FAQs
What is the Church of Christ?
The Church of Christ is part of a larger American Christian tradition sometimes called the Restoration movement or the Stone-Campbell movement, after two of its founders. The original goal that the founders envisioned for their fledgling movement was Christian unity. They believed that when Christians came together under the power of the Holy Spirit, like what happened with the early church in Acts 2, amazing things would happen.
Today, the Churches of Christ remain as a sort of offshoot of the Restoration movement. One distinctive feature of our denomination is that every church is completely autonomous. There is no governing structure for how every church should operate. Instead, each church is typically run by a group of leaders who are chosen from among the members of that church. This can make it pretty difficult to know what to expect when walking into a Church of Christ, because every one may be a little bit different. Traditionally, the Churches have been defined by a cappella music, baptism by immersion, weekly communion, and a heavy emphasis on studying the Bible. However, many of our Churches have evolved over time in their beliefs and practices. If you have specific questions about who we are as a church, we’d be happy to talk with you. Feel free to reach out to us at hello@sunset-ridge.org.
What should I expect when I walk into worship?
Primarily, as a visitor we most want you to know how excited we are that you’re with us, and we’d love to see you again. We want to be a place of comfort that honors the beauty and dignity of every person that comes. Regardless of what anybody else may be doing, we trust that you know the parts of worship that are most important to you. We hope that you feel empowered and encouraged to worship as you see fit.
Almost all of our worship services include the same practices: singing, prayer, communion, scripture reading, and a sermon.
We have a blend of instrumental and a cappella worship songs that are led by our song leaders and our praise band. Everyone is invited to participate in a way that is meaningful to them, whether singing along or not.
We also generally practice communion by passing around the bread and the cups in trays where people are seated. On some special Sundays we take communion together around the table or by the traditional method of intinction (dipping a piece of bread in one cup). Instead of the traditional wine, we use grape juice for the cup. Any and all people are invited to participate if they would like, including children, regardless of their level of familiarity with our church.
There are many ways that we involve our children in our worship service. We currently have small tables at the front of our sanctuary that have activities to help our children engage with our worship services. If you are a guest with children, we reserve the three rows behind these tables for the parents to be close. Some weeks will feature a Kids’ Moment up on stage where children are invited to come participate in a special activity with one of our Children's Ministry leaders. Most weeks we also have a special worship service for kids that meets in our classrooms. Partway through the service, children are invited to attend if they feel comfortable. Guests are more than welcome to attend, provided you escort your child so that we can get your contact information for security purposes.
Each week we hear a reading from the Bible. Everyone is invited to stand for the reading. After it finishes, the reader will say, “This is the word of the Lord.” The people will respond, “Thanks be to God.” Following this reading, there will be a sermon to help us engage Scripture with our minds and hearts over the coming days.
We try to be an inviting and relational church. Chances are good that you’ll have lots of people come up to introduce themselves and possibly invite you to lunch. We know that can be a bit overwhelming for some, so feel free to engage at your comfort level.
What do I need to know if I’m planning to visit?
We know we have a large campus that can be hard to navigate. The majority of our parking is located behind the building on the north side of campus. However, we do have parking on the southwest corner next to our coffee trailer, One Another Coffee. If you’d like to grab coffee or a pastry before entering, this is a great place to do so, and all profits go to the one-acre neighborhood park currently under construction on the south side of Brees Blvd.
Our worship service begins at 9am in our main sanctuary. The entrance is located at the northwest corner of our property. There are three sets of double doors that ring the foyer through which you can enter.
We have life groups that meet beginning at 10:15am throughout the building. These groups are generally to help our members build relationships and study a topic of interest together. For more information, please contact riley@sunset-ridge.org. Childcare is also available at this time for children nursery age through fifth grade.
We encourage guests to dress in whatever attire they will be most comfortable wearing. While many of our members would fit under the “Business Casual” category, we have a diversity of styles of dress. For men, you will see some wearing a suit and tie and some wearing a T-shirt and jeans. For women, you will see some wearing a dress and heels and some wearing jeans and tennis shoes.
Our church service typically ends around 11:30 or 11:45. We would love to take you to lunch afterward and get to know you better.
If you’d like to worship with us from home or on the road, we also livestream our service each week. You can access the livestream here.