While you will be greeted and welcomed, you won’t be put on the spot or asked to stand up. During the service, you may notice a paper slip with the word “Welcome” on the top. If you’d like more information about Redmond UMC or if you’d like to connect with Pastor Yvonne or a particular ministry, you can fill it out and place it in the offering plate when it is passed towards the end of the service. You can also fill out the “First Time Visitor” check-in card online if you’d like. If you’d rather remain anonymous, that’s cool too.
We also invite you to share in Prayers of the Community, Communion, and the Passing of the Peace.
- Prayers of the Community: We care for the people outside our walls. Prayers of the Community is a time for us to come together in prayer for those who are in need of God’s presence. Some churches use a microphone and go one by one, but we just allow a few moments for anyone to say aloud, or think to themselves, the names of people for whom they have been praying. The liturgist says a general prayer for all who have been named, as well as for the wider community and world.
- Communion and the Passing of the Peace: Every church does communion a little bit differently. If you happen to join us on the first Sunday of the month when we are participating in communion, know that at RUMC, communion is open to all who want to take part in God’s love. Feel free to file out with the others in your row toward the center aisle, receive the bread and “wine” (we use grape juice, but that doesn’t make it any less sacred!), and consume it as you take the side aisle back to your seat. On Sundays when we do communion, we are also invited into a special time of greeting called the “passing of the peace”. This is a time in our service for us to greet one another and invite peace into one another’s lives. Many will say “Peace be with you” and offer a hand to shake, but feel free to greet in a way that you feel comfortable.