WHat to Expect

If it’s been a long time since you have been to church, you are new to the area or if you’ve never been to a church and just want to check us out—Atonement welcomes you. We encourage you to join us, however we know there can be many questions or concerns when visiting a church for the first time. Here’s a list of the top ten things you might want to know about visiting Atonement:

4. Church is for children and adults!

All are welcome at Atonement.

Children are always welcome in worship at Atonement. Booster seats and activity packets are available at the back of the church.  For children who are willing we have “praygounds” set up in front of the pews with age appropriate activities. If you prefer, we also offer child care during Sunday worship hours in a staffed, secure nursery that will supervise your infant to 3 year old toddler.

During the school year, we offer Sunday School for kids from preschool to fifth grade during the 8:45 worship hour. In the summer during any worship time, children can join their parents in worship and also attend worship at the “praygrounds”.

Adults can choose a time of worship where they feel comfortable. Our two  Sunday services at 8:45 and 10:10 am are usually conducted in a more classic style with organ, traditional hymns, choirs, sung liturgy and vestments. The order of worship generally follows a more formal, liturgical format.  From time to time, our worship will feature a special variety of musical leadership. We incorporate contemporary,  jazz, Celtic style string band and even  Caribbean Island style band to help lead us in worship.

All services utilize multimedia to assist in following the service as well stimulating all the senses. We celebrate Holy Communion at both services weekly. We invite you to view a video on our Vimeo page. We upload at least one full service each week.

5. Expect . . . the expected

Here is what you can expect if you visit one of our Sunday morning services:

• We’ll welcome you at the front of the building.
• There will be singing throughout the service. You’re welcome to sing along, or just listen in.
• You’ll experience the words, lyrics and other parts of the service using multi-media projection.
• We’ll read passages from the Bible.
• One of our pastors will teach on the readings
• There will be times of prayer
• We receive an offering from our members where a plate is passed as a form of worship during the service. You are not expected or obligated to participate.
• There will be a brief update with announcements and upcoming events.
• After the service, there’s coffee and fellowship in the Gathering Place

We’d love to see you at church this weekend.

6. You can find a place to belong

Church is more than a place to go on Sunday morning. It’s a community to belong to.

If you’d like to discover what it means to belong to Atonement, we invite you to sign-up for the next Newcomer Class. You will discover what we’re about, what we believe, and how you can be a part of our community.

7. Why bother with Jesus?

There is no one who has transformed the world more than Jesus Christ.

More songs have been sung to him, more paintings painted of him, and more books written regarding him than anyone who has ever lived in the history of the world.

But Jesus is more than just an important person; we believe that he is, in fact, God, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

At Atonement, we want our members to be actively growing in their relationship with Jesus. We believe that God wants to have a relationship with every one of God’s children. God has made himself known to us most fully through Jesus Christ and his Word.

We don’t, however, expect that all who come to Atonement profess to have the same understanding or are at the same place in their faith journey. In fact, that may be the reason you want visit: to find out just who Jesus is and who he can be in your life. 

We invite you to explore for yourself as you move along in your Faith Journey at Atonement.

8. You’ll encounter people just like you

Everyone is welcome here, whatever your story, your questions, doubts or struggles.

9. You’ll be able to share when you’re ready

We respect the pace at which individual people connect. Members and even regular visitors often help contribute to the vitality of the Atonement community by sharing their time and talents in many areas of ministry. Opportunities are available for volunteers to help within our walls, in the community and even globally.

10. Stay as long as you like or feel free to get on with the rest of your day

Some folks like to linger after worship, catch up on the latest news in the community or just gather with friends. We have a spacious Gathering Place with great coffee (and sometimes other treats) where you can meet and greet others after the service. We recognize we’re part of a very busy community and sometimes there’s simply no time for chit chat. Feel free to get on with the rest of your day—no pressure to stick around. You can park in our main lot on Main Street or, if it’s full you can park school lot located behind our campus and use the convenient rear entrance.

If there’s anything we forgot to cover, just give our church office a call Monday thru Friday from 8am till 4pm or click here to submit your question to us online. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.