Church Life
Sundays
We have our weekly church service on Sundays at 10:30am at The Phoenix, 17a Quarry Knowe, Dumbarton, G82 5AF.
Our Sunday services aren't slick or polished but we try and be real. We love to worship together. We love to have space to learn and grow as followers of Jesus. Sometimes this is a sermon, sometimes an interview, sometimes a panel discussion and sometimes something more creative entirely! We'll either have rockets (our sunday school) on or we'll be an all-age creative family friendly format.
Whether you're a regular part of our church family, visiting the area or interested in seeing what church is like you're more than welcome to join us.
Visitors
The vast majority of people connect with us through our Sunday mornings together. Coming into a new group of people is always a bit nerve-racking, especially when you're not quite sure what to expect. So we've answered some of the questions that people have when they are coming to join us.
What time should I turn up?
For our church services most people turn up just before 10:30. We don't always manage to start bang on 10:30 but we will start shortly after that. There are people around from 9:30 normally so if you want to arrive a bit earlier that's not a problem. Someone will probably come say hello to you if you are early.
What should I wear?
We're really informal, so wear whatever you would normally wear. You'll come across folk in jeans, dresses, suits, trackies, shorts, t-shirts, shirts, biker leathers, hoodies and tweed jackets. Whatever you feel comfortable in is ok with us.
What should I expect during the service?
We are informal in our structure so every service is a bit different. Normally our services will start off with someone saying hello and giving out any notices that need to be passed on, then there'll be a bit of singing songs to worship God (generally there will be someone on the guitar or piano leading this) and then there'll be a bit of teaching from the Bible (this is normally 30-45 minutes) and maybe a bit more music at the end.
There'll also often be a time of praying for different situations together and people might share a Bible verse or something they feel God is sharing with them. It's normal for a few different people to share different bits and pieces during the flow of the service.
Some Sundays, however, we do something a bit different and we throw the rule book out the window. We've had cinema mornings, puppets, interview formats, quizzes, and meals. You can expect things to be creative, fun, interactive and unexpected.
If you'd like to know whats going to be happening that week feel free to drop us a message beforehand.
Is there anything for my kids to do?
We think kids are great. The kids stay in with us during the first part of the service and we try and gear things so that kids can join in. We have lots of families so it's normal to have kids making noise so don't worry if he have a baby who needs a good cry or a wee one who likes to move about lots. We also have high chairs available if your wee one needs fed during the service. There will often be an area set aside for kids with an activity or chill out area going on. When we have teaching for the adults the kids will go through with our Junior Church team for a more interactive session aimed at nursery and primary school kids. Some Sundays we have an option for teenagers and sometimes they stay in with the adults.
What time will the service finish?
We generally stop between 12 and 12:15.
What happens after the service?
People hang about for a bit and have teas and coffees and a chat. It is normal for people to hang about for 30-40mins after the service. (We're a sociable bunch!) It is also normal for people to leave straight away too.
What if I can't come on Sundays?
There are plenty of other ways to join in with us. Our house groups are a natural place to engage with our church community or we have a lot of activities on during the week in our community hub at The Phoenix.
Do I need to give money?
There's normally a collection taken each service. This money goes towards the day to day running of the church and its work in the local community with 10% of it going to national or international charities we support. You're welcome to contribute but please don't feel obligated to put money in the offering.
Will I be expected to do anything?
No, we're very informal. You'll find people engage in different ways. If you want to sit there and just observe that's absolutely fine. There are the odd Sunday where things are a bit more interactive but there's still the freedom to engage as much or as little as you like.
Can I Speak to Someone Before I Come?
Drop us a message via the connect page and we'll be happy to answer any questions you might have. If you're planning on coming for the first time, get in contact and we'll make sure we say hi when you arrive.
Kids & Youth
We love being a church that is full of different ages and one of the beautiful things in the Bible is seeing young people and kids knowing God and making a difference in our world. We have a few different element thats are specifically designed for kids & youth.
Rockets
Rockets is our Sunday school for kids. It's aimed at kids in nursery and the bottom end of primary school. Kid's will stay in with their families (or run about with other kids) for the first part of our service but at some point (normally about 11ish) the kids will go out with some of our Rockets team (all PVGed and trained) and play games, sing songs, learn some stories from the Bible and generally have fun. If your kid wants a parent with them that's cool, parents can join in too!
Sunday Morning Youth
Most Sundays our high school kids stay in the service but some Sundays we have Sunday Morning Youth, a chance for young people to have a bit of space to unpack some of the teaching from recent weeks.
Pebbles
If we're The Rock, then our smaller ones must be pebbles (although some of them are taller than the adults!). Pebbles is aimed at top end of primary school and high school and is an hour and a half of fun, Bible study, discussion, prayer and the mandatory game of werewolves! (If you know, you know!)
Serving
We believe our young people are a valuable part of our church community. You'll see some of them in our band or helping with tech or welcoming you or serving you a cuppa or helping out with Rockets. Sometimes you might even see them on an interview panel or sharing some thoughts in the service or puppeteering or even taking over the whole service!
Firestarters
Many of our high school aged young people are also involved in a ministry called Firestarters. They'll go stay in a church somewhere in Scotland with a hundred other teenagers one weekend a month and grow as followers of Jesus with other young people.
Midweek
We believe church is more than just what we do on Sunday. Therefore we have a range of opportunities during the week to help us engage more with the story of God and what he calls us to. We have a range of house groups which meet across the week in various places in and around Dumbarton. These groups all work differently (e.g. some are weekly and some are fortnightly, some will have a bible study and others explore faith more creatively) but they all help us love god more, love one another more and love the world around us more. Alongside house groups we also have a couple of weekly prayer meetings, simply spending time together talking with God.
While regularity is good, there are times where we’ll run one off events or short time-limited groups. These might include Messy Church (messychurch.brf.org.uk) or Alpha (alpha.org) or Kintsugi Hope (kintsugihope.com) or 321 (321.speaklife.org.uk/course/321) or The Marriage Course (www.themarriagecourse.org). With all these regular groups and special events the best way to engage is to get in contact and we can let you know what’s on.
Loving Our Community
A major part of our work is our community hub for Dumbarton West, The Phoenix. You can read more about it on The Phoenix pag.. Outside of this we are involved in our community in a range of different ways.
We have an active chaplaincy role with Dalreoch Primary School and Dumbarton Academy. This involves assisting with services and assemblies alongside in class support, supporting groups and activities, and pastoral support for staff and pupils.
We value our interdependence with other local churches and are involved in Dumbarton Churches Together (DCT). This involves regular clergy meet ups, assisting with joint services at Easter and Christmas, and supporting events and initiatives that DCT instigate.
We also encourage our congregation to look at how they might be able to support the people around them in their neighbours, families, studies, and work. This, of course, looks different for different people and is contextualized to each individual.
While we recognise our small local community we are also part of a bigger national and global community. We therefore are committed to give away 10% of our unrestricted income (money that is ours to do what we want with rather than grants for specific pieces of work) to supporting wider work. We currently support the work of Embrace the Middle East (embraceme.org), Comfort International (comfortinternational.org), Grassroots Trust (grassroots.org.uk), and Firestarters (www.firestartersuk.org).
