If you are thinking of visiting us some Sunday, or even considering whether or not you might want to become regulars in our midst, here is some idea of what to expect at Mt. Zion Church!
In brief, our Sunday service usually follows this pattern, give or take a few minutes:
Worship/singing 10:00-10:20 am
Sharing 10:20-10:35 am
Announcements 10:35-10:45 am
Message 10:45-11:15
For more details, keep reading:
If you arrive early, you’ll often find the worship band rehearsing while people mingle and find their seats, giving a preview of the songs we’ll be singing. You can stop in the coffee room as you enter the building and see if the adult Sunday school class left any coffee for the rest of us!
Worship: The first 20 minutes of our service is set aside for singing praise songs to the Lord, in keeping with Psalm 100:4, which says “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” Our worship music is an eclectic blend of newer (2010s-present)and older (2000s-2010) contemporary numbers, with an occasional chorus or scripture song from the “golden oldies” era (1970s-1990s), and every now and then a genuinely old-fashioned hymn or two (1300-1900s). You can stand or sit during the singing; also raise your hands, sway, clap, wave a banner, or dance if the Spirit moves you, as long as your enthusiasm doesn’t encroach on someone else’s personal space.
Sharing: After the singing, we often allow a few minutes for members of the congregation to share brief encouragements from the podium, such as testimonies of answered prayer during the week, scriptures that were meaningful to them, insights that helped them live the Christian life, or inspirational thoughts gained from the songs being sung. (We encourage sharing to be brief, uplifting, and to the point – no sermons, harangues, or axes to grind! Also, before sharing any personal details about oneself or anyone else, consider that the service is being livestreamed online and is permanently available for anyone in the world to view on YouTube.)
Announcements are reviewed by the emcee of the service, and then the speaker is brought up. During the school year, on most Sundays we have Childrens Church available for ages 5-11 during the sermon time; younger children who are too active to sit through a message can hang out with a parent or teenage sibling in the nursery, which has video and audio for monitoring the service.
Message: We currently have two pastors on staff along with two preaching/teaching elders, and we rotate who gives the message each Sunday, so you get a variety of personalities and preaching styles. Our messages are usually accompanied by PowerPoint notes on the big screens, showing the scriptures and points to be highlighted. On occasion, we host guest speakers from various ministries and other parts of the worldwide Body of Christ. We try to keep our sermons about 30 minutes in length.
(Fair warning, in case you’re used to services of an hour or less, ours do run a bit longer, up to an hour-and-a-half on occasion. We believe God is worth every minute we give Him, and while He is always with us in our personal lives, there are things He only does in the corporate setting of His “body,” blessings only experienced when we are faithful to assemble and give Him our corporate attention.)
After our service concludes, we invite folks to spend a few minutes fellowshipping, sometimes enjoying refreshments together, and it’s not unusual for groups of people to hang around for a while engaged in conversation or prayer. We believe Christians should enjoy being part of each other’s lives, appreciate that God has made us unique gifts to one another, and treasure the relatively few moments we actually get to spend together.
No offering is taken during our services, by the way; for those who want to give in support of the ministry, a donation box is available at the entrance of the sanctuary, or checks can be sent to Mt. Zion Church at P.O. Box 1081, Bemidji, MN 56619, or PayPal donations can be made online through the link on our website. We believe giving is a privilege and a responsibility of those who benefit from the ministry, but it should only be done as the Lord leads, as a person is able, and is willing to do cheerfully.