Welcome to Greater Portland Bible Church
Worship Service: Sundays at 10:30am
We know how hard it can be to enter an unfamiliar environment, particularly if your spiritual journey is leading you to a church for the first time. It’s our desire to create space for you where you can feel comfortable and be able to interact with God in an honest way. Our desire is not to create a “religious” experience but to facilitate life changing encounters with the living God.
So in order for you to feel more comfortable as you enter our doors, here’s a run-down of what to expect.
1. Getting here…
Our building is "uniquely placed" (aka a little hard to find) behind the Shadow Hills Apartment complex and is accessible off of Vermont St. Look for the marquee sign and then follow the road straight back to the church building on the hill. We have reserved parking exclusively for visitors. Click here to create customizable driving directions from Google Maps.
2. The front door…
As you enter, you will find a few folks at the lobby entrance who love to welcome people. They can help direct you to the auditorium, to coffee, to our children's check-in area, and other information about our community.
3. Kids and youth…
We can’t wait to spend time investing in your kids! We have age appropriate programs for your children from newborn through 5th grade during our worship gathering. Our teachers are safe and caring individuals. Parents check in children (nursery-5th grade) in the lobby before the service. Families will then gather together in the sanctuary to enjoy the first part of the worship service together before kids are dismissed to their classes. Click here for a map of the building that will lead you to where each age group gathers so that you can be reunited with your kids after the worship service.
Youth stay in the worship service with their family. On the 2nd and 4th Sundays, middle and high school students dismiss to the Portland Room (Library) immediately after the sermon for a small group time called GPYouth Sunday ReBuild (11:30am-12:15pm).
4. Coffee…
For some of you, our 9:15am class hour or even the 10:30am service is still too early to be up on a Sunday. For you we have our lobby espresso bar. Feel free to grab a latte before the worship or your class begins. We have a small donation basket to offset the cost of our wake-me-up, but visitors are always welcome to a free latte.
5. Auditorium…
When you’re ready, feel free to enter the auditorium and find a seat wherever you feel comfortable. The worship gathering begins at 10:30am with a song and a call to worship video, spoken word, or scripture. We invite you to download our church app. It contains our weekly bulletin, connect card, and other resources that help you get to know and connect with us. If there is anything we can pray for you for, let us know through the prayer form in the app. Our regular attendees include giving as part of their weekly worship. Gifts are given in the bags passed by the ushers during the worship service. If you need a Bible, you'll find one in our app.
6. Music and message…
Our worship gathering lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes. The time can be filled with music, prayer, a spoken message, videos, communion, interactive experiences or anything else that will help us draw closer to God. The music is intended to bring us face to face with God and the truth of who He is. When that happens, it changes us. Feel free to participate in as much as you feel comfortable with. To watch or listen to services from past weeks click here. To look through many of the songs in our song database check out our YouTube Worship Playlist.
7. The Table…
The communion table is a weekly spiritual rhythm for the people of Greater Portland that we engage in as a community each Sunday. We invite all believers of Christ to join us in the celebration of communion at the tables in the front following the sermon. If you are not a Christ-follower, we invite you to something even better, Jesus himself. Please reach out to any staff, elder, or leader if you'd like help making your way toward the One who is calling you home. We would love to show you the way.
8. The things we find important...
For us, everything is about Helping People Follow Jesus Together. To understand more of what that may look like for us, consider checking out our Purpose and Beliefs page. It might help you get a better sense of what we find important as a faith community.
9. FAQs…
There are probably many other questions you may have about what to expect when you visit. Click here to go to our frequently asked questions page for answers to questions like, “What should I wear?”, “Will I be singled out in any way?”, or “Will I have to give anything?”
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.