children, you have a choice: your children can stay with you during the worship service, or they can be in the well-staffed and well-equipped nursery (the people who greet you can take you there, and there will be signs pointing the way).
You’ll notice that everyone is dressed comfortably, in anything from “business casual” to jeans and sneakers. You’ll also notice that just about everyone wears a nametag. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but many people like to wear a nametag to make it easier to meet new friends.
The worship service usually begins with a welcome and introduction to the theme of the day followed by some upbeat music. Often there will be a drama or multimedia to further explore the theme of the day. After that, I (or another speaker) will begin the message. I usually speak for about 20 to 30 minutes, and I do my best to make the message interesting, enjoyable, relevant to daily life and based on the Bible. 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.
After the message, you will have an opportunity to ask a question about the message. Just write it down on a card, and someone will be around to pick it up. This is a great way to anonymously ask whatever questions have been sparked by the message.
After the Question and Answer time, we celebrate communion every week. Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper, is a celebration of God’s love for us. If you’re a committed Christian, you’re welcome to share communion with us, or you can just sit back and enjoy the music.
I’ll close the worship service about an hour after it began, and believe it or not, the time will fly. I hope you’ll come up and introduce yourself to me afterwards.
After the worship service, we hope you’ll stay around, meet some people (that’s when the nametags come in handy), and enjoy some snacks. Church is about God and worship, but it’s also about community and friendship. People tell me that they really feel comfortable at Daybreak, “at home” are the words I hear most frequently.
I hope you’ll stop by this Sunday.
Thanks for your interest!
Peace,
Jim Hawkins
Pastor
