The Bible says not to forsake or stay-way from the assembling or the meeting of the saints (read, Christians) in the book of Hebrew, Chapter 10, verse 25. Every person who professes to be Christian is encouraged in the Bible to attend church services, as and when they can. So, how does a contemporary church in Jacksonville, celebrate or conduct their church service?
The Administrative Hierarchy in Church
Typically, you have a presiding senior pastor with overall authority in the church who is assisted by a group of people who are responsible over different areas or ministries of the church – like worship and music, children’s ministry, youth ministry, church missions, life groups for both men and women and church office administration. These people would be the deacons or elders in the church and accountable to the senior pastor.
Church Service Proceedings
A contemporary church in Jacksonville, as in churches in most parts of the world, would follow a similar pattern for their services, wherever you attend and normally takes anything between 1½ to 2 hours or more. Typically, a service would start with a welcome and prayer from the worship leader who then proceeds to lead the faithful into a time of worship and praise to Jesus.
After worship, usually the senior pastor takes over the meeting and proceeds to give the main sermon for the week, with very frequent references to the Bible, in terms of chapter and verse to support his sermon notes. Communion usually follow this and includes prayer and distribution of the elements – the bread and ‘wine’ to the faithful. This signifies the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in its vicarious form. A short worship session may follow the communion and then it is time to collect the tithe and offerings from the church members to sustain the church admin and mission activities. Announcements regarding prayer requests, important events, and celebrations in the church, is then followed by a final prayer from the presiding pastor and this signals the end of the service.
The Church
If you live in Jacksonville you are welcome to attend a service at a contemporary church in Jacksonville at Southpoint Community Church. They will be happy to have you join them. Call for more information at 904 281-1188.
