We hope you'll come visit us soon. In order to help your visit go more smoothly here's the basics.
What do expect: We are a joyful church that loves investing in future generations. Our worship service is generally considered to be traditional. Our music is performed by a variety of church members and we specialize in having families lead music together. Our preaching is Bible based and practical for everyday life. Because we are attached to two educational institutions, we have many special events and our attendance can vary greatly. During a special program we may have 500-600 people, whereas when school is out or many of our mission groups our out ministering in other places we may have 150-200 people. In any case, you will find a warm welcome and a Biblical worship time.
Attire: There are no hard and fast rules for church attire. We care about you, not your clothes. You will find that most of our members dress up slightly more than their everyday attire, in respect for the holiness of the occasion. Practically speaking that normally means a dress/skirt, for women and shirt and tie (or suit) for men.
Parking: We have plenty of free parking available. If you come a little late and find the main parking lot full, there is an overflow lot just down the hill. If the weather is inclement you're welcome to use our drive through awning to drop off passengers.
Welcome: When you enter you will be greeted by one of our hosts or hostesses. They will give you a bulletin, that will explain the order of service and what's coming up in our church life. Feel free to ask our host/hostesses any questions.
If you come after 11:00 please use the middle doors. We lock the side doors for safety reasons after 11:00 PM. You're still welcome and there will be a host to greet you at the middle doors.
Sabbath School: If you arrive during our Sabbath School time, 9:30 -10:30 AM, you will be invited to join one of our Bible study groups, called Sabbath School. We have classes for all ages from birth through adult. For kids, these are age appropriate Bible classes led by background checked trusted leaders. For teens and adults we have discussion based classes on various topics. Most of our adult classes follow the official Adult Bible Study Guide from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. To see the current topic click here. For more information on our Children's Sabbath School click here.
Worship Service: If you arrive after 10:30 am, we will direct you to the main auditorium for our main worship service. You may sit in any available seat. Our service is a traditional service incorporating singing, prayer and Bible teaching. We will invite you to fill out one of our "Blue Cards" to let us know how we can better connect with you.
Fellowship Meal: On the first Saturday of each month we share a meal together after the worship service. Adventists are known worldwide for promoting healthy living, including a plant based diet, and many of our church members are vegetarian. So while vegetarianism is not a requirement for Adventists, the meals we share together at church are vegetarian. If you are visiting us, we encourage you to stay and enjoy a meal with us, you don't need to bring anything. Our fellowship meals are generally held either at our elementary school gym, the LeRoy Perrish Family Life Center, 234 Highland Circle Dr. Portland, TN 37148, or the multipurpose room in the church.
Picnics: When the weather is nice you will likely find a group of church family picnicking in the pavilion across Butler Rd from the church. You're welcome to join them, however we do recommend that you bring your own camp chair since chairs are not provided at the pavilion. If you'd like to check and see if an informal picnic is planned look up the Highland Picnic Association (HPA) Facebook page and request to join.