Visiting
What to expect the first time you visit the church
August 24, 2026 · Five minute read
Everything that happens between the parking lot and the coffee afterward, written down so you do not have to guess.
The Oglethorpe Avenue doors, which are propped open in any weather above forty degrees.
Before you arrive
You do not have to tell anybody you are coming. If you would rather be met, send a note through the contact page and someone will be watching the Oglethorpe Avenue doors for you. Otherwise, come at 8:25 or 10:55 and walk in with everyone else.
Park in the lot behind the sanctuary; the entrance is on Habersham Street and it is free. Street parking along Oglethorpe is open on Sunday mornings if the lot is full, which it occasionally is at eleven.
Walking in
There are two ways in. The Oglethorpe doors are the grand ones, with the steps. The Habersham ramp is level, easier with a stroller, and it puts you directly beside the coffee, which is the correct choice on most days.
Somebody will hand you a bulletin. That is the entirety of the greeting protocol. Nobody will ask you to fill out a card, and if you would like to be left alone, standing near the coffee and looking at your phone works internationally.
You are allowed to sit in the back, leave during the last hymn, and come back next week. People do it constantly.
What the hour holds
The service runs about sixty-five minutes and follows the same shape every week: an opening hymn, a prayer, two scripture readings, a sermon of roughly twenty-five minutes, and a closing hymn with a blessing. Communion is served at 8:30 every week and on the first Sunday of the month at 11:00.
- Children are dismissed to Grove Kids about ten minutes in, after the first hymn.
- The offering is passed. Guests are not expected to give, and nothing is handed to you personally.
- Nobody is asked to stand, introduce themselves, or wear anything identifying them as new.
Afterward
Coffee is in the narthex and there is usually something baked next to it. A pastor stands by the doors until the last person has gone, which some Sundays takes a while. If you want to ask a question, that is the moment; if you do not, walking straight to your car is a completely normal thing to do.
Come back or do not. We would be glad if you did.
Written by
Rev. Adaeze Whitfield
Senior pastor at the church. Preaches most Sundays and keeps office hours at the coffee shop on Bull Street, where she is easier to find than at the church.
Now that you know how it goes
Pick a Sunday. Eight-thirty is quieter, eleven o’clock has the choir, and both let out in time for lunch.
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