What to Expect

Christian worship is a meeting with God. When you arrive, you’ll be greeted and given a booklet with our “liturgy” to follow along and participate.

We sing out of a hymnal. Can’t read music? No problem. Singing isn’t about us anyway, so sing out with all your heart to the Lord. We have simple and minimal instrumentation.

The pastor dresses like a traditional pastor.

We pray a lot. We read a lot of the Bible and listen to it explained. We partake of “communion” at the end of every morning service.

You may be used to an evangelical church with lots of lighting, sound, a band, and where it’s almost a show; we believe the Word of God is sufficient and that Jesus is enough. He’s the main event at Oceanside United Reformed Church.

At its heart, Reformed worship is a face-to-face meeting with God, shaped by his Word and by the pattern Christians have followed for centuries. He calls us out of the world into his presence, speaks to us in Scripture and the sacraments, and we answer him in prayer, song, and offering. That back-and-forth is what we call a “liturgy.” Every church has one; we just tell you ours up front.

The Psalms make up a large part of our singing. These are the songs God gave his own people, sung for a thousand years while they waited for the Messiah, and now we know he’s come! We also sing hymns both ancient and recent.

We still use a physical hymnal, the Trinity Psalter Hymnal, so we can hold the faith of our fathers and mothers in our hands and pass it to our children.

For accompaniment, we have pianists, guitarists, and cajón from time to time. Here’s why we sing the Psalms.

Not in the way you’re probably picturing: no band, no screens, no lights, and the instrumentation is simple. We do sing recent songs alongside ancient ones; the question for us isn’t how old a song is but whether it’s filled with “the word of Christ.” If you’re coming from a “contemporary Christian music” church, the sound will be different, especially as you hear the voices of God’s people, old and young. The Christ you’re singing to is the same.

We typically use the ESV, but guest preachers may read from another translation.

The Bible is God’s Word and gift to us to show us who He is and what He’s done for us. Since the messages are focused on a passage of the Bible, if you don’t have you own copy, we have copies at our welcome table. Please take one as our gift to you.

No. We won’t single you out, ask you to raise your hand, or put you on the spot. Sit wherever you’d like and stay as anonymous as you want to be. We’d love to meet you afterward — but that’s your call. Our doors, arms, and hearts are open to you.

Every Sunday morning. We believe the Lord’s Supper is one of the chief ways the Holy Spirit confirms our faith in Christ, so we’d rather not go a week without it. If you want the longer answer, Pastor Danny has written on why we celebrate weekly communion.

“Communion” is the ritual meal Jesus gave his followers the night before he died. We call it a “sacrament” because it is a visible sign that seals or assures us of what God tells us in the gospel: “Christ died for you.” At OURC, we celebrate communion every Sunday morning.

If you’re not a believer yet, please abstain. While we get up and go to the front to receive the bread and wine, just observe what we’re doing but after, find the pastor or just talk with your neighbor about what it means to follow Jesus.

We welcome all Christians who confess their sins and trust that Jesus saves them from their sins, have been baptized in the name of the Triune God, and who belong to another Christian church.

You’re our guest, so please don’t feel obligated to give. While the baskets are going around, just let them pass.