What to expect at the 9 am  Contemporary Worship?

Sunday mornings begin with our 9 am worship in Calvin Hall, which is also our gym. The worship begins at 9 am and you are welcome to come early, but it is not necessary to get a seat as we have folding chairs and can accommodate larger turnouts. Most worshipers arrive a 8:58, if that helps! You can easily get to Calvin Hall by entering the door by the playground and immediately going up the stairs. If you are unable to take the stairs, proceed through the tiled preschool hallway and through the double doors which will take you straight to the elevator. You will likely hear our praise band warming up as you get closer. 

Once in Calvin Hall, you will be met by a greeter who will give you a bulletin and direct you to the name tag table. We ask that everyone wears a name tag because it just makes life easier on our overtaxed brains. Preschool aged children are encouraged to stay in the service through the Children's Message and then be dismissed to caregivers in the back of the gym. Children are always welcome in the service and the ushers loan worship bags with crayons and puzzles to play for our more wiggly friends. We encourage you to enjoy coffee, tea, and cookies or other treats that are available in the back of the Calvin Hall during the greeting time. You are welcome to bring your own coffee to enjoy during the service as well.
 

For the contemporary service, we do not have a hymn book as the words for the contemporary music and joint prayers, like the Lord's Prayer, will be projected on the large screen behind the praise band. If the slides are not in sync due to the praise band being moved by the spirit to try a new verse or if there are technical troubles, just enjoy the moment of song. The praise band, led by our Contemporary Worship Director Robert Stocks, is made up of Trinity members who practice together the week prior to service. Occasionally a guest singer or instrumentalist or choir will join the contemporary worship.

We also pass a basket for offering after the sermon. There is a tear off sheet in your bulletin that we ask everyone to fill out each week so we know you are here and it gives you the chance to check off an area that you are interested in at Trinity. You are also welcome to support Trinity by giving money either in the basket or online here.   

At the end of the contemporary worship we all help to put our chairs away at the back in the chair holders. If you are unable to move your chair, someone will take care of it for you. Some people stay to break down the stage while others go to teach or attend the education hour, which begins at 10:10. Children ages 4 year old through 3rd grade are in the preschool hallway, which is downstairs from Calvin Hall. Children 4th grade through high school are in the main church building, which is through the double doors by the bathrooms and can be recognized by the carpeted floors. Adult Education is held in the upstairs classrooms in the main church building. Don't feel like going to a class? Join the adults for Just Coffee in the Knox Room (a large room with carpet and big windows) which near the nursery and  is by the ramp in the preschool hallway. There is also coffee available in the Narthex (the large space by the sanctuary in the main church building).  

What to expect Sunday morning for the traditional service?

The traditional service is at 11:15 am, after the education hour, and is held in the sanctuary in the main church building. Do you need to arrive early to get a seat? Not normally unless it is Christmas or Easter when we recommend you arrive 10 minutes early. There is handicapped parking on Sundays in the in the small parking lot by the church office on Ivanhoe St. and the church sanctuary will be to your right as you enter the building. If you park in the larger 16th St. parking lot or on the street, you can enter the building either by the playground, where you will walk through the preschool hallway through the double doors to the carpeted section. You descend the stairs (or take the elevator by the stairs) and the sanctuary is in front of you. You can also park in the 16th St. lot and walk around the outside of the church to the main white doors leading to the sanctuary. Once inside to the sanctuary, you will be greeted by an usher who will give you a bulletin. There is also seating upstairs in the balcony, if you wish. Children are always welcome in the service and the ushers loan worship bags with crayons and puzzles to play for our more wiggly friends. Preschool aged children are encouraged to stay in the service through the Children's Message and then be dismissed to caregivers in the back of the sanctuary. There is also nursery care available for smaller children to be checked in before (or during) the service. For more information on Childcare, please click here.

This sanctuary has monitors with the words to songs, but the hymns are the same as in the hymnals, found in your pew. The chancel choir is directed by our Music Director and organist Carol Feather-Martin. The children and youth choirs and the hand bell choirs also occasionally join this service as well as guest instrumentalists. This service has more shared responses, which are all printed in the bulletin.  

We celebrate Communion the first Sunday of the month. All are invited to partake in Communion at Trinity, which is served by intinction (dipping the wafer in the chalice) in the pews. At Trinity we take a piece of the bread and dunk it in the cup of grape juice, both held by elders. Gluten free wafers are available and distributed at the same time as the other sacraments.  

We also pass a basket for offering after the sermon. There is a tear off sheet in your bulletin that we ask everyone to fill out each week so we know you are here and it gives you the chance to check off an area that you are interested in at Trinity. You are also welcome to support Trinity by giving money either in the basket or online here. 

At the end of the service, you are welcome to meet others in the Narthex with coffee and treats.

Beginning on October 7, Trinity will offer a new Sunday evening worship service at 5:30 p.m. in the sanctuary. We have been thinking about a Sunday evening worship option for a while and have wanted to be clear what we are offering, why we are offering it, how we will staff the service, and who we think will benefit from this new worship opportunity. So let me briefly say what, why, how, and who.

What are we offering?
To begin, we are offering a worship opportunity that includes music from Sunday morning, the scriptures, the sermon, and prayer time. We may have other elements of the service, like call to worship or a confession time, but are planning to do some creative things with the evening service.

What do we mean by that? 
Come and see. On communion Sundays we will have communion in the evening. We are not offering a children’s time during the service or childcare at this time. As always, children of all ages are welcome to participate in the worship service.

Why are we offering it? 
We are offering this worship time for people who are unable to participate in the morning and as a place for some more creative expression in worship.  We know this service will change and adapt as we see who attends and how that impacts what we are doing on Sunday evening. We welcome your ideas and participation in 5:30 p.m. Sunday worship.

How will we staff the service? 
The morning’s preacher will also preach in the evening. The music will primarily be led by Robert Stocks and will be contemporary in nature, but when Robert is unavailable Carol Feather Martin or other Trinity musicians will step in, meaning that sometimes the music will be traditional in nature.  This service is not being presented as one or the other, but rather as a service in which you will get some of the Sunday morning experience led by whoever is available that day.

Who will benefit from this new worship opportunity? 
Many families are pulled in more than one direction on Sunday mornings, with sports and other events being scheduled in conflict with Sunday worship. We are anticipating that this additional service time will provide an opportunity for families to come to worship on Sunday evenings when there is a morning conflict. We are also anticipating that there are people who have never come to Trinity who will come because of this additional worship time. We hope you come and experience this new worship time at Trinity.