We believe that faith is a journey. It is wondrous, exciting, challenging and sometimes a little scary. That journey starts in many ways but faith in God, as most Christians understand Him, will almost always involve walking into a church at some point. That experience should invite you to go farther in your journey. To assist with that we have created our services with an attempt to see things from the perspective of  a person’s first visit.

 
What should I wear?
We really don’t care too much about how you are dressed. You will find some folks with good clothes, men and women wearing what they might be comfortable wearing to a nice restaurant. You will find others in much more casual clothes. The pastor will be wearing jeans or slacks and an open neck shirt or t-shirt. If he can do it so can you.  If you want to wear what you would wear to the footy you will feel just as at home in that.

What will happen when I arrive?
You will see some signs that will help you find your way.   You will find people will greet you and say “G’day.”  Someone will point you in the right direction if you aren’t sure. We have set up a coffee and tea counter with refreshments and snacks. There is no set time to enjoy these. You can have something before the service starts or after it is finished or both. You can even take your coffee with you into the service.  There are some name tags on a table out the front. Place your first name only on one of these tags - everyone does. It helps us get to know each other more quickly.

What will happen during the service?
The service will be one hour or less. We will be singing some of our favourite songs of faith. The words will be projected on the screen and the music will be fairly loud. If you don’t know the songs you can just read the words and catch the spirit of those who do. We stay seated for most of the service. There may be a couple of times that everyone will be invited to stand. If that happens you won’t have to guess because the instruction will be given. This will usually happen at some point to sing a song or listen to a prayer. It keeps the circulation going.

The message will be about 20 minutes long. Usually you will feel drawn into what is being said by something funny or a story reflecting the human struggle of the speaker. Just before the message we will watch a brief video clip lifted from a popular movie that will “set up” the topic being spoken about.

You will not ever be asked to stand and say anything.

You will not ever be asked to greet the people sitting around you. We want to give you the chance to just quietly observe the whole thing without being forced to do something that might make you uncomfortable. Before and after the service there will be plenty of friendly people to talk to, but if you want the chance to slip in and slip out without talking to someone, we respect that right.

You will not be asked to contribute financially. Most church services will include a point in the service where a collection plate, or similar, is passed and people are asked to give to the church.  We don’t do that. Those who are committed to NewStart know how to contribute to its needs. We want you to feel loved and valued before you feel a desire to contribute.

You do not have to have a Bible to attend. We believe the Bible is the way God communicates His love to us and we consider a small portion of it every Sunday. The text being reviewed will be displayed on the screen, so you do not need to have a Bible in order to understand what is going on in the service. Of course if you want to bring one that too is fine.

That is about all you should be aware of in advance except that we are open to your questions and we believe that you will enjoy your visit with us.