What are services like?
Our Sundays are a casual, come-as-you-are atmosphere. We serve good, strong coffee if you still need help waking up. Also, bagels. The service begins with a couple songs. Then we go to announcements (forgive us - we have to). There's a 25-minute teaching followed by communion and prayer. Then 3-4 more songs. It lasts about 75 minutes total. A full kids program through 6th grade is available for the entire service length, except in the summer when the kids join us for the final song block.
What is the community like?
With the University of Iowa nearby, we have a number of faculty, staff, and grad students and their families who attend. We also have lots of young families, with about 1/3 of our congregation made up of young children. The middle age and above crowd is still strong, though. Finally, we seek to be intentionally inclusive of ethnic and cultural diversity, often singing songs in languages other than English.
What if I'm not a Christian?
Let us suggest a different question: "What if I stumbled upon a community that opened up worlds of wonder and insight and proved incredibly valuable in my life journey?" Check out our Centered Set approach to faith and church, along with Blue Ocean Faith values, and you'll understand what we mean. http://blueoceanfaith.org/#/home/perspectives
