What to Expect

We believe that gathering as the Body of Christ is essential for every follower of Christ. The gathering is a place for adoration, celebration, confession, renewal, instruction, encouragement, equipping, fellowship, unity, service, and restoration (Heb. 10:24-25, Rom. 15:1-7, Col. 3:12-17, Acts 2:42-47, 1 Cor. 12-14, Eph. 4:1-6).

We believe the gathering is not about us (people), but about God. Our gatherings provide an alternative to the world’s self-centered obsession by being unashamedly God-centered. However, in his goodness and grace, God uses the right gathering of his people to bless us beyond measure. As it is with all of life, our gathering blesses us and satisfies us most when we place God at the center.

We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is the hope of salvation for the world. We also believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is the means of growth for every Christian. As such, our gatherings consist of singing the gospel, praying the gospel, and preaching the gospel (through Word, baptism, and supper).

One of our core values is “compassionate acceptance,” so we like to say that our gatherings are “come as you are.” God meets us wherever we are, however we are; as God’s people, we want to reflect that kind of acceptance in our gatherings. This does not mean that we are open handed about the way of salvation (Jesus, and only Jesus), but we never want to limit who can be saved. As Christians, God received us when we were at our worst; if you are at your worst, you are welcome at our church.

Our service starts at 10 a.m. It usually lasts between 75-90 minutes (we are more concerned with content than time). We don’t have a dress code (again, come as you are). Some of us wear jeans, and some of us wear jackets and ties.

We sing traditional and contemporary hymns and songs (again, content over style). We do value congregational singing. This means that we have a small praise team that leads our singing, but the goal is that all who are present would participate in the singing.

Our method of preaching is expository, which very literally means to expose what’s in the text of Scripture. We normally preach through books of the Bible in a verse by verse fashion. We believe that the main point of the message must flow from the main idea of the particular biblical text that is being preached. We expect that the Spirit of God will work through the Word of God to transform the people of God.

We have Children’s Church, which is for kids from age 4 through 3rd grade. They are dismissed before the sermon and receive a gospel-centered Bible lesson from a rotating team of volunteers. We use The Jesus Storybook Bible for the teaching time. All of our volunteers are required to have a background check, and we recently remodeled the kid’s area to increase security. The Children’s Church location is next to the nursery making it easy for parents to pick up their kids in one location.

**Note:  The nursery is available every Sunday. However, four times a year when a month has five Sundays, on that fifth Sunday we do not have Children’s Church.**

Keep in mind, while we do make nursery and Children’s Church available, you are more than welcome to keep your children with you in our main gathering. We want to leave this decision to you and what is best for your family. Mom and Dad, your kids are not a bother!

COVID-19 Protocols:  We have followed the guidance that the CDC has provided since the start of the pandemic. The new guidelines recommend masks indoors for everyone regardless of vaccination status. While many of our regular attenders are vaccinated, we have not made this a policy or a mandate at our church. If you have not been vaccinated and are not sure if you will choose to get the vaccine, please don’t feel pressure from us to push you one way or another. We respect the decision that you have made for you and your family in this matter. 

Feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have. We welcome you to Faith Baptist Durham, and look forward to gathering with you soon.