When you arrive at St. Mark's for either our Saturday night or Sunday services, you'll park in one of several parking lots surrounding the church building. We'll do our best to help you when you arrive.

As you make your way toward the building, you'll find helpful people either in the parking lot or at the church entrances to say hello, answer any questions you have, and direct you to the appropriate place. If you have children, the volunteers can point you to the kids' classes, including our nursery area for children three years old and under. If your kids are shy, they're welcome to attend the adult service with you, but most kids really enjoy the children's programs (we call it Construction Company) for children from four years old through 5th grade, available during all the services.

You'll notice that everyone is dressed comfortably, in anything from "office casual" to jeans and sneakers.

When you come into the place of worship, you'll be given a copy of " The Program," the worship bulletin, which has the week's announcements and an agenda for the day's service. You'll notice that the program also includes an information card, which is an easy way for us to get better acquainted. You can fill out the card, place it in the offering basket or hand to an usher. You can ask for any kind of information or assistance and we'll get back to you very soon.

The service usually begins with some upbeat music, followed by a welcome and introduction to the theme of the day's service. Often, there will be a drama or multimedia presentation to further explore that theme. Then someone will offer a prayer, and usually our church's primary teacher, Bob Disher, or one of the other pastors, will begin the message. The message usually lasts about 40 minutes, and our teachers do their best to make the messages interesting, enjoyable, and relevant to daily life. The message will be based on the Bible, and we work extra hard to be sure that the message makes sense and connects with where people live. There will be times when you'll laugh, and at other times you'll feel a tug at your heart. A prayer and sometimes a song will follow the message.

The whole service will last about 75 minutes, and believe it or not, the time will fly. If you'd like to speak to one of our pastors, some of them are always around after the services.

One thing you may notice is that we don't expect our guests to participate in the weekly offering. We want you to feel welcome as our guest with no pressure to give. Our regular attendees will put their contributions in the offering containers when they are passed, and there are some very generous and committed people who help us to reach our financial responsibilities. If you continue to attend our church, the time will come when you'll know that it's time for you to begin to help us with our mission. After the service, you'll pick up your children from their classrooms.

Church is about God and worship, but it's also about community and friendship, so we hope people really experience warmth and friendliness at St Mark's.

Well that's about it. People constantly tell us that they really felt comfortable - "at home" are the words we hear most frequently. I hope you'll stop by this weekend. And if you do, please say hello, and tell us that you found out about St. Mark's Church on the Internet.