Everyone is welcome to attend and experience our worship service. It doesn't matter if you have no religion, are of another religion, or if you've simply never been to church before. You will be greeted warmly, treated with dignity, and your privacy will be respected. No one will try to "convert you" to Christianity or to our particular form of it. Although some Christian churches may be into that sort of thing, we simply aren't.

Worship is the central ministry of the church, the time when we all gather together to give praise to God, as well as be equipped and sent forth into the world as followers of Jesus who care for the earth and its peoples.

When you arrive in the building you will be greeted by someone with a yellow button on that says “Welcome” or “Ask Me”. (That’s the idea, anyway… sometimes they’re busy with a lot of visitors and you may slip by them.)

If you’re inadvertently missed by the greeters, the white board at the top of the stairs, or to your left if you’ve come up the elevator, indicates which direction the worship service is, what other events are on that day, and how to find rooms or washrooms.

We are delighted to welcome your children into our worship experience. Infants and children under 3 may be cared for in the nursery either by our qualified and screened nursery personnel, or by yourself (you can see and hear the church service from there). Children older than 3 begin in worship with adults, then go to the front for a blessing (if desired), and finally go upstairs with leaders for Children's Worship. You may accompany your child upstairs if you wish, and stay for all or part of the program.

Christians have a sort of unique language with many vocabulary words you won’t be familiar with. For starters, we have special names for rooms, hallways and so forth. Here’s a little primer:

You may sit anywhere you wish. If someone comes and tells you to move because “you’re in their pew”, this person is in violation of our core value of hospitality – but nobody’s perfect and people can be ignorant of our values, let alone common sense hospitality. Rest assured we’ve never had that happen yet. If it does, simply speak to someone with a yellow button and they will escort you to another seat.

When you enter the sanctuary, there is often music playing. If you’re early enough, you may even catch the choir still rehearsing. You may sit in silence in your seat, or chat quietly with a friend.

The Minister will begin the service by welcoming visitors. You will not be singled out, nor asked to stand up. Instrumental music will then be played for approximately 5 minutes while the congregation’s announcements run through on the big screen.

You’ll be asked to fill out the top of our friendship sheets as they get passed around the sanctuary. Don’t worry – we won’t phone you at dinner time (or anytime) or show up at your door. We will only send you a letter of welcome, unless you indicate that you are in need of other information, services or contact from us.

We enjoy “paperless worship” at Gilmore Park United. Everything you need to know will come up on the big screen as the service progresses including words to all the songs and anything else the congregation is supposed to say. There is an icon of a man holding a sandwich board that will tell you “Please stand” or “Please be seated”. If you are unable to stand or are just plain tired, feel free to remain seated.

Hint: at the bottom of each screen to the right you will see “…/” and a word that indicates what’s coming up next!

About 10 times a year we celebrate the sacrament of holy communion. Everyone is welcome to participate in this sacrament, however if you are not a Christian or you really don't feel like you understand it enough to do so, you are perfectly welcome to stay in your seat. Instructions as to how to go up to communion, what to do with the bread and wine and what to say, will come up on the big screen.

The offering is an act of worship for Christians. It is symbolic of the fact that we believe everything we have comes from the blessings of God. It is also an act of generosity. Offerings support the ministry programs at our own church (including salaries) and various programs across Canada and throughout the world to help others. Visitors are not expected to participate in the offering. It is perfectly acceptable to let the offering plate pass you by.

If you decide to make Gilmore Park your home, you may begin to participate in the offering. See our GIVING page for more information.

Christians love to sing! (Well, most of them. Some just like to listen.) We are blessed at Gilmore Park with a fantastic music ministry including a chancel choir, instrumentalists, and World Beat Band. Music in the morning service is a blend of traditional Christian hymns and more modern worship songs. All the words to our hymns and songs come up on the big screen. Feel free to join in or just listen. There are hymn books in the pews (“Voices United”) for those of you who like to read the music. Hymn numbers are displayed on the screen for all hymns.

Visit our Music page for information about our various music ministries.

There will be approximately 3 readings from the Bible each Sunday. These readings are chosen by the Christian church as a whole, and rotate on a 3-year cycle known as “the lectionary”.

There are several translations of the Bible into English from its original Hebrew and Greek. We find the most scholarly and inclusive version to be the New Revised Standard Version (“NRSV”).

We encourage you to listen rather than read along, however you may borrow a Bible from the back of the sanctuary if you’d like to read the text. Chinese and large print Bibles are available there as well.

Hint: Pay particular attention to the Bible reading after the Minister says “the sermon text for today is…” It’s the one she’ll be applying to our everyday lives during the sermon.

Normally Rev. Anna preaches without a written manuscript so her sermons are not available for download every week. However there are some samples available here.

The décor in the sanctuary follows the seasons of the church year. The year begins four weeks before Christmas, a season called Advent (“waiting”). For more information about the meaning of colours click here.

Following the service, we gather in the Activity Room for coffee and a social time. If you’re a newcomer, the greeters will take you there and you may

• meet the Minister and Ministry Team
• view brochures and other information about our church
• watch a video about the United Church of Canada
• mingle with other folks and chit-chat

An infrared hearing assistance system is available for your use. Please ask the ushers or greeters for a headset.

If your visual impairment means you can’t read the big screen, but you can read a printed document, please speak to an usher or greeter. We have the worship slides printed out in large print each week for this purpose.

You may encounter a Personal Assistance Dog or trainee.

If you are highly allergic to dogs, or have a phobia of them, please speak to an usher or greeter about listening to the worships service from our Fireside Room. We are legally unable to forbid Personal Assistance Dogs from entry to the sanctuary.