For Visitors

It's a big deal visiting a new church for the first time...It's easy to feel out of place. Do I belong here? Am I really welcome? Will the people be too friendly or not friendly enough? Will I stand out? Will they ask me for money? Will my kids enjoy it? How should I dress? Can I come even if I'm not sure what I believe?

We have designed a Fire Side Room with you in mind. Following the Worship celebration, we invite you to meet Pastor Benji for 5-8 minutes. During this time, they will share the vision of newhope and the ways in which God is blessing our church family.

At newhope, we want to make your visit a good one - easy, straightforward, uncomplicated. We are intentionally "user-friendly" for people, no matter what their background - you don't have to have church 'figured out' to walk through our door. In fact, many of our people were not regular church attenders before finding newhope, so you're in good company! Here is a brief overview of what you can expect at your first visit.

Showing up

When you arrive at newhope (7619 Fayetteville Road - click here for directions) for either our 8:30 am, 10:10 am, or 11:45 am service, you'll find ample parking with parking lot attendants to assist you as needed.

If you're a first-time guest, turn on your headlights when you enter the parking lot. This will help our parking lot attendants (Pathfinders) direct you to the reserved parking for guests (the first row to your left when you enter the parking lot).

At the front door, you'll likely find a friendly face to say hello and answer any questions you have. If you have kids, hopetown registration is on the left side of the Rotunda. We've developed a good security system so you'll know your kids are safe and well cared for. We guarantee your kids will fully enjoy our kids' programs for infants through 5th grade, available during all two services.

You'll notice that everyone is dressed comfortably, in everything from "office casual" to jeans and flip-flops. If you've got a minute, please help yourself to a cup of coffee at our Higher Grounds Cafe, and pick up information in the lobby area.

Through the doors

When you enter the Worship Center, you'll be given a bulletin that has upcoming events, and information about the church. It also has a tear off "Connect Card" which you can fill out and drop in the offering basket. This is a simple way for us to get better acquainted. The service usually begins with some upbeat music led by our worship team (drums, guitars, keyboards, vocalists), followed by a welcome and greeting. The message time (usually about 30 minutes) is designed to be Biblically based, relevant to daily life, interesting, and enjoyable. It is scripture driven, often including interesting ideas from contemporary culture, events, songs, or movies. Often there is a video, musical feature or drama to further explore the theme of the day.

When it's all over, if we do our job right, you should have experienced solid Christian teaching in intelligent, understandable and relevant terms. Our goal is to provide everyone who walks through our door a genuine experience of God that can be transformational.

Before you go

After the service, if you have kids, you'll pick them up from their classrooms, and then we hope you'll stay around, meet some people and enjoy coffee in our Rotunda. Church exists not solely to encounter God, but also to experience community and friendship, and we trust you will find genuine warmth and openness at newhope.

That's about it. We hope you'll stop by this Sunday. And if you do, please be sure to introduce yourself to one of our pastors. They would love to meet you!

newhope church